Our story
Paddock To Ply, aims to provide processing and production for fine Australian sourced, natural fibres, that will be made into luxury, limited edition, fine yarns for both hand and machine knitting. Paddock To Ply would like to close the financial loop between profits and the producer community, furthering the positive economic impact for Australia’s farming communities. The Paddock To
Ply Mill, could potentially process up to and beyond 18 ton of raw fibre per year, turning greasy wool into yarn in this new mill. The Paddock To Ply concept was inspired by the need to address the existing issue that only .03% of Australia’s wool is currently being processed within the country, making it almost impossible to buy 100% Australian Grown, Processed and Spun natural fibre yarns. Paddock To Ply would ultimately like to address the lack of value-added processing in Australia, and the need to support our local farms through placing a higher value on wool fibre, while providing livelihoods, ecologically sensitive, and ‘home-grown’ goods for the local population. In the last few decades’ farmers have had little incentive to continue to raise wool-producing animals resulting in a shift towards breeding what are known as hair sheep, where the wool naturally sloughs off the animals and is lost to production. Paddock To Ply seeks to shift these economic and agricultural trends by supporting farmers through the creation of local outlets for their wool that are not dependent on international commodity market pricing. The project’s assumed scale of production will serve a larger market segment than the hand- spinning and hand-knit community, as well as offer a consistent market to deter land filling and composting of this precious resource. The Paddock To Ply mill will be based on the Fibershed model, which has already been assessed for its role as an economic and environmental solution, and therefore can be replicated, for use with our own Australian farmers, designers, apparel brands and wearers. Given the historical richness of Australia’s wool milling tradition this project builds on the context that began with early settlement, with a focused assessment on the possibility for a new era of regionalism, and vertically integrated business. The Paddock To Ply brand story of, ‘Fine Fibre Processing for Conscious Luxury Yarns’ will seek to engage, connect, and collaborate with both business and consumer in creating a truly valuable experience.
