With wool supply being tight this season due to the on-going dry conditions across northern and western New South Wales, smaller labels are either using less wool or blending finer wools with coaser ones.
The buyers — mills in China and Italy that process the raw wool into everything from the superfine fabric required for high-end suits, to the coarser wool used in military uniforms —are increasingly feeling the pressure. The soaring wool prices is also leading to unsold products like the Uniqlo's merino sweater which has remained unsold for the past three autumn/winter seasons.
The financial success of the fast-fashion giants like H&M and Zara now dominating the landscape has been built on a supply-chain model with tiny margins that leave workers open to exploitation, sees tonnes of unwanted clothes filling landfill and damages the environment.
