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Fabulous fiber not the result of woolly thinking

By Michelle Zhang | May 14, 2009, Thursday | Print Edition

OF the four million bales of wool sold at auctions in Australia and New Zealand every year, only one really counts - the Record Bale, the bale containing the year's finest wool.

Most recently, the Record Bale of 2008 was presented to Kay and Garry Wilson who run the Highlander Ultrafine Farm in New South Wales, Australia, at the award ceremony for this year's "World Wool Record Challenge Cup" held in Beijing.

The farm got the award for producing a bale of 11.5-micron (1 micron equals 1/1,000 millimeter) wool that will be transformed into 50 made-to-measure suits.

The Challenge Cup, introduced by Italian luxury fashion brand and textile manufacturer Loro Piana in 2000, is held annually to award the Australian or New Zealand breeder who produces the finest wool.

"It (the cup) encourages excellence in the production of ultra fine wools while helping promote fine wools around the world," says Pier Luigi Loro Piana, chairman and CEO of the company.

"Significant progress has been made in the past decades in terms of the products you can make out of wool," he says. "The entire wool industry benefits from finer wool, as well as research and development on finer fabrics. Wool and cashmere have become the fibers that represent the modern lifestyle concept."

Lovers of quality and tailor-made clothing will be able to enrich their wardrobes with one of the suits made from the Record Bale wool at Loro Piana stores and at some of the world's best custom tailor shops.

Since it opened its first store on the Chinese mainland in Shanghai in 2007, Loro Piana says that the Chinese market is becoming more and more important for the company.

That's part of the reason why the company has decided to move the event, which had been held previously in London, Moscow and Tokyo, to Beijing.

In less than two years, it has launched four directly owned stores in the country. "Business here is very encouraging," Loro Piana says. "What we have done here so far is over our expectations, even during the recession."

According to the sales assistants at Loro Piana's Beijing store, scarves made of fine materials such as wool and cashmere, starting from 2,100 yuan (US$307), small leather goods made of exotic leathers such as ostrich leather, as well as the ultimate luxury home products, such as chinchilla carpets, all sell very well.

The Loro Piana family business started at the beginning of the 19th century as merchants of wool. The current company was formed in 1924 by Pietro Loro Piana, Pier Luigi's father's uncle. It has become the largest cashmere manufacturer and the biggest single purchaser of the world's finest wools.

Meanwhile, Loro Piana has a direct presence in all the major markets where raw materials originate - such as Australia and New Zealand for fine merino wools, China and Mongolia for cashmere and Peru for Vicuna.

Vicuna, known as "Fiber of the Gods," originated in Peru. For many years, Loro Piana has been working to save the vicuna from extinction, and bringing the most precious fiber in the world, which was once prohibited from being traded by the Peruvian government, back to the market.

Last year, the company purchased more than 2,000 hectares in the national Pampa Galeras reserve for vicuna, where the company will promote scientific observation and research to further its contribution to the protection and preservation of vicuna. The property will be converted later into a private natural reserve.

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