Wear Wool, Not Waste

Woolmark has unveiled its latest global brand campaign, Wear Wool, Not Waste, spotlighting the environmental benefits of wool - natural, renewable, biodegradable and the world’s most recycled apparel fibre.

The campaign comes at a time when legislative changes are being introduced to curb the rise in throwaway 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% 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.

John Roberts, managing director, Woolmark: “Wear Wool, Not Waste is more than a marketing campaign, it’s an urgent call to citizens and the industry at large to re-evaluate fibre choices. Merino wool is inherently natural and renewable and has the potential to be a transformational solution to fashion’s impact problem, offering a nature positive, versatile, biodegradable, recyclable, long-lasting solution.”

With one in three people saying that they rarely or never check fabric composition when making a purchase online, the campaign strives to educate citizens on the unique benefits of choosing wool over alternative fossil fuel-derived fibres.

Woolmark continues to amplify its 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.

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 campaign supports Woolmark’s broader mission to position wool as a solution to the industry’s impact crisis, which is reflected through the recently launched Woolmark+ Roadmap – a program designed to propel the industry towards nature positive.