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Possibilities for Australian Merino wool - Mr Welsh, CEO, AWI

01
Dec '08

Mr Craig Welsh, CEO, AWI Ltd.

Wool is one of the two naturally occurring raw materials used world-wide on a huge scale in the textile industry, and has been one of the strong pillars of the economy for nations like Australia, China, New Zealand, India etc., who are giant and established players in wool industry.

For many centuries people have exploited the characteristics of the wool fibre. Most know the value of woollen clothing for keeping warm and that it retains this feature even when wet. Over the years it has been used extensively in the home woollen blankets, carpets and materials making life more comfortable.

Despite its long history of use it is only relatively in recent years that science has unraveled nature's secrets about the molecular structure of wool more closely and allowed the industry to understand the reasons for its unique properties that can be exploited to its applications in fashion apparels challenging the notion that wool is just only meant for winter clothing or warmers.

The facts like – Wool is natural, biodegradable, naturally flame resistant and able to absorb up to one-third of its own weight in water; worsted fabrics can be made with longer fibres that produce a surface that's smooth to touch and woollens can be made with shorter fibres that stand up from the surface and give the fabric a hairy touch etc., makes it axiomatically preferable fibre in this era where a lot of stress is laid on eco safe products along with innovative fashions.

Rapid economic growth in China, India and Russia, which has led to the empowerment of their consumers, has gone hand-in-hand with the opening of their markets to the West. Each has a large, established manufacturing base and a huge, upwardly mobile emerging middle class. The growth in manufacturing, retail and consumer spending power, in several key countries, has emerged as a fundamental factor to shaping the future of the garment industry, and thus opportunities for this fibre too.

To explore out more facts on this natural fibre in particular, our team of interview channel Face2Face approached world's biggest name in the sector belonging to world's top ranking country in wool– the Australian Wool Innovation Ltd (AWI): none other but the owner of famous Woolmark. The world of information on this industry, as shared by Mr Craig Welsh, CEO-AWI exclusively speaking to Fibre2Fashion team, is just a click's distance away. Don't miss it!

Click here to read the whole interveiw.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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