The Woolmark Company teams up with one of the world’s most prestigious fine yarn producers to promote wool

One of the world’s most prestigious fine yarn producing companies has lent its voice to a new international marketing campaign promoting the sustainability and quality of Merino wool.

The Merino Wool — Made by Nature campaign, launched at at Pitti Filati 2022 trade fair in June, has been supported by Australian Wool Innovation’s marketing arm The Woolmark Company with the aim of targeting consumers and the textile trade.

The biggest voice in the campaign is the world-leading brand Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia, an Italian company that has been producing knitwear yarns for more than 160 years.

Each year, the company buys more than 10 million kilograms of raw Merino wool from Australia.

At the heart of the campaign is a three-minute video that highlights the entire production process of Merino wool, from farm to fashion to promote the values of sustainability and quality that distinguish Merino wool from other fibres.

Australian Wool Innovation chief executive John Roberts said The Woolmark Company had joined forces with the Biella-based company to create and launch the campaign in a bid to promote Merino wool as a sustainable figure and “drive sales”.

“As many consumers demand sustainable fashion choices Australian Merino is perfectly placed — not only is it soft, natural and 100 per cent biodegradable,” he said.

“We know Australian Merino is the world’s best natural fibre and it is important to promote it regularly — this joint promotion is a great way to do just that.”

The video begins by showcasing the natural origin of Merino wool fibre on an Australian wool-growing property, ‘Glenrannoch’ in Victoria under the care of woolgrower Alistair Lade.

Mr Lade runs 10,000 ultrafine Merinos across 1000ha.

The video then travels to the historic Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia factory that spins the wool into yarn, and features plant manager Nicola Mattassoglio.

Ms Mattassoglio tells viewers that she has “fallen in love with wool” and shares an insight into the production process, showcasing how state-of-the-art tools and technical know-how transforms wool into the ideal product for making quality garments.

“Our production is still hands-on as it was 150 years ago, as wool is a natural product every incoming batch has its own special characteristics,” she said.

“It isn’t a standardised product, so, experience counts for a lot — the skilful touch and eye of the people who work for us.

“I’ve fallen in love with wool because it has an ease and comfort no other fibre can offer, and because it forms part of our tradition, our DNA, and we’re the best at making it.”

Lastly, renowned US-born and Milan-based designer Edward Buchanan tells viewers why he chooses Merino wool yarns to make his beautifully knitted garments.

“I love wool, its a fibre that I’ve used since the beginning of time and I love the flexibility, it’s really a yarn for me that’s the basis of whatever I do, no matter what season it is,” he said.

“I design in a way like Bauhaus furniture, I like to build things up strong and hard so they last for a long time and wool is one of those fibres that you can count on for that.

“It’s a yarn for me that I can use now and I’m sure then I’m going to have it in 20 years or longer.”

The video is also being promoted on a special landing page on the Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia website as well as through the company’s social media channels.

As well as targeting the textile trade, the campaign is also hoped to educate the final consumer about the benefits of wool thanks to the creation of bespoke interactive garment labels for brands that use the yarns.

The labels include a QR code that links to the campaign webpage and video, revealing insights into the eco-benefits of the fibre and wool’s supply chain journey, for the brands’ consumers to view.

An additional educational video has also been produced for staff of Zegna Baruffa