Often the clothing has been given away in promotions by rural servicing companies, but the chairwoman of Wool Partners International (WPI) wonders why it was not made of wool.
Recently, she met a group of Te Kuiti farmers who refused to accept synthetic promotional clothing, a move Ms Gattung fully supported, but said it was symptomatic of the state the crossbred wool industry was in.
Understandably, given low prices, many growers no longer had pride or passion in growing wool and she saw the stand by the King Country farmers as one small step to reverse crossbred wool's seemingly unstoppable slide to oblivion.
Many more small steps were needed and Ms Gattung said she was pleased with the contribution made by WPI.
Wool had been recognised by United States building standards as a green product, while manufacturers had responded favourably to working with growers and WPI's marketing plan, even though the economic climate precluded them from paying premiums.
WPI had signed supply contracts with two US carpet manufacturing and retailing companies, but since then two other companies had approached it about supply agreements, she said.
In an interview, Ms Gattung said wool was already in a state of disrepair before the credit crunch and the global recession had added another layer of complexity.
Ms Gattung said a further example of the decline of wool was businesses, including government departments, not using wool in floor coverings.
But she remained confident, and said wool's fortune would be reversed when overseas visitors to Auckland International Airport were greeted with a sign proclaiming: "Welcome to the home of the world's greatest wool".
This would not be some empty symbolism, but a sign of the pride and passion New Zealanders had in the fibre.
"In five years' time, I want to see the wool story upgraded from an issue of concern to farmers to something New Zealand celebrates and is proud of."
In addition to slogans and signs celebrating the fibre, Ms Gattung said success would be measured by retail chains promoting woollen products, wool insulation being used in homes and an industry structure that was a cross between the dairy and wine sectors.
Ms Gattung said she would like to see the wool industry adopt dairy's product consolidation to create some marketing power, but that did not mean WPI becoming a single seller.
From the wine industry, she wanted wool to adopt its regional differences, style and branding.
But all this was in the future and Ms Gattung said she acknowledged farmers would judge success on the price they received.
She believed repositioning the fibre and selling it on its merits as sustainable and natural was the correct path to follow.
However, the status quo had failed the industry and a generation had grown up not aware of wool's value because there had been little marketing, a lack of demand and fragmented supply.
"Wool's time has come, but we are not going to fix it between breakfast and tea time."