Wearable Wool - Winning wool trousers stride out
A pair of 100 per cent wool, worsted men’s trousers, developed by The Woolmark Company through a project funded by AWI, has won a prestigious US retailing award. The ‘non-iron’, high-performance, pure-wool trousers, which can be repeatedly machine-washed and tumble-dried, won the US publication Retailing Today’s 2006 Product of the Year Award.
AWI funded the development of the technology needed to produce the trousers in 2005. The trousers have since been commercialised by global design and manufacturing business TAL Apparel.
Dr Allan de Boos, AWI’s program manager for woven products, says the trousers fulfil consumer demands for natural fibre and easy-care clothing.
“Natural fibres are a key element in meeting the needs of modern consumers,” Dr de Boos says. “They also want easy-care options for day-to-day wear.
“This has always presented a challenge for wool, but research and development has allowed the industry to meet these challenges. These woollen trousers are an example of that.”
The new trousers are being marketed in the US with a number of key retailers, such as Levi, under the Dockers brand.
Dr de Boos says this sort of product innovation benefits Australia’s woolgrowers by meeting the needs of modern consumers.
See also: Wool reins supreme at Nundle.
Return to Beyond the Bale Issue 28 index page.