The global Campaign for Wool is under way to remind the world of the fibre's wonders. New Zealand fashion industry notables are among those supporting the venture, Jude Hathaway reports.
We've been sashaying around in wool for the past 13,000 years, since we first threw on the woolly skins of wild sheep to keep cool in summer and warm in winter.
By about 10,000BC, some clever souls in northern Europe had begun spinning wool into yarn and weaving it into the first basic cloth.
However, in recent decades, oil-derived synthetic fibres have taken over, with sheep numbers in New Zealand having dropped significantly.
Despite this, the performance fibre continues to be highly sought-after in the garment industry and by top designers around the world, including New Zealand's best.
A dozen of the country's most notable designers, including two from Dunedin, were chosen for the launch of the New Zealand Campaign For Wool, celebrated in Wellington this month.
Their creations were modelled at the "Shear Brilliance" cocktail event at Massey University's College of Creative Arts as the climax of the campaign's opening activities.
The aim of the five-year campaign, which was instigated by the Prince of Wales, is to reignite a passion for the wonders of wool around the globe.
The designers helped by taking and transforming the classic black woollen shearer's singlet into contemporary, futuristic fashion.
Their distinctive signatures were there as they showed off the exciting versatility and beauty of wool.
Among them was Elisabeth Findlay, founder of the internationally lauded Zambesi fashion house, who is the ambassador for the Wool in Fashion campaign.
Her creation, "OTT", succeeded brilliantly in conveying wool's message.
The 13 layers of the elegant mini-dress were made of French mesh and an array of wool fabrics, from wool jersey, wool felt and wool suiting to wool gauze and wool lace.
Findlay, who grew up in Dunedin, has from the beginning of her illustrious career been inspired by textiles and wool.
Wool provided myriad choices, she said: "We've always used wool in our ranges and always will." Her sister, Dunedin notable Margarita Robertson, is also a strong advocate.
New Zealand yarn is used in her highly successful Nom*D knitwear.
"Even if it is not spun here, we have always been adamant that it must be New Zealand wool," she said, adding she hopes New Zealanders will begin recalling wool's benefits.
"Down here we have grown up with wool and its many attributes, which include its ability to take dyes well and its memory, which allows garments to retain their shape."
Robertson's long black "Shredded Hoodie" punched home the glib Nom*D design approach by extending the singlet silhouette to floor-length, shredding the hemline and adding a drawstring hood to echo today's street imagery.
Donna Tulloch's "Flash Jack" was of wool felt, a fabric the Dunedin designer, who also enjoys an international profile, often uses.
A feature was the bustier, made of hundreds of strands of knitting yarn and sewn on with shoelaces.
Outer pockets overflowed with yarn, and another design detail was a white screenprint of a Victorian cane wool basket. Tulloch, founder of the Mild Red label, used the outfit as a tribute to her late father, a blade shearer.
"Wool was my first love and always will be and I believe it's always tended to be underrated," she said.
"Many people who wear it in winter are averse to even thinking about it for summer when actually, because it breathes, it's much cooler to wear than many synthetics.
"I hope the campaign is successful in promoting this, and its many other attributes." Others in the show were Sherilyn Catchpole (State Of Grace), Andrea Moore, Liz Mitchell, Deborah Sweeney, Robyn Mathieson, James Dobson (Jimmy D), Sabatini, Untouched World and Swanndri.
The New Zealand Campaign For Wool launch follows sister events in Australia in March and the UK last October.
"We want people to be reminded of the virtues of wool again and put it back in the 'must-have' category with consumers," said Stephen Fookes, the campaign's New Zealand representative.
Outfit Details (from left)
• Robyn Mathieson's "Peggy Sue" outfit (merino wool and digitally printed nylon) was influenced by women who support Kiwi shearers, and mixes traditional weaving with peggy squares.
• For Nom*D, Dunedin designer Margi Robertson's "Shredded Hoodie" (100% wool) is extended, deconstructed and - with the addition of a hood - echoes the wearability of the traditional shearer's singlet.
• "A Touch Unworldly" (100% merino), from Untouched World, has a sturdy underlay, emulating the traditional black singlet, and a fragile outer layer symbolising a complex and technical future.
• For her "O.T.T." dress (100% wool jersey, wool suiting, wool gauze, wool felt, wool lace and more), Elisabeth Findlay, of Zambesi, used 13 layers to take the black singlet into a world of endless imagination.
