Aussie fashion students designing with wool
Through grants provided by the Australian Wool Education Trust, AWI promotes the use of wool by leading Australian fashion design students. The initiative aims to instill the students with a knowledge of and connection with Australian wool that will stay with them as they progress through their careers.
Through grants provided by the Australian Wool Education Trust, AWI promotes the use of wool by leading Australian fashion design students. The initiative aims to instill the students with a knowledge of and connection with Australian wool that will stay with them as they progress through their careers.
Established by the Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) in 1997, the Australian Wool Education Trust is an independent body administered by five trustees, two appointed by each of AWTA and AWI and one appointed by Wool Industries Australia.
The aim of the Trust is to encourage the education in Australia of students planning a career in the wool industry – from young farmers, all along the supply chain to budding fashion designers.
In addition to providing research scholarships, hosting of educational resources and other activities, the Trust started providing grants in 2015 to selected fashion design students to explore the use of wool in textiles and fashion. The students are required to incorporate 80% wool into their final collections at college.
In 2021, AWET provided 30 grants, totalling $50,000, to selected students in their final year at 10 Australian fashion schools. Two of those graduates are highlighted below.
More information: www.woolwise.com
Cameron Hill
Diamond stitched wool jacket, plus stripe lace knit dress that was made using 100% Merino wool yarns custom dyed by Geelong Dyeing, plus detail.
Cameron Hill is an emerging textile led designer, who received a Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Textiles from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2021. Her Honours graduation collection had a strong focus on local sourcing and using Australian Merino wool.
“I love how wool is a natural and sustainable fibre, is durable while being extremely comfortable next to the skin, and once knitted it feels very luxurious. I believe using wool elevated the quality of my Honours knitwear collection and gave it a premium feel,” Cameron said.
“The collection has a focus on knitted lacework that re-conceptualises grandma-esque knits into contemporary garments that sculpt the body.
“To create the colours that I wanted, I contacted Geelong Dyeing and had them dye 17 custom yarn colours in 2/28NM 20.5-micron 100% Australian Merino wool. The company is very keen on seeing how creatives are using their yarn.”
Now located in Byron Bay, Cameron works as a designer and product developer at Australian premium fashion and lifestyle brand Nagnata, a brand that uses a lot of Merino wool in its garments and which The Woolmark Company has a good relationship.
“It was amazing to continue the same work from my Honours project into my career as a designer. Nagnata has a huge passion for eliminating synthetics and works extremely closely with natural fibres and the innovation of knitting with it,” Cameron said.
“I want to continue working for brands that have a strong focus on sustainability and natural materials such as wool. My goal in the next few years is to start my own knitwear/tailored label with a focus on natural fibres only – zero synthetics, and zero-minimal wastage.”
Australian actress Jess Bush wearing a diamond stitched boucle wool coat, from Cameron Hill’s graduate collection, for a shoot in the fashion bible Women’s Wear Daily.
More information: www.instagram.com/cameronamyhill
Hugo Stynes
A wool-rich look from Hugo Stynes’ graduate collection, featuring classical and contemporary menswear styles, being showcased at Melbourne Fashion Week Student Collections Runway in October 2021.
Hugo Stynes is a Melbourne-based designer and graduate of the Whitehouse Institute of Design (Melbourne campus) who completed a Bachelor of Design and Graduate Certificate of Design in 2021. Hugo was brought up on the family’s farm in South Gippsland in regional Victoria.
His graduate collection, titled ‘What He Wore’, has been tremendously successful, being selected to feature in the Melbourne Fashion Week Student Collections Runway (October 2021) and the Melbourne Fashion Festival National Graduate Showcase (March 2022), both of which shine a spotlight on the next generation of Australia’s flourishing fashion design talent.
“The four looks in my collection are made up predominately of Australian wool in varying weights and textures that offer an underlying warmth and softness, and a sophisticated textural and tonal variety. Quality textiles, exemplified by Australian wools, were so important in bringing my collection together,” Hugo said.
Since graduating, Hugo has continued to work on his fashion label, while at the same time working as the assistant fashion buyer and product developer at Henry Bucks gentlemen’s outfitter (established in Melbourne in 1890), which he is loving.
“I’m focused on getting into the industry, working, and learning as much as I can. I am still designing of course, mostly womenswear at the moment. I’m working on developing my process and extending the scope of my designs.”
Hugo says that sustainability in fashion is fundamentally important nowadays.
“Thankfully, it seems to me that most new designers are making a genuine effort to minimise their environmental impact. In my case, I attempt to use almost exclusively natural fibres and reduce any material wastage. Furthermore, I prioritise high-quality fabrication and materials so that garments that I design are made to last and hopefully exist as staple wardrobe pieces for a long time.”
More information: www.instagram.com/h.w.stynes
This article appeared in the December 2022 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
