NORSEWEAR

Let’s play a game of Dark-Corner-Of-Your-Wardrobe Bingo. It involves peering into the cobwebby areas of your closet where the clothes that no longer see the light of day live. 

Within it, you might find a faded t-shirt with seams that twisted so horrendously in the wash that they no longer line up with the sides of your body. Or a synthetic jumper with so much pilling across the front that you can’t wear it in public. Or do you own a shirt made of something shiny, vaguely smelly and unidentifiable? 

Ticked off all three? On the bright side, if they’re still in your wardrobe they haven’t yet become part of the 180,000 tonnes of textiles that make it to New Zealand landfills every year. 

But ultimately these cheap, nasty, mass-produced garments are costing both our wallets and the planet way too much. 

Somewhere along the line, the marketers behind fast fashion have retrained us to expect a new piece of clothing to not cost much more than a takeaway coffee and a cheese scone. The fashion calendar, which used to be divided into four seasons, as you’d reasonably expect, now offers 52 drops annually. And overseas research shows the average fast fashion garment is now worn only seven to eight times! 

Now look in your wardrobe for that piece you keep going back to year after year – the old faithful. Chances are it’s a New Zealand made woollen jersey or quality coat that’s been by your side through house moves, career changes, relationship implosions – the good times and the bad. It probably didn’t come cheap but if you were to do the sums, it’ll have cost less per wear than any of those budget buys relegated to the back.  

When you choose quality woollen clothing you’re choosing material from nature that goes the distance. Take the merino and possum fibres we use. Merino wool has a natural crimped structure that stretches without breaking and resists wrinkles and wear. Possum fibre has a hollow-core structure that delivers extraordinary warmth, while remaining soft, resilient and resistant to pilling.  

Sure, you’re going to be paying a bit more for a beautiful, comfortable, New Zealand grown and made merino sock than if you bought a pack of five polyester numbers from a big box retailer.  

But, crucially, you’re not making a disposable wardrobe choice. You’re making one that uplifts local farmers, makers and retailers. 

And when you do that you’re raising a much-deserved middle finger to throwaway fast fashion culture. We’re here for it.