The WoolOn community is set to celebrate a beautiful new beginning.
WoolOn 2021 kicks off on Friday night, for three days of fun and fashion with wool at The Canyon, a world class venue in the heart of our own merino country. After a two year break, WoolOn has re-emerged and is even better than before.
At 7.00pm on Friday night, the curtains will again open at the far end of the room. A wave of models will flow out wearing beautiful, innovative, artistic fashion made of the amazing fibre that is wool. The space will be alight with colour, movement and joy.
Models will walk a red carpet among the audience, each wearing a singular creation from a designer's imagination. Then, en masse they return, swirling past in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours.
WoolOn 2021 will reflect an awareness that the world is different now. The world order is shifting, with climate change, pandemics, economic challenges and a need for greater diversity, a sense of community and acceptance. WoolOn is helping the fashion order to shift in response.
Amongst the challenges faced in putting on this event, something new and exciting has begun to emerge in the vacuum. The map is being rewritten. Staying true to our purpose, WoolOn's identity is being moulded by designers and wool crafters with a different sense of history, a view to a sustainable future, the wish to learn, and the wish to pass on knowledge.
In a world impacted by COVID, finding the funds to put on a major event was challenging. But we have a community that pulled together to breathe new life into WoolOn.
Old and young have connected and a new generation is being inspired to create in wool, using traditional wool crafting techniques.
Collaboration has been key. The Alexandra Spinners and Weavers have been instrumental in supporting our new designers and in the development of a WoolOn expo: a day of learning, making connections, showcasing wool from farm to fashion.
WoolOn 2021 is not simply a fashion show, showcasing fashion as a finished product for two nights of enjoyment. It is that, but it is so much more.
The next three days and beyond is about what underpins each finished garment. It is about our roots in farming, our culture, our land. It is about inspiring creative design using wool, connecting to art, music, film, the written word and positive action, layering it all together with community.
It's disruptive and messy and happy to colour outside the lines. The full potential of WoolOn has not yet been realised - but we're well on the way.
Enjoy WoolOn 2021!
Image credit: Lisa Davison Photography