‘Wear Wool, Not Waste’ campaign: Australian Wool Innovation wages war on fast fashion

“Wear Wool, Not Waste” is the latest global brand campaign unveiled by the Australian wool industry’s peak marketing and research body. Launched internationally on September 23, the Australian Wool Innovation campaign shines a spotlight on the environmental benefits of wool — natural, renewable, biodegradable and the world’s most recycled apparel fibre. It comes at a time when legislative changes are being introduced to curb the rise in throw-away fashion culture, which has been driven by cheap, synthetic clothing. The first synthetic clothing was introduced less than 200 years ago and is predicted to account for 73 per cent of total fibre production globally by 2030. The average polyester product is likely to survive in landfills for more than 200 years. Built on this uneasy idea that every synthetic garment ever made still exists in some form, the campaign centres around a 60-second film showing people rushing to escape a zombie invasion of the old synthetic clothes that still haunt our planet to this day. AWI chief executive John Roberts said Wear Wool, Not Waste was more than a marketing campaign — “it’s an urgent call for people and the industry at large to re-evaluate their fibre choices”. “Wool is inherently natural and renewable and has the potential to be a transformational solution to fashion’s impact problem, offering a versatile, biodegradable, recyclable, long-lasting solution,” he said. “This is an important campaign because it is about defending the natural qualities of wool against the fast fashion, which inevitably leads to waste and is often thrown out after a handful of uses. “It’s simple, wear wool, not waste.” Mr Roberts said with one in three people saying that they rarely or never check fabric composition when making a purchase online, the campaign strives to highlight the unique benefits of choosing wool over alternative fossil fuel derived fibres. “It’s a call for real change,” he said. “This campaign fits into wider work undertaken including by our Filter by Fabric initiative, which calls on industry to stop using misleading language on product names. “Instead, adopting accurate fabric composition descriptions in product names and introducing fabric filters on e-commerce sites to help shoppers make more informed choices.” Mr Roberts said the Filter by Fabric initiative was launched last year and has garnered thousands of pledges, with commitments from brands such as Reformation through to Benetton, as well as industry bodies including Copenhagen Fashion Week, No More Plastic and the Plastic Soup Foundation. “The first campaign — Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel — was viewed 130 million times worldwide,” he said. To find out more, visit woolmark.com/wear-wool or to watch the campaign video on YouTube.