WOOL is an increasingly rare, natural fibre in a sea of man-made fibre, according to Australian Wool Innovation's newly appointed general manager of research Paul Swan.
Speaking at the Sheep Connect SA Sheep Industry Forum in Adelaide, he said that Australian woolgrowers - who produced a quarter of the world's wool - were well placed to capitalise on this and the increasing demand from society's health and wellbeing push.
Dr Swan, who has spent 13 years with AWI, said the company was working hard through research and development to get more for every kilogram produced by Australian woolgrowers.
This included boosting demand for wool during "shoulder" seasons through product innovation in luxury suiting, lightweight knits and socks.
Figures show 89 per cent of woollen knits and 76pc of woven wear are sold by retailers in the seven months from May to November, corresponding to the North American and European winters. The push is on to have more woollen garments available in warmer periods.
There has also been a focus on diversifying markets and developing new ones, including using the superior absorbent properties of wool to assist the treatment of medical conditions, sleepwear to give wearers a good night's sleep, and products aimed at babies and children.
Atopic dermatitis has become a common problem among children and is growing at similar rate as asthma and food intolerances.
Clinical trials through the Qld Institute of Dermatology show that wearing a layer of fine lightweight woollen knitwear next to skin provides some relief, reducing redness and the desire to itch.
"Wool can absorb twice as much vapour as cotton and 10 times as much as polyester so it has the capacity to act as a moisture buffer," Dr Swan said.
"The dryness of the skin has dropped by using wool as a second skin and so they don't have the desire to itch."
He said sleepwear was another strong focus area for AWI, with studies at the University of Sydney finding those wearing wool pyjamas had on average an extra seven minutes of sleep a night compared with those with cotton pyjamas.
"It might not seem a lot but over the course of a year it adds up to around two days per year," he said.
"There is a history of using wool in duvas and other bedding for thermal moisture management but we are now seeing strong interest in the sleepwear space."
Dr Swan also acknowledged wool's major customers in the future would be the booming Asian middle-class rather than traditional markets of United States, Japan and Western Europe whose economies were struggling, and which had stagnant population growth.
"The world of wool has seen dramatic changes in the last few decades and the next two decades will see 2 billion more people which need to be clothed," he said.
"We have an ageing First World population and emerging affluence in Asia, with China a real hotspot and India a long-term bet, and even if we doubled global wool production it would only be a small part of market share of the textile industry.
"In the next 10 years we will see 320 million people move from the low - income level to the middle class, and 440m across Asia, worth $5.8 trillion in income growth, who will have more money to spend on clothing."
* Full report in Stock Journal, March 20, 2014 issue.
Catherine Miller
Stock Journal's livestock editor and South East correspondent.
Stock Journal's livestock editor and South East correspondent.
