New Zealand

New Zealand's fibre sector is worth more than $926 million at farm gate, new research has found. The findings, part of the first study to examine the industry as a whole, are released ahead of a full Foundational Fibre Report due in August, led by Fashion and Textiles New Zealand and supported by the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust.

Untouched World, a Kiwi lifestyle brand, has won the ‘Fashion Business of the Year’ award from Positive Luxury, home of the Butterfly Mark, and a certification recognising luxury brands demonstrating real change and positive impact on planet and society.

Wool, long regarded as a symbol of New Zealand’s pastoral heritage and a sustainable alternative in an increasingly eco-conscious world, is set to take centre stage again, as it gets knitted into a government directive mandating the use of Kiwi-grown and manufactured wool carpets in public sector buildings.

The future of fashion isn’t synthetic. It’s natural. It’s regenerative. And The Sheep Inc brand embodies and symbolises ideas from a carbon-negative supply chain, premium merino wool garments and regenerative farms to that word which is at the core of many debates in the fashion world: transparency.

Multilateral government oversight of working conditions (at the point of production) combined with further regulations encouraging ethical supply chains (at the point of import), may be a more effective way to reduce the chances of another Rana Plaza.

A strategic partnership will help growers across 3.7 million acres of land in New Zealand to boost regenerative agriculture and monitor the resulting ecological outcomes to strive for a more sustainable future.