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Trading blankets

What’s the value of a woolly jumper?

[Metrics]

Looking at the trends for manufactured woollen products exported from New Zealand, it seems that exports of the humble blanket are increasingly being outstripped by other value-added products from the sheep’s back.

Adding value to products from our sheep industry by turning wool into clothes is nothing new. Robust Swanndri woollen shirts have been keeping farmers and hikers warm since 1913 and are an established icon of rural New Zealand. New urban-flavoured Swannies have been created by clothing designer Karen Walker, which is a sign of the times: here and overseas, most people now live in towns or cities. The route from flock to frock is shorter than ever before.

Shorn of any notions of a return to the rough rub of woolly jumpers, today’s designers and clothing manufacturers have been making new cloth from old with innovative natural fabric creations and easy-to-wear fashion garments based on wool. Beyond merino sheep wool alone, blends now include possum fur which is super-soft and, with a hollow fibre, very light and warm. Over the last 15 years the Untouched World clothing and lifestyle company has pioneered exports of blended merino wool garments and the merino export momentum has increased with the arrival of Icebreaker outdoor clothing.

Fashion innovations with new wool technologies look set to continue. A new project by Textiles New Zealand aims to support more New Zealand companies in developing innovative export-oriented products. The initiative is designed to encourage the interaction between industry and technology providers to deliver new products and services to world markets. Canesis Network, now owned by AgResearch, carries out R&D into ways of using New Zealand wool, with a focus on developing innovative wool and wool-blend products.

Far from going down, well, like a wet blanket, these sorts of initiatives will encourage creative new applications of our abundant New Zealand wool. Fashion combined with technology innovations, smart futuristic and sustainable products with a natural feel—these are transformative innovations coming the way of our economy, built on what we’ve already been doing well. You make your bed, you lie in it.

Jason Smith is studying for a PhD at AUT University, focusing on the creative economy. He lives on the shores of the Kaipara harbour where he keeps a vigilant watch for black sheep

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