Major Italian processor states mulesing must end

Dr Zegna was in Launceston at the annual conference of the Australian Superfine Wool Growers' Association and the presentation of the Zegna Trophy and the Vellus Aureum Trophy for a fleece of 13.9 microns or finer.

Dr Zegna said the combination of the presentation of the annual trophy and the ASWGA conference, first held last year at Ararat, was a celebration of the 'Formula 1 of wools from all over the world, Australian superfine fibre.

"We are the first company to personalise every single metre of its fabric by weaving on both sides, the description of Australian superfine wool," he said. "Traceable from ship to shop."

"And in so doing, it has started to make customers aware of where the beautiful fibre was coming from. It is the king, or the queen, depending on your preference, of natural fibres," he said.

He said Zegna's use of superfine wool in classical collections and "more and more in our casual, less formal collections" is part of their tools to work with to attract the customer of today, "particularly those of the younger generation, the future of our business, the future of your business".

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Post COVID-19, young clients from all over the world were asking for style, colours and design,

"But also more and more, for a 360-degree quality which touches the softness of the fabric, the performance, and also the accessibility, transparency and sustainability.

Dr Zegna said the producers and processors all shared the same values of the qualities of the fabric, but he said the industry needed to work with each other to meet these goals.

"We have to seriously phase out the practice of mulesing. Not to speak of that would be unfair and not honest."

He said he'd spoken honestly with the entire board of directors of Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) last week on the matter. He conceded it "might have been a mistake, not to seriously and properly take action 15 to 20 years ago, when Australian wool was attacked by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)."

He said the brutal images used by PETA to attack Australian wool were to show the world how mulesing was sometimes applied.

"Whether we like it or not, not reacting to those images, not explaining why mulesing was in many cases the only and best thing to do for the benefit of the animal, hiding the dust under the carpet.

Unfortunately, Dr Zegna said, it entered the minds of many consumers who were still associating Australian wool as not being "as pure, as clean, as people thought".

"This is why we all have to do something ... we have to create the best possible confidence and interest in the fibre customers."

Dr Zegna said he warned AWI that even if China, who takes 82 per cent of Australian wool, and who so far has not shown any particular interest in sustainability, traceability and transparency, the Chinese consumers can evolve quickly and could soon start asking the same questions of 360 degrees quality with precisely the same intensity as consumers of the younger generation in other parts of the world.

ASWGA president Mark Waters had just returned to Australia as part of a delegation visiting mills in the Italian city of Milan; the most significant question was "when are we going to stop mulesing?"

"It wasn't just one (processor); it was the whole lot. We have been hearing that for a fair while. There's something we have to work out there," Mr Waters said.

He said more and more mills demand the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS).

"The mills are sourcing most of the RWS from South Africa and South America, and these countries are getting better prices than we are getting here in Australia.

"Again, it's the brands who are asking."

Mr Waters spoke of an approach from an Australian company that wanted to get RWS wool but couldn't get it.

"In the end, they got it through New Zealand Merino."