From farm to fabric to fashion

A sustainable fashion label was born and now grows on Georgina and Willy Lawson's sheep farm in Otago. 

The wool from the their Romdale hoggets is crafted into Atér designer coats and blazers. 

"Atér is my grandmother's name backwards" says Georgina, the label's founder, designer and mother to three young boys. 

Georgina's grandmother, Rita, was a professional dressmaker who specialised in wedding dresses.  

"I spent lots of time in her sewing room as a child, fiddling around with her. She tried to teach me a thing or two. She was pretty clever. Very clever, actually." 

It was Georgina's inspirational grandmother and also the low value of strong wool, that gave her an entrepreneurial lightbulb moment.

"I was grumbling at my husband about declining wool prices and he said, well, why don't you try and do something with it? And that's how I started finding out what I could do with this great fibre that we grow here on the farm." 

Woollen coats were a natural fit for the budding designer. 

"When we were living in London I got a bit of an obsession with coats so I thought, I'm going to start making my own."

A lack of strong wool innovation has been a major frustration for New Zealand growers. Lawson is bucking this trend. 

She said her coats require a medium to high micron fibre, for strength and for the weaving of the fabric. 

"Strong wool has been used in carpets forever, and I thought, why can't we use that in the fashion industry and make a great piece that is going to last forever?" 

One of the biggest challenges she had to overcome was turning the raw fibre into a designer coat within the country. 

After much research, she mapped out a manageable production process for the wool.

It's scoured in Timaru, carded and spun in Wellington, then it goes to Auckland to be woven into fabric, before cutters cut the pattern and it's sewn into the end garment. 

"It didn't make sense to have this great product here and then send it overseas, and then bring it back and sell it as New Zealand wool."

Georgina pulls a wheat-coloured coat off a long rack in her farm-based studio.

"We go for a slightly oversized look, so it's a relaxed fit. We've got patch pockets, so nice and handy for phones and keys. It's a good length and very simple and classic."

She has several other designs on the rack and is planning to release a new style next year, which she's already working on.

"I still can't believe that people say that I'm a fashion designer. It was sort of a childhood dream that I never thought would actually come true," she says with a big smile.