Ecologic
Woolly for you
by Sarah Barnett
Farming and fashion seem an unlikely partnership.
So what was AgResearch, the Crown research institute de-voted to food and farming, doing at Auckland’s Fashion Week? Putting on its first show, naturally, although corporate affairs manager Allanah James admits the most common reaction in the lead-up to the event was “Why?”
It’s an intriguing meeting of two normally separate worlds, she says – “high-fashion creative designers and shorts, socks and sandals-wearing scientists”. Although, she’s quick to add, she’s exaggerating about the socks and sandals.
Still, it’s unexpected: agriculture and science in New Zealand have never had much in common with the fashion darlings. Although AgResearch food and textiles general manager Rob Finch could almost pass for a runway reporter as he describes the world-first wool fabrics the team is show-casing: they have “very good drape”, he says, “very supple, very fluid”. Lovely.
And maybe it’s the shot in the arm our wool industry needs: export prices have fallen by about 40% in the past 10 years. The way to turn around that decade of decline, James says, is with innovative design and technology with, Finch adds, the primary aim of “addressing some of the changing consumer needs around sustainability”.
Wool already has a lot going for it from a sustainability point of view: it is a natural fibre, regrows each year and has great properties for clothing, such as its ability to absorb moisture without feeling wet.
In comparison cotton, the other great natural fibre, is a water-guzzler and the most insecticide and pesticide-heavy crop on the planet – not to mention largely grown in areas where farmers are unlikely to get a good deal for their crop, never mind their exposure to all those chemicals.
Despite its good properties, wool has downsides when it comes to using it in clothing. Although machine-washable wool has been on the market for about 35 years, it must go through chemical treatment to ensure it survives the washing machine without felting or shrinking.
Finch says wool is already an extremely high-tech substance, although it doesn’t necessarily appear so. Therefore achieving a machine-washable end result without the previously necessary treatments required a very specific approach towards the fibre and yarn types in the wool being processed. The result not only is lightweight – with that great drape Finch refers to – but also keeps its shape with a natural stretch, meaning no need for synthetic or elastane blends.
The new fabrics can also handle dyes that are traditionally difficult to work with in wool: bright, pastel and really rich, deep shades are tricky, says Finch. These new fabrics can take a “vintage” distressed-looking, denim-style dye, and can also be coloured with two tones in a single dye-bath, cutting waste and production costs. Even considering the colouring process, Finch says, “we’ve been really careful that we didn’t go down a path and introduce a process that would have an adverse environmental effect”.
The “Natural Easy Care” suit and shirt fabric is already available for commercial manufacture, but the fabrics that debuted at Fashion Week – the Superfine Merino Knitwear, Windproof Fleece, Vintage Dyed and Tone-on-Tone Knitwear and the Novel Knit Jacketing – were put out there in the hopes of attracting -commercial interest.
But still, Fashion Week? James explains that AgResearch took fabric samples to last year’s show, and the event’s -manager, Pieter Stewart, came up with the idea of approaching designers to see whether they’d contribute to a collection.
Ten took on the challenge. Designer Annah Stretton says, “It’s great to see the tentacles of fashion reaching well beyond the Bombay hills and extending into industry that wouldn’t normally be associated with fashion.”
Stretton, James says, was like a – “guardian angel” when it came to putting the show together, giving an insider’s guide to an organisation more used to Fieldays than Fashion Week.
