SOUTH Australian Merino breeder Matt Ashby is a man on a mission to get Australian woolgrowers and the broader population swapping their cotton polo shirts for woollen ones made in Australia.
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After an extensive search, the North Ashrose stud, Gulnare, South Australia, co-principal has found a Queensland company to produce just that, ordering polo shirts for his own stud and other Merino breeders from OCC Apparel.
The idea came from an Australian Wool Exchange embroidered woollen polo which was made in China.
Matt said it had been worn on the farm often, put through the wash many times, and still looked fantastic.
He believes it is a great way to support Australian manufacturing, which has been under enormous strain from cheap imports.
His next step is to approach menswear brands such as R.M. Williams and Gazman to convince them to consider switching from cotton to wool.
"There has been a push to get woollen socks on everybody in China, but why not get Australians who wear polo shirts all the time wearing woollen ones to boost demand for wool?" he said.
"It is quite price competitive to cotton shirts and they wash and wear so well being durable, odour-free and warm in winter and cool in summer."
OCC Apparel sourced the woollen fabric, which is made from 17.50-micron Australian wool and is a durable weight of 200GSM, and had it dyed by Australian textile company Charles Parsons.
It was cut and sewn at their Sydney factory, which is a Woolmark licensee.
OCC Apparel's Andrew Quinn believes woollen polo shirts can have real appeal, taking advantage of the excellent reputation of Australian Merino wool and its many great properties.
"For us a cotton T-shirt manufactured in Australia is not much better than one made offshore and the price is four times more expensive," he said.
"One made of Australian wool is only a few dollars more to make the whole garment in Australia than overseas and Australian Merino is a real selling point.
"Cotton polo shirts are cheap but they are not great when they get wet and wool's thermal properties set it apart if you are working on a farm in wet and cold conditions."
Merino SA has 260 navy polo shirts, embroidered with the Merino SA logo, for sale in men's sizes medium to XXXXL. The polo shirts are $45 each plus postage and handling.
