Wool gets royal nod

Prince Charles supports the campaign. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand wool companies are being offered the opportunity to put the royal seal of approval on their products as part of a campaign led by Prince Charles.

The Prince of Wales has launched The Campaign for Wool, a worldwide drive to raise the profile of wool as natural and sustainable and to thereby increase demand for the fibre.

The Prince cut the ribbon on the project in the United Kingdom in January and it has since been rolled out in the United States, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

As part of the programme any company making products that are more than 50 per cent wool can apply to use the campaign's stylised sheep logo and promotional material.

For a token administration fee of £100 ($210) they have the right to use the logo for five years.

The campaign is being administered in this country by the National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests.

Chairman Stephen Fookes said while having Prince Charles' name on promotional material was great, "money probably wouldn't buy" the contacts he brought to the campaign.

For example Vogue publisher Conde Nast had donated 130 magazines a month worth of free exposure to wool.

The project was also receiving support from big name retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Selfridges which were providing space for exposure to wool products at no cost.

The first big event would be Wool Week in the UK on October 11-17. Savile Row, the traditional home of bespoke tailoring in London, would be covered in turf and have a mob of sheep running on it.

A Wool Week would run in the US at the same time.

"We will probably do the same in New Zealand, we haven't finalised that yet," Fookes said.

Companies wanting to use the Campaign for Wool logo would be required to provide information on sales before and after their involvement so it could be properly benchmarked.

The project was a Commonwealth initiative involving the UK, Australia and New Zealand which would each contribute around $210,000.

However, it was open to all wool-producing nations. Countries such as the US, Uruguay, South Africa and Argentina were being represented through the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), and some had already committed funds, he said.

A newsletter had just gone out to the New Zealand wool industry telling them about the campaign.

Possumdown Knitwear managing director Mike Langhorne said it was a great thing for New Zealand's wool industry.

As a certified organic knitwear manufacturer "we would definitely consider using it".

His company was focused on exporting and had just returned from a trade mission to Russia where it had secured a lot of new business.

"Half of my time at the moment is spent on taking orders [from Russia] and getting them started in the process."