As a forerunner in the development and promotion of wool, the organisation has worked with major brands such as Raymond, Monte Carlo, Jayashree Textile and The Aditya Birla Group in India to champion the benefits of wool
Initiated by Australian woolgrowers who recognised the need for a collective body to represent their fibre globally, The Woolmark Company was established in 1997. Working alongside Australia’s 60,000 woolgrowers to research, develop and certify wool, the non-profit organisation creates affirmative change through open and honest conversations across the entire wool textile supply chain. The value of the Woolmark brand is well-established across the world. One of the world’s best-known textile quality fibre brands, the Woolmark logo has adorned more than 5 million products in the apparel, interior textiles and home laundry sectors in the past five decades.
In fact, the brand is recognised as an independent mark of quality, assuring the supply chain and end consumer of the quality of the product the Woolmark logo adorns. To maintain the reputation of the Woolmark brand, The Woolmark Company engages with independent and rigorous testing laboratories to ensure quality assurance. There are five main tests that products must pass before being certified. These are fibre content, light fastness, durability, laundering performance and colourfastness to liquids. The Woolmark certification program comprises three different categories of certification: pure new wool, wool rich blend and wool blend performance.
These categories denote the fibre content of the product. Pure new wool applies to product created with 100% new wool. The wool rich blend logo applies to product made with between 50% to 99.9% new wool and the wool blend performance applies to product comprising 30% to 49% wool. With respect to the wool market in India, the country has been a major market for the consumption of Merino wool from Australia with around 7% of the total production being exported to India. The Woolmark Company has created a stronghold over the market in the past few years through its relentless efforts in educating manufacturers and consumers about the advantages of wool.
The company’s main focus has been to connect the supply chain – from the manufacturers to the brands – in such a way that they are equipped to switch to wool use. The Woolmark Company has worked with major brands such as Raymond, Monte Carlo, Jayashree Textile and The Aditya Birla Group to champion the benefits of wool. Not only does The Woolmark Company certify quality wool product and partner with manufacturers and brands to educate about the benefits of wool, it is also responsible for providing technical support to brands and manufacturers and encourage product development.
Working with brands to realise the importance of the fibre, The Woolmark Company also works on educating the general public and small traders about the advantages of using wool. The Wool Appreciation Course is one such educational offering which aims to make people aware of the remarkable traits of the wool fibre and the benefits of the wool fibre for use in both apparel and interiors.
Says Dilip Gianchandani, The Woolmark Company’s Country Manager in India: “There are many advantages of wool. Australian Merino wool is a unique fibre with many performance benefits. The fibre adapts to the body temperature of the wearer, keeping the body cool in summer and warm in winters. Not only is the fibre luxurious and comfortable it is 100% biodegradable, natural and renewable, extremely important characteristics for today’s consumers.”
To encourage students to use the fibre, the company hosts a pan-India competition called Wool Runway in which participants from leading design institutions such as Pearl Academy, NIFT and NID participate to showcase their design skills using wool. The competition aims to educate the next generation about wool and inspire fashion designers to use this wonderful fibre. The Woolmark Company has a global network of offices and departments that work right along the supply chain from woolgrowers in Australia to the manufacturers and designers in India.
This breadth of influence enables The Woolmark Company to realise the importance of traceability for today’s consumer. “Through our constant efforts towards innovation in research and development within the wool industry, The Woolmark Company has not only been successful in inspiring brands to use Merino wool in their respective premium quality categories but it has also successfully provided its partners with the technical support to capitalise on the demands of a changing consumer,” Gianchandani states.