From fleece to fashion: two centuries of wool
Pure Australian Merino wool has not only been an inspiration for designers at home but also those in the fashion capitals of the world
To fully appreciate the role Australian Merino wool plays not only in global fashion but in Australia’s history, one only needs to look at how Australia celebrated its bicentenary. On 31 January 1988 a key bicentenary ‘extravaganza’, billed as “the fashion event of the century”, was telecast to millions worldwide. This milestone event focused purely on the use of Australian wool in fashion.
The world’s best designers, including Claude Montana, Sonia Rykiel, Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Kenzo Takada, Gianni Versace, Missoni, Jean Muir and Bruce Oldfield, were called on to showcase Australian wool in front of 1700 people, including guests of honour the Prince and Princess of Wales, at the Sydney Opera House.
The nation’s woolgrowers could congratulate themselves that their Merino fleece was indeed gold in the fashion world.
The story of wool and fashion in the Australian context is not simply about clothing; rather it involves the complexities of the economic state of rural Australia, the ebb and flow of fashion’s vagaries, the defining of personal and national style and the shifting desires of society.
The beginning of the recognition of wool in fashion started with the International Wool Secretariat in the early 1950s. In key cities across the globe, IWS regional directors commissioned gifted designers, who in turn worked with leading knitwear and textile manufacturers to create collections that were presented in prestigious runway parades.
Designers across the globe entered the IWS wool fashion awards, with winners including the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent.
Evening glamour in gossamer-fine yarns and sensuous wool jerseys were showcased from Paris to Hong Kong. Audiences across the globe marvelled at the rich versatility of pure Australian wool.
Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel had needed no convincing that wool was the key to liberating women from their corsets and fussy garb. In 1923, she introduced her iconic wool suit with its trim knee-length skirt and braided, boxy jacket, and she popularised wool jersey. In 1926, the legendary Parisian designer gave wool an even bigger boost through her signature little black dress, and her enormous influence continues to reverberate.
Wool and the Parisian sense of style have been even more central to the careers of others in the fashion world, such as Rykiel, who shot to fame in the early 1960s with her ‘poor boy’ sweater and was subsequently dubbed ‘Queen of Knits’ in the US.
“All my clothes are in wool. I am a wool woman,” the French designer said in Sydney as she prepared for the Bicentennial Wool Collection. And Rykiel’s spring-summer 2007 collection at Paris Fashion Week reveals she has remained true to her passion.
In Italy, the marriage of wool, creativity, technology and superb craftsmanship spawned an extraordinary post-World War II industry that played a sizeable role in establishing Milan as one of the world’s key fashion cities.
Australian Merino wool continues to command respect through labels as diverse as Missoni – whose trademark colourful, patterned knits catapulted husband-and-wife team Tai and Rosita to fame in the 1960s – and luxury menswear giant Ermenegildo Zegna, named after the canny tailor and entrepreneur who blitzed the 1930s with his impeccable fine-wool suits.
Through its annual Zegna Awards, which allow woolgrowers to compete for the coveted title of Vellus Aureum (Golden Fleece), the Italian fashion house has continued its tradition of championing the world’s best superfine Australian Merino wool – and by extension, the designers who continue to be inspired by that luxurious natural fibre.
Australian designer Jenny Kee, whose exuberant wool knits were launched at her Sydney boutique, Flamingo Park, in the 1970s, won a celebrity-strewn international clientele, including the late Princess Diana.
Fast forward to today and designers including Jayson Brunsdon, Julien McDonald, Proenza Schouler and Martin Grant are taking Australian Merino wool into the future with new technology and innovative fabric finishes, alongside the world’s top knitters and weavers. The constant demand for natural and sustainable fibres sees extremely innovative Australian Merino yarns and textiles become available, offering a variety of benefits to designers, retailers and manufacturers across the globe.
From farm to fashion and to the future: Australian Merino wool remains a fibre for all seasons and every generation.
AWI’s program manager of fashion communications, Melissa Grace, says it is important that passionate renowned designers are all working with Australian Merino wool, taking it from the sheep’s back to the catwalks of the world, and setting new trends.
“Developing unique Australian Merino wool fabrications and garments with the highest-quality knitters and weavers is an exciting venture for many designers,” she says. “Australian Merino wool has become a staple in their seasonal collections.”
Images: The Woolmark Company
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