Farmers are keeping the wool industry alive
The Woolmark Company is the global authority on wool, which highlights Australian wool's position as the ultimate natural fibre and premiere ingredient in luxury apparel. Stuart McCullough, the managing director of the organisation spoke to Fibre2Fashion about the global wool industry and The Woolmark Company's future plans.
How has the global wool industry evolved over the years?
The global wool industry really has changed. I am seeing a lot more wool in the retail market. So, there will be a lot more wool in the retail stores and on fashion catwalks, which is an evolution. The other end of the supply chain of the wool industry has changed dramatically in the last 20 or 30 years. It looks quite different from what it used to look like. More and better wool is growing and it has changed all the way along the supply chain and at both ends of the supply chain. Wool is now also being used in high-end fashion products.
How will you market your product in India?
We have got about 30 different ways in which we can do that. We spend money on branding in-store. We spend money on point-of-sale. We do app development for point-of-sale. We do product development. There is no one answer to that; there are probably 30 different things that we can do for promotion.
What are the limitations of the Australian wool industry? What are your plans to tackle them?
The limitations are sales; we want to sell more. That is why we are marketing around the world, just to sell more garments.
What are the major changes that you have noticed in the Australian wool industry in the last decade?
In the last decade, the price has gone up and that is the biggest change. Farmers are now becoming profitable. This is a big and important change as they are now making money, whereas a decade ago they were not. They are keeping the industry alive.
Please tell us about the latest wool innovations being spearheaded by The Woolmark Company.
The Woolmark Company heavily invests in product research and development and we have a number of exciting innovations in the pipeline. One really exciting development, which is in stores now, was actually made in India and is the result of a three-way collaboration between adidas and The Woolmark Company. The fully engineered Primeknit Half Zip was a collaboration that utilised the fibre know-how and innovation from the team at The Woolmark Company and the consumer insights from Adidas.
This garment has a tubular almost seamless construction with flat seams which promotes comfort by eliminating rubbing or chaffing and the fully engineered garments offer the thermoregulation qualities of wool, enhancing the performance of your body.
What are your future plans for The Woolmark Company?
We will be working on some different programmes that look into product development. We are actively investing in product development. That is one. Second, we want to become more digitally abreast (of others). Certainly, we have got a digital strategy in place, which gives us digital force. Social media is an important component, and so the other thing is to increase our digital presence in the next 12 months. Over the next year, we want to talk about biodegradability of wool.
What is The Woolmark Company doing to further promote merino wool across the globe?
Through marketing. We put some marketing behind it. International Woolmark Prize (IWP) is a marketing strategy for us. We want to profile our product and our brand, and the IWP is a great example of how that works. It does those two things very well. The other component of IWP is that now we have designers showcasing wool that become internationally well-recognised.
What is the scope of the Indian wool industry in the global context?
India is a bit different because it is a very hot market. It is still very important to us because there are lots of deconstructed wool garments on the market now, and we can capitalise on that. More deconstructed garments are being manufactured now (.compared to earlier). It is a good opportunity there. It is a completely different market compared to Europe and North America, and there is good population and affluence as well. The climate is also favourable. There are tailored garments in the market too; so that is also an opportunity.
Any suggestion for improvement for the Indian wool industry?
No. I would never tell the Indian industry how to bring something better; they should work that out.
How was your experience of judging IWP this year?
IWP is an internationally prestigious occasion. I was probably the least-known person among the judges, but it was a great honour to be among them; it is always good fun. It was done with the best intentions, and no one was getting paid. No one was making money out of this, we were just there to reward young emerging designers. It is all done in very good spirit.
What factors did you consider while judging the participating designers?
Depending on the judges, some are very creative and look for something very beautiful, some of the judges are from a retail background, so they look for something that is commercial. From my point of view, because I have a slightly technical background, I looked at the technique. I tried to help the other judges understand technically what is happening in that garment. I also tried and determined whether the person has the ability to commercialise the product; in other words, is he ready to be a commercial designer on the international stage and won't let down the retailer? So, it is very important that we do not give the prize to someone who is not ready to merchandise or does not have the business acumen or skills to merchandise on an international stage.
What is The Woolmark Company planning to do to further promote wool as an essential component for the luxury market?
Invest in marketing and promote merino wool. That is what we are doing. Marketing our product and trying to sell more of our product. The only way to do that is by marketing.
What are your views on the new and upcoming designers who participated in IWP?
They were a very good bunch of designers and the standard continues to improve each year. We certainly will be able to have a sort of endless supply of emerging designers that can offer us really beautiful garments. So, that is exciting; you always imagine that we will run out of these. But the standard continues to go up.
