WOOL growers, fashion designers, retailers and consumers are uniting to celebrate the Woolmark Company’s Wool Week Australia until June 3.

The Woolmark Company is the marketing arm of Australian Wool Innovation and is organising celebrations across the country with major shopping centres, fashion designers and retailers.

Wool Week Australia arose from the global Campaign for Wool, which champions the eco-credentials of the fibre.

AWI chief executive officer Stuart McCullough said the annual Wool Week puts wool at the forefront of shoppers’ minds.

“Thanks to the support of leading brands and retailers, along with educational activities, Wool Week aims to reconnect consumers with the versatility and natural benefits of Australian wool and encourage conscious purchasing decisions.

“Australian wool has a great story to tell,” he said.

“As global consumers become more concerned with the story behind a product – where, what and how it was made – the fibre’s natural, renewable and biodegradable properties are today more important than ever before.

“I applaud all retailers, brands, woolgrowers and consumers who have once again thrown their support behind our annual campaign and are ultimately increasing demand for this luxury fibre.”

Multinational Westfield joins Wool Week campaign

Wool-growing family Skye, Digby, Harriet and Dave Ward of ‘Spring Ponds’ front the Westfield Winter campaign.

Multinational Westfield has joined the campaign as a major partner, releasing its wool-focused winter campaign in time for Wool Week at 39 centres across Australia and New Zealand, to celebrate wool growers and designers.

AWI said Westfield is championing Merino wool in fashion, active wear and homeware, showcasing wool’s natural benefits and taking customers back to the fibre’s source, with the help of Dave and Skye Ward from Goulburn, NSW.

Nine Westfield centres across Australia and New Zealand will come alive during Wool Week, hosting exclusive events and activations including extreme knitting workshops, visual merchandise displays showcasing retailer wool product, interior design workshops, and fashion exhibitions, AWI said.

Westfield has also collaborated with The Woolmark Company for its winter fashion campaign, celebrating Australian Merino wool, the growers who produce the fibre and the brands who use it.

Westfield Sydney is hosting artist, Natalie Miller, who is creating a live knitting installation. Westfield Doncaster will showcase a collection of International Woolmark Prize garments from the world’s best emerging fashion designers.

Interior design workshops with LuMu are being held at Westfield Bondi Junction and an International Woolmark Prize exhibition at Westfield Doncaster is showing customers the very best, innovative wool fashion.

Extreme knitter Fink gets arty

In partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW, Australia’s most-loved extreme knitter, Jacqueline Fink, will be hosting a series of workshops in the gallery’s Wool Lounge, AWI said. Participants will be treated to a unique masterclass and will leave with their very own extreme knitting creation made from Australian Merino wool.

The Art Gallery of NSW’s exclusive Wool Lounge is set up near The Lady and the Unicorn exhibition that showcases a collection of rare French medieval masterpieces mostly made from wool and silk highlights.

Jacqueline Fink has also created an extreme knitting masterpiece starting with a ball of wool, on show in the main window of Sportscraft’s Pitt St Mall store until the end of Wool Week.

Fashion retailers also celebrating wool

Also celebrating Wool Week are fashion retailers CUE, David Lawrence, Helen Kaminski, Icebreaker KOOKAI, MARCS, Otto & Spike, Oxford, Parlour X, R.M Williams, SAAKI, SABA, and Veronica Maine. St Ives Shopping Centre sees knitting workshops for all ages and knitting stations so that visitors can help knit scarves to do be donated with the yearly coat drive to those in need.

AWI said wool is natural and biodegradable, and provides the global apparel industry with the most renewable, recyclable and reusable fibre on the planet. Australia producing 90 percent of the world’s fine apparel wool suitable for the high-end fashion market.

Source: AWI.