AWI engages with leading fashion designers to promote wool within the industry

Australia’s leading fashion designers have been engaged by Australian Wool Innovation’s marketing arm, The Woolmark Company, in an effort to get more wool on clothes racks in retail stores across the country.

The Woolmark Company relaunched its education program for designers, called the Designer Incubation Lab, in Sydney on November 9.

AWI chief executive John Roberts said Australian wool was the best in the world and AWI worked all along the supply chain to promote its greater use.

“As the industry’s research, development and marketing company we want more designers to value and use wool in what they do,” Mr Roberts said.

“Wool is a sustainable, biodegradable and natural fibre that is perfect for use in so many different things.

“This program is about sharing the knowledge we have with designers so they step up their wool use.”

The Designer Incubation Lab program consists of educational workshops with industry-leading speakers.

INTACT founder and creative director Gabby Neal made the journey from Condobolin to attend the Sydney lab series and her take home message was the importance of fostering local fashion industry networks to drive awareness of wool benefits.

“Working with The Woolmark Company has been integral to the success of INTACT, keeping our business up to date with the latest in wool trends,” Ms Neal said.

“The Incubation Lab was an incredible day, connecting with peers, and learning about the latest industry insights and innovations and how designers on a global scale are weaving wool into their new collections.

“I come at it from a woolgrower and designer background, and it’s exciting to see leading Australian and New Zealand brands getting behind Merino wool as part of the global shift towards natural fibres.”

She said The Woolmark Company did “an incredible job” in sharing knowledge with the fashion industry and holding similar events in the future would be key to growing demand for the homegrown fibre.

Some of the top Australian and New Zealand designers at the Sydney event included: Alemais, BASSIKE, Beare Park, INTACT, Hyde and Stone, SIR the Label, Iris and Wool, Christopher Esber and Venroy.

Throughout the Designer Incubation Lab, attendees heard from industry experts about sustainability, circularity and traceability, global legislation, product innovations and future forecasting.

Adding a further global perspective to the mix, recent Woolmark certified United States-based resource centre, Variant3D, shared insights on leading textiles industry information.