UK Merino shirts made from Aussie wool

A UK company has created a fully-traceable line of shirts made of Australian Merino wool, showcasing the fibre’s journey from a NSW farm to stores in England.

Claimed to be the best mountain shirt in the world, the McNair branded label is fully-traceable from sheep to shirt.

As reported in Australian Wool Innovation’s Beyond the Bale publication, Yorkshire-based McNair Shirts, of England, has always used Australian Merino wool for its iconic shirts.

In November the company, founded seven years ago, achieved its dream of launching a fully traceable line of shirts.

Labelled Provenance AG Merino shirts, the line uses wool from Boorowa-based woolgrower Paul Simons, of ‘Glencoe’, in NSW.

Merino wool was shipped earlier this year from Glencoe farm to Yorkshire where the fibre was processed and then made into the fully traceable Provenance AG Merino shirts.

McNair Shirts’ Natalie Stapleton spent a year developing both the fabric, which is now used to make every McNair shirt, and the manufacturing process which allowed the use of local expertise.

“It was a happy set of circumstances that brought us in touch with woolgrower Paul Simons,” she said.

Ms Stapleton said after Mr Simons’ wool arrived in Yorkshire, it was processed by some of England’s most respected mills, all located close to McNair’s factory.

“We work with local companies such as Z. Hinchliffe where the wool is dyed, blended and spun into yarn,” she said.

“After weaving, the fabric is sent to WT Johnson that mills the material to create the luxurious soft and weather resistant material with its felt-like finish.”

Ms Stapleton said McNair Provenance Ag Merino fabric had silver micro particles embedded into it to give it enhanced anti-microbial and anti-viral properties so that that the shirts would be fresh, odour-free and clean for longer.

“The fabric is then transported to McNair for cutting and sewing into the Provenance AG Merino shirts, for men and women,” she said.

“The consensus is that the shirts are beautiful, incredibly soft and the best the company has ever made.”

To highlight the full traceability of the shirts to consumers, McNair has documented the progress of the wool “from sheep to shirt” on its website and social media channels.

Glencoe is located on the south west slopes of NSW and is made up of fertile valleys and granite slopes leading up to undulating native grassland flats surrounded by old-growth native woodlands.

More than 10 per cent of the land has been set aside for conservation.

Mr Simons and farm manager Tom Simson are committed to their flock, animal welfare, the environment and sustainability.

They are doing everything in their power to conserve the look and feel of the property and provide the best possible home for its 10,000 sheep.

“We are proud that our Glencoe wool meets the exacting standards required by McNair Shirts and that the product is fully traceable from paddock to shirt,” Mr Simons said.