Everyone is talking about Icelandic eiderwown

Icelanders are proud of their traditional eiderdown harvest and the unbelievable quality of this all-natural product. For centuries, down harvesters have protected eider ducks so they can harvest the downy feathers from their nests once the birds do not need them any longer. Foreign media is finally catching on to this incredible story with features seen here:

Weighing the down

A true luxury product

Eiderdown is one of the warmest natural fibers in the world, but harvesting this product isn't easy. See the process in this video feature from Business Insider.

Eider ducklings in Westfjords

The weird magic of eiderdown

Journalist Edward Posnett visited Iceland and wrote in The Guardian a long-read article: "In Iceland, the harvesting of these precious feathers has created a peculiar bond between human and duck. What can this unique relationship teach us?"

A duck guarding its nest

The links between Icelanders, ducks, and capitalism explored

"In Isafjordur, the capital of Iceland’s remote Westfjords region, a Lutheran pastor compares eiderdown to cocaine, where the harvester gets a fraction of the price." So begins an article in the Financial Times.

Flatey island in Iceland

Eiderdown harvesting at Flatey island

On Flatey Island in the Breiðafjörður, located in the Northwestern part of Iceland, the eiderdown collection has long been an important source of income. Read about it in a feature from Seabird Harvest in the North Atlantic.

White comforter on a bed

The case for the most expensive eiderdown comforter

A bird native to Iceland and the northern parts of Canada, the eider produces the world's most sought-after down. Comforters filled with eiderdown can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. Architectural digest.com

A man harvesting down

A new life in Iceland farming nature's warmest material

Polar explorer Felicity Aston and her Icelandic husband took on the challenge of a lifetime when they became custodians of an island in the remote Arctic Westfjords to learn the art of eiderdown farming. - Geographical UK.

Eiderdown in the news