Fashion Revolution. Sustainability

The Fashion Revolution movement has been a constant reminder of the need for us as a brand to ensure we are a positive force in the fashion industry and do not contribute to the problems with which this industry is well known. 

FIBRE

It begins with our fibre source - Merino wool. One of the reasons we love Merino wool is that it is a biodegradable and renewable fibre - Merino sheep produce their fleece annually, grazing on native grasses and basking in the Aussie sunshine! This is beneficial to the wearer as you're putting a natural fibre next to your skin - a fibre that has been the fibre of choice by humans for many thousands of years - warm in winter, cool in summer, and even protects from light rain!

Inherently fibre will shed from any clothing when it is washed - as a biodegradable fibre, Merino wool does not have any ill effects on the environment when this happens. When your Woolerina piece has come to the end of its life you can throw it onto the compost heap/bury it in your garden where it will break down and actually return nutrients to the soil. All that will be left will be the threads which held the garment together.

DESIGN 

One of our core values when our business first began back in 2005 was to design garments which were practical and functional to ensure that the styles did not become out-dated as the garment aged, ensuring it lasts its owner many, many seasons. This value is still at the top of our priority list whenever we introduce new styles/designs - our vision is to thoughtfully design classic styles and timeless silhouettes to ensure you feel amazing in your Woolerina piece, whether it be ten days or ten years old! 

WASTE

Waste is something which creates much angst in our family and business...as a result it is front of mind in almost every decision that we make!

In 2014 we decided to bring the cutting of our complete collection in-house - this was a massive undertaking but saw dramatic improvements in our fabric yields and also enabled us to collect ALL our fabric off-cuts and waste. Fabric off-cuts are now often able to be used for sampling new styles, repairing garments or even as whole new pieces, it's also used as ribbon to package our online orders!

Any fabric waste that is unable to be used is set aside for another project we are working on - this one is very exciting and we can't wait to share it as it progresses!

All paper waste created in the production process is recycled through our local recycling centre. Any office paper waste is either recycled or put through the shredder and then put into the compost!

In order to reduce waste created by seasonality, we manufacture in small production runs to ensure we aren't left with large volumes of stock which need to be discounted or which aren't able to be sold at the end of a season. 

Being able to manufacture (design, cut and sew) our collection at our work room at Forbes is something we are immensely proud of - being able to see the fabrics we've worked hard to create transformed into garments by our amazing production team is seriously just so rewarding...we really do carry the 'Australian Made' logo with honour and pride!

Penny. x