The Woolmark Company’s Wool Week program coincides with the 2017 winter selling season, celebrating the very best wool, and wool-rich apparel, and home textiles from Australia’s iconic brands and retailers including Westfield, Country Road, R.M. Williams, M.J. Bale, and Rodd & Gunn.
An initiative that arose from the global Campaign for Wool, Wool Week champions the eco-credentials of the fibre, making it the perfect choice for today’s conscious consumer.
Natural and biodegradable, wool provides the global apparel industry with the most renewable, recyclable, and reusable fibre on the planet.
Westfield has collaborated with The Woolmark Company for its winter fashion campaign, celebrating Australian Merino wool, the growers who produce the fibre, and the designers who use it.
The campaign supports local retailers, championing wool in a curated selection of winter apparel, accessories, and boots.
Shot at the beautifully restored Anlaby Station, one of Australia’s oldest Merino studs, new season fashion is worn by real wool-growing families. The campaign launches in line with Wool Week Australia (13-21 May 2017).
The ‘Family’ theme from Westfield’s Autumn/Winter ’17 campaign continues, featuring international fashion model Stephanie Field with her mother, Angela, of Benangaroo Station, New South Wales, and her cousins, Macleay and Hudson, alongside Anlaby Station woolgrowers and co-owners Andrew Morphett and Peter Hayward, as well as Westfield fashion ambassadors Kitty Callaghan with her brother Monty.
Stephanie, whose parents are fourth generation woolgrowers, said: “I’m proud to be a Westfield ambassador and to share the important story of Australian wool-growing families. This campaign resonates so strongly with me and my family because Westfield and The Woolmark Company are telling the ‘farm to fashion’ wool story, recognising the people who produce one of the most important fibres for fashion worldwide.”
AWI CEO Stuart McCullough said The Woolmark Company works to increase the demand for wool globally, and the increased interest in where the natural fibre is grown and its superior environmental credentials was of increasing interest to the modern consumer.
“Australian wool has a wonderful story to tell and we are lucky to have great brands to help do this during Wool Week. It is important to remember than no one in the wool industry sells any wool until the consumer buys.”
Bill Burton, Group General Manager, Brand & Media Experience, Scentre Group, added: “This season, Westfield and The Woolmark Company have partnered to celebrate a story of Australian provenance, working together to bring the modern wool story alive. This campaign gives customers inspiration on how to integrate wool into their new season wardrobe, alongside a wide range of winter footwear, accessories, and apparel from a number of Australia’s favourite brands, all available at Westfield.”
Winter apparel from more than 30 retailers, all available to buy at Westfield shopping centres, are featured in the campaign including Bianca Spender, Camilla and Marc, Country Road, Kookai, M.J. Bale, R.M. Williams, Rodd & Gunn, and Sportscraft.
Customers can enjoy events at Westfield across the country for Wool Week Australia, including the opportunity to experience Jacqui Fink’s hugely popular extreme knitting classes at Westfield Bondi Junction and view her work at Westfield Doncaster throughout Wool Week.
This winter Country Road is celebrating the beauty of wool with the Close Knit Magalogue. Shot by Benny Horne, the famous expat Australian photographer who currently resides in New York, the winter campaign takes place on Bruny Island, just off the coast of Tasmania.
The rugged, dramatic landscape provides the perfect backdrop to the warm, natural yarns used throughout the winter collection across woman, man, home, and child.
The winter magazine profiles a local shearer, shepherd, and sheep farmer as well as a select few Bruny Island families who produce artisan food and wine, emphasising the provenance of place and product. Woollen product is featured heavily throughout the publication.
There is an extensive profile of Tasmania’s Julian and Annabel von Bibra at their Beaufront station that focuses on the farm’s current effort to produce and market single origin Tasmanian wool to the world. Country Road has worked with Beaufront to create a limited edition Woolmark-certified men’s knit polo.
Darren Todd, General Manager, Country Road added: “At Country Road we love natural fibres, and this winter we wanted to pay homage to the provenance of wool. Featured heavily throughout our winter collections and Close Knit Magazine, Country Road is commited to designing and creating premium quality knitwear.”
To celebrate Wool Week, Country Road has partnered with Tourism Tasmania to offer you a chance to go behind the scenes of the Close Knit campaign. With any woollen item purchased at Country Road stores nationally or on their website, customers can go in the draw to win a Bruny Island Long Weekend Escape to Tasmania, plus a $1,000 Country Road Woolmark-certified Shopping Experience. The competition commences on Monday 15 May 2017 and ends Sunday 28 May 2017.
Image: Woolgrower’s daughter and fashion model Stephanie Field, along with her mother, Angela, of Benangaroo Station, NSW, and her cousins, Macleay and Hudson, front the campaign.
