Fashion collection earns rave reviews

High-end wool fashion is coming to WA and co-ordinators of the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) Runway Parade 101 Kit are saying it will be the best collection of wool garments to ever be presented in the West.

After its recent opening at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo, where it received rave reviews, the entire collection is earmarked for the Newdegate Machinery Field Days on September 5 and 6.

AWI media communications co-ordinator Kate Muir said the parade would feature the 2012 collections from 15 leading Australian designers and brands.

"The Runaway Parade demonstrates the role the world's most luxurious yet affordable natural fibre plays in making fashion come alive," Ms Muir said.

Many of the designers' brands have a celebrity following including Elle Macpherson and Nichole Kidman.

Such trendsetters who walk the red carpet award shows and are pictured in celebrity gossip magazines can influence a person's decision to buy the latest designer clothing and accessories.

AWI subsidiary The Woolmark Company invests in identifying fashion trends and in understanding consumer behaviours to promote the unique benefits of Merino wool and to maximise the international demand of the fibre.

AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough said the Woolmark logo was one of the most well-known and respected apparel-related brands in the world.

"We plan to keep it that way," Mr McCullough said.

He said there were many reasons why the world's leading manufacturers, designers and retailers chose to work with Merino wool.

"The fibre inspires creations for the everyday as well as for the catwalks of the world's top fashion houses," he said.

"The finished product is soft with superior drape, follows the form of the wearer's body thanks to exceptional elasticity and can be knitted or woven into the latest trends of unique statement pieces."

Topping the brand list at the Newdegate field days will be a Collette Dinnigan design. Ms Dinnigan was the first Australian to be invited to the official Haute Couture fashion shows in Paris.

Her 2012 collection is inspired by stories of good and evil, once upon a time filled with lightness and darkness.

Designs from Perth's very own Kym Ellery will also feature on the catwalk.

After completing a certificate in fashion design in WA, Ellery studied in London and her keen eye and avant-garde inspiration have created her own ELLERY label creating a brand of international recognition, gracing the pages of US Vogue and Harpers and dressing some to the world's top models and extremely influential Australian women.

This season Ellery presents a collection where innovation and wearability reign supreme.

Australian menswear label, M.J. Bale will also be represented with supremely tailored, intelligently designed garments.

Based in Sydney, the fashion house is soon to open its first store in Perth.

M.J. Bale hand-selects exclusive fleeces from the finest produced.

Behind the scenes, M.J. Bale has been dressing the Australian and other world cricket teams with wearable and breathable wool quality.