Manufacturer from Japan visits Australia
Representatives from Japanese textile manufacturer and Woolmark licensee Miyuki Keori visited Australia in May to see the on-farm source of Australian Merino wool and meet with some of its Australian menswear clients.
Founded in 1905 as a manufacturer of woven wool fabrics for kimonos, Miyuki Keori has evolved during the past 119 years to specialise in men’s luxury textiles, mainly worsted wool fabrics. The company has spinning, weaving, finishing and garment making facilities, and produces about one million metres of finished wool fabric each year.
The Nagoya-based company has earned an international reputation for high-quality skills and craftsmanship. It is a Woolmark licensee and a trade partner of the International Woolmark Prize.
In May, Miyuki’s Chief Of Staff Ms Tamami Yoshimura and master tailor Mr Kaneko Kenichi visited Australia to meet with several Miyuki clients, including Australian-owned gentleman’s clothier M.J. Bale and lifestyle brand Charlton, plus AWI staff in Sydney.
“Receiving information from AWI and The Woolmark Company about the Australian wool industry is very useful for us because we don’t have an agent or branch office in Australia,” Mr Kenichi said.
“I think it is important for both the Australian wool industry and businesses like Miyuki that make and sell Australian wool products, that The Woolmark Company is not only involved in short-term marketing but also the long-term branding of wool. Long-term, we believe that we can secure wool’s position in high-value-added products through branding and traceability management because wool is highly competitive in this field.
“We understand that Australian woolgrowers have had some challenging times, due to price fluctuations and climate variability, so we very much want the wool industry as a whole to pick up and expand, because we need a stable supply of wool from Australia.”
M.J. Bale
M.J. Bale, which was founded in 2009 and now has an 80-plus store network nationwide, uses Miyuki’s wool suiting fabrics.
At a special event in May at its national flagship store at Martin Place in Sydney, M.J. Bale launched its Made in Japan program that offers customers the choice of ready-to-wear and made-to-measure coats, jacket and trousers. At the event, Mr Kenichi measured customers for tailored suits, all to be handsewn in Mr Kenichi’s atelier in Hokkaido by a team of experienced tailors using Miyuki fabrics.
Master tailor Mr Kaneko Kenichi taking measurements, and orders, at M.J. Bale in Sydney.
Mr Kenichi and Ms Yoshimura later in their trip travelled with M.J. Bale Founder and CEO Matt Jensen to the northern Midlands of Tasmania to visit woolgrower Simon Cameron’s 3,000 hectare ‘Kingston’ property that produces superfine Merino wool. M.J Bale has been working with Simon since 2015 on ‘single-source’ suits, tuxedos, blazers made entirely from Kingston wool. M.J. Bale has also worked with Kingston on trials with sheep fed with asparagopsis seaweed supplements to reduce the sheep’s methane emissions.
Mr Kaneko Kenichi, woolgrower Simon Cameron, Ms Tamami Yoshimura and M.J. Bale Founder and CEO Matt Jensen.
“The Australian wool industry has a rich history of producing reliably high quality wool. At Japanese fashion schools, we learn that Australian wool, Merino wool, is unique,” Mr Kenichi said.
“Australia has an image in Japan of being a vast country that values nature and is highly attuned to environmental issues. We hope the industry continues its tradition of innovation to produce a next-generation wool fibre that has minimal impact on the environment.”
Charlton
Whilst in Australia, the Miyuki representatives also met with Sydney-based lifestyle brand Charlton. Launched in 2018, Charlton sells functional menswear, including Australian Merino knitwear: T-shirts, shirts, long sleeved polo shirts and pullovers.
Mr Kaneko Kenichi at Charlton’s shop in Sydney.
Guided by a passion for travel and adventure, the brand’s garments are crafted in Japan using premium fibres like Australian Merino wool. Charlton will soon launch new wool products made using Miyuki fabrics, including jackets and trousers. Charlton was originally introduced to Miyuki by The Woolmark Company.
Charlton creative Henry Cousins also attended the Incubation Lab wool insights workshop held in Sydney in March by The Woolmark Company, in which participants were provided with valuable knowledge and resources to enhance their design capabilities with wool (as reported in June edition of Beyond the Bale).
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This article appeared in the September 2024 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
