Innovative hybrid wool yarn a runaway winner
One of the most popular sportswear brands in Japan, Goldwin, has launched a range of Woolmark-certified T-shirts made from an innovative wool blend yarn from leading Japanese spinner Nikke, with support from The Woolmark Company.
With the aim to foster the use of Merino wool sporting apparel by runners in Japan, The Woolmark Company launched a joint marketing campaign in March with the Goldwin sportswear brand for a range of its new T-shirts made using Nikke’s AXIO® wool blend yarn.
Goldwin’s T-shirts, made from Nikke’s AXIO®︎ wool blend yarn, that have the hand feel of pure wool.
Established in Japan in 1951, the Goldwin brand sells apparel for running, trekking, skiing and lifestyle markets. The brand is part of Goldwin Inc, the fourth largest sports group in Japan that has annual sales worth A$1.1 billion.
The marketing campaign focussed on raising consumer awareness of Merino wool in sports, with a focus on trail running, as well as driving sales of the new Goldwin wool-rich T-shirts. The digital campaign drove online customers to a dedicated campaign landing page on Goldwin’s website where they can purchase the apparel. The campaign also included videos, social media, promotional e-newsletters to Goldwin’s client base, and advertorials on third party running blogs.
The campaign also promoted the T-shirts at the Ultra Trail Mount Fuji event in April to raise awareness of the benefits of Merino wool apparel amongst the thousands of highly motivated event participants who regularly buy trail running gear.
The project supported the first ever collaboration between Goldwin and Japan’s largest wool spinner Nikke, a long standing Woolmark licensee that consumes 2,300 tons of Australian Merino wool each year (see the article about Nikke in the June edition of Beyond the Bale). Established in 1896, Nikke has recently been expanding its wool yarn business in the sports and outdoor category through the company’s innovative AXIO® wool blend yarn.
What is Nikke’s AXIO® wool blend yarn?
Conventional wool-polyester blend yarns wrap the polyester fibres around the outside of the wool fibre bundle, but Nikke’s AXIO®︎ yarn has a new spiral-structured polyester fibre wrapped inside the wool fibre bundle – see diagram below.
Diagram of Nikke’s AXIO®︎ yarn with the wool on the outside.
Because the wool is exposed on the surface of the yarn, AXIO®︎ retains the exceptionally soft texture and feel of pure wool when touching the skin. It also has all the other benefits of wool, such as the ability to reduce post-exercise chill, absorb and release moisture, and resist odours.
Tomonori Yasuda, the head of the Nikke’s factory at Gifu in northern Nagoya, says that while it has previously been possible to spin a core of polyester into a wool fibre bundle, the problem was that the wool and polyester easily became separated. However, AXIO®︎ overcomes this problem.
“With this spiral structure, we took on a challenge no other maker had ever attempted before. The completed yarn has the advantages of both wool and synthetics, and thanks to the fibre structure, it has added stretch and anti-pilling benefits too,” Mr Yasuda said.
Goldwin performance wear merchandiser Yuya Kobayashi says AXIO®︎ yarn stands out compared to other wool-synthetic yarns.
“In recent years, hikers prefer base-layers made of Merino wool for its advantages like resistance to post-exercise chill and odours. Nikke’s AXIO®︎ has all these features of wool, plus it’s moisture wicking and durable. Goldwin’s T-shirts manufactured with AXIO®︎ are a perfect base-layer for exercising in activities like running, trail running and trekking, or for everyday wear,” Mr Kobayashi said.
Top trail runner backs Goldwin’s hybrid wool T-shirts
Top trail runner Dylan Bowman from the USA, helped develop Goldwin’s new T-shirts: “I use one almost every single day and it’s my favourite piece.”
The Goldwin wool blend T-shirts are a favourite for top athletes including world-class trail runner and Goldwin ambassador Dylan Bowman from the USA, who has won the Ultra Trail Mount Fuji twice.
“I typically like using wool products in every environmental circumstance, whether it is hot, humid or cold. Wool is a unique material in that it help temperature regulation in all those circumstances,” Dylan said.
“I love the AXIO®︎ because it combines the best of natural and synthetic materials. On the hand and on the body, it feels like a high quality Merino wool shirt, possessing all the benefits of wool when it comes to ventilation and temperature regulation ... It's the perfect running tee.”
Such was the success of the project and the relationship between The Woolmark Company and Goldwin that the Japanese brand has already agreed to expand its AXIO® wool collection for the upcoming autumn/winter season.
More information:
www.goldwin-global.com/asia/editorial/axio
https://nikke-nny.co.jp/english
This article appeared in the September 2024 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
