Time to cotton on to wool's designs

Campaign for Wool New Zealand is pleased to be part of Shear Fashion 2013 to be held in Masterton this week.

The organisation is the New Zealand partner of a global initiative to promote the properties of wool.

Shear Fashion will showcase the versatility of wool by highlighting woollen garments from merino underwear to tailored men's and women's outfits from New Zealand's leading fashion labels, and is part of a Wairarapa-wide festival celebrating the Golden Shears.

A wedding dress created and spun by Wairarapa-based Mary Whitehead from an award-winning fleece will be a feature of the show.

There will also be a Secondary School section, Bling your Sing, with students invited to create an original design using a black shearer's singlet.

Professional shearers, players from Wairarapa rugby clubs, Miss Wairarapa and Miss Wairarapa Teens contestants will model.

Janette Eason-Savage, of the Campaign for Wool NZ, said the organisation is pleased to partner with Shear Fashion 2013.

"The opportunity to give people a chance to actually see the versatility of wool and remind them of its incredible properties is exactly what the campaign is all about," she said.

Shear Fashion is one of the very few pure-wool fashion shows to be held in New Zealand since the New Zealand Wool Board fashion shows of the 1960s.