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Like wearing Chanderi cotton sarees but hate it when they are crushed? Want to preserve the knots in bandhani duppata even after several washes? Try wool as a yarn of choice.
In order to popularise wool as an all-weather fibre, the Woolmark Company, along with apparel manufacturers, retailers and even designers, is bringing out the versatility of wool.
Alex Lai, Country Manager for India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, The Woolmark Company, said wool could adapt well in a warm country such as India as it is highly versatile and adaptive.
This means it could transform merino wool from its traditional use to a more adaptable fibre for garments such as innerwear, dress and even sarees which could be worn in all climatic conditions.
The Woolmark brand is owned by Australian Wool Innovation, a not-for-profit company owned by more than 25,000 wool growers.
Australia is the world’s second largest producer of greasy wool, producing about 345 million kg of wool and accounting for about one-fifth of global wool production.
Woolmark said it was targeting only luxury or premium brands as the fibre itself was expensive.
The company has already tied up with retail brands, such as Raymond, Color Plus and Monte Carlo, to create a diverse range of products to be launched under the ‘Cool Wool’ campaign.
Lai said India is the second largest importer of Australian wool but still consumes only about 7-8 per cent of wool compared with China, which imports 80 per cent of Australian wool.
“We are expecting an increase in percentage of raw wool being imported to India in the 2013-14 season,” Lai added.
Apparel manufacturers Monte Carlo Fashions and Raymond Ltd also said they were working on introducing ‘Cool Wool’ in India.
Cool Wool is a range of fine, lightweight merino wool fabrics and garments ideal for hotter climates and the spring-summer season.
Mrinmoy Mukherjee, Director, Marketing and Business Development, Raymond Ltd, said, “If the consumer is educated properly, we believe the cool wool can be popular in apparel as well.”
bindu.menon@thehindu.co.in
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