Australian Wool a Sure Thing for Indonesia's Designers
Jakarta. What differentiates branded items from similar products we find in many apparel stores is quality -- the quality of the materials used and the craftsmanship and skill applied in creating them. It is not uncommon for an Italian fashion house, for example, to export fabrics from as far as the southern hemisphere where a certain type of fleece called Merino is sheared.
Merino wool is supported by the Woolmark Company, where Rajesh Bahl is global manager the developing market. During a Wool 101 seminar at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Jakarta last week, he explained that wool has 18 properties that make it a better material to use for garments than synthetic materials. Wool is breathable, appropriate for a variety of climates, elastic, fire-resistant, machine washable and stain resistant he said, giving a few examples.
A test conducted by the Woolmark Company showed that "sport wear made of wool fabric can retain odor for up to seven hours after exercise," Bahl said, making it ideal for exercise wear.
One of the most important characteristics of wool which determines its classification — as well as its price — is the wool’s fiber diameter.
“The finer a wool diameter, the softer and more crimped it becomes. Crimp, the wave in the wool staple, contributes to the bulk and the lightness of wool fabrics. The Australian wool clip is particularly suited to use in apparel,” says Bahl.
The softness of wool fabrics even makes it suitable for baby’s clothing. Its breathability makes it the perfect material for baby products.
This disproves commonly held view of wool. Most people think wool would be best knitted into a sweater and other cool-climate apparel. But as the Woolmark Company's global trade education manager Julie Davies says: “Wool is not only for cool climates. There’s a lot of applications for wool.”
And Woolmark has developed "high technology for producing the finest fabrics for designers and manufacturers,” Bahl added. This technology has enabled them to produce a wide variety of fabrics.
In a mini fashion show held at the event, models showcased items made of fabrics woven from Merino wools. Merino wools are the main ingredients for many of the fabrics used in international fashion houses and by world-renowned designers. Woolmark’s patrons include Givenchy, Vivien Westwood, Jonathan Saunders, Dunhill, Alexander Wang and Victoria Beckham.
The iconic logo of Woolmark, which was created in 1964 by the Italian graphic artist Francesco Saroglia, has now become a symbol of quality, as garments with this logo must contain 100 percent pure, new wool.
This logo also helped convince Hesty Halim, general manager of Gistex, an Indonesian textile company, to attend the workshop at the Grand Hyatt.
“I came because of the brand offered in this workshop. Working in the textile industry, I need to know the latest updates. We don’t have this type of garments in Indonesia, yet.”
Josephine Nyoman, a couture and bridal designer based in Surabaya, came to the workshop ahead of launching her ready-to-wear collection next month.
“I was interested in this workshop because I’m used to having fabrics from Australia — I was educated in Sydney,” said Josephine.
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