Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the sweater along comes a man
with a plan, in doublebreasted wool.
The Prince of Wales is attempting to rebrand a material favoured by the
nation’s grandmothers — and Val Doonican — as a fashionable and eco-friendly
fabric that consumers will choose for clothes and home furnishings. The
scheme, to be launched tomorrow, aims to help sheep farmers by boosting the
price of wool worldwide. In Britain the average price for a kilogram in 1997
was 93p. Last year it fell to 66p.
The Prince hopes to recreate enthusiasm for a product that during the Middle
Ages was this country’s most important trading commodity. The intention is
to establish a new green label for woollen products and for shops to give a
commitment to promote wool.
A wool week, backed by John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, is planned for
September, just before London Fashion Week, when shoppers start to plan and
buy their winter wardrobe.
Nicholas Coleridge, the managing director of Condé Nast publications, has the
pivotal role of enlisting retailers, designers and manufacturers to the
cause.
The Prince hopes to encourage a return to woollen carpets and rugs instead of
wooden flooring, and for woollen clothes that last instead of the “fast
fashion” trend for cheap, synthetic, throwaway garments that are being
dumped in landfill sites.
The project must also embrace Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New
Zealand for it to have any chance of success.
The value of British wool is particularly affected by prices in New Zealand,
which are now at their lowest level for 50 years. Mr Coleridge said: “We
want to make wool something desirable, so it will affect wool prices. The
plan is to try and overturn some myths and to talk up the beauty of wool and
the eco-benefits of wool, which lasts longer than synthetic materials and is
fully bio-degradable. This way we hope to re-awaken interest in wool.”
Top designers and labels such as Burberry, Jasper Conran, Paul Smith, Alice
Temperley and Savile Row tailors such as Gieves & Hawkes are already
using wool. The key is to boost its use in the middle and value retail
markets, he said.
Part of the problem is that wool is often seen as bulky.
“The secret is to make wool look sleeker,” he said. “It does not always have
to be used in a great big Arran sweater. I wear woollen suits, woollen
jumpers at the weekend and in this weather in the office.
“We must also destroy the myth about synthetic carpets being more
fire-resistant than woollen ones. Nine out of ten out-of-town sales
assistants will say that, but it’s wrong. Wool is more fire-resistant.”
Mr Coleridge, who already helps with the Prince’s Trust charity, is anxious to
keep farmers in business, to keep sheep in the hills and help to preserve
the landscape. He can see three different flocks from his Worcestershire
country home.
The Prince identified the need to boost wool prices two years ago after
complaints from upland farmers and tenants of his Duchy of Cornwall estate.
He was aware of the low prices paid for wool from his own organic flock of
just under 200 Lleyn and Hebridean sheep.
Farmers once expected their annual wool cheque to cover the cost of feeding a
sheep for a year, nowadays about £3 to £4. But today shearing and removing
the fleece costs from £1 to £1.40. With the average fleece weighing 1.5kg,
farmers last year made just under £1 a fleece and no profit from wool.
The Prince turned to John Thorley, director of the Pastoral Alliance and
former chief executive of the National Sheep Association, to plan a comeback
for wool, just as he has led a renaissance for mutton.
A year ago key figures from the British Wool Marketing Board, farmers,
manufacturers and fashion experts like Mr Coleridge met at Clarence House to
plot a revival, called simply The Wool Project.
Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer, confirmed his support,
saying it was an important step in supporting his farmer suppliers and that
he hoped to offer more wool products in stores.
Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, said two thirds of the company’s
carpet sales are British wool products and he hopes to develop more woollen
goods.
View the article here: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article7000742.ece
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