Englands' love of wool set to be shown in grass to garment campaign

Over the next few months their #thankawoolgrower campaign will feature some of the Merino producers who have produced the wool which was turned into yarn for the winter collection of their Fields Classics menswear, Notting Hill 100 per cent Merino Wool and MFT Corporate wear range which includes clients such as Coles and Bunnings.

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Chris and Liz, James and Saanchi England, The Snuggery property at Taratap near Kingston SE are among these growers who will appear on the company's social media and in store promotion.

Fields sales and marketing representative Lavina Smith says it is an initiative that the Melbourne family owned company had been considering for a while with their three key focuses quality, traceability and authenticity.

"We strongly believe in educating consumers about the Australian wool industry's how, where and why and the global benefits and impact for the future of buying and producing wool," she said.

Ms Smith -who comes from a fine wool property in Vic- says she wanted to help their retail partners share with their customers photos and stories in store and online.

"Gone are the days of a customer coming in and the retailer just saying how good something looks when they try it on, people love to know the story behind the end product," she said.

She says as the younger generations become more financially independent they are increasingly educating themselves about the sustainability and transparency of the products they consume.

" They are more likely to seek information about how products are made, and we want the wool to be a priority and a conscious purchase for everyone to enjoy," she said.

Earlier this year Ms Smith approached Techwool who bought the 28,000 kilograms of wool (207 bales) at auction last year on behalf of the spinning mills that supply Fields with their yarn.

The bales which were shipped in late February were bought through 12 different brokers who have helped Fields trace the wool back to some of these farms.

"We want to be able to be transparent with all elements of the supply chain. We would love to see the #thankawoogrower expand as traceability assets become more available," Ms Smith said.

The England family who have received numerous awards for the outstanding quality of their clip , including Elders Clip of the Year, jumped at the opportunity to be part of the #thankawoolgrower campaign.

"I love wool, love the feel of it and I love working with it," Chris said.

It is also an opportunity to raise the profile of The Snuggery's stud which was established in 1935 and also share their commercial wool growing story, producing about 400 bales each year.

James, who is a fifth generation woolgrower, says it is important to educate consumers on how wool is produced.

"The younger demographic in particular see it as big business trying to profit off of animals but a lot of time it is small businesses and families like us who really do care about our animals," he said.

He also sees it as a way to highlight how the wool industry contributes to the strength of rural communities.

The Englands are proud to be wearing some of their own wool from the 10 bales of Merino ewe hoggets wool bought by Fields and hope it can lead to further traceability opportunities.

"You see sometimes at the shops there may be a bag of onions or potatoes which have a little tag with a person on it and you can scan a QR code or read a bit about them on the back - that is really good background for consumers," James said.

"If there was some sort of group that had to adhere to a certain set of standards environmentally and wool quality wise to be part of a brand we would be pretty interested."

Elders district wool manager Steph Brooker-Jones who connected Ms Smith with her clients the Englands says it is great promotion for the Merino industry, the local Kingston area and the England family.

"They are a great family farming business who have been dedicated to growing wool for many years so it is good to see their wool going into a well known Australian brand that is available both locally and across Australia," she said.

"Any promotion for Australian wool whether it is 100 per cent wool or even wool blends is great for the industry."

The first growers introduced last month were Colin and Kaye Graham from the Loddon Valley in Vic.