Business

Fake Fur Coats Made Of Aussie Wool Help Drive Australian Wool Prices

‘Fake fur’ overcoats made of Australian wool are in hot demand in China as its winter season sets in

Independent wool consultant Andrew Dennis said up to 10 million kilograms of wool, most of which had come from Australian sheep, had gone into manufacturing the material.

Dennis said the material saw sluggish demand when it was first manufactured six months ago but during the last month demand had increased considerably.

"It looks like a sheepskin, except it doesn't actually have the skin on the reverse side of it; it's got a knitted fabric where the wool is," he said. "They're calling it a fur-like material because they can dye it different colours & make it resemble a fur." Last year, double-faced reversible jackets were the hot thing in China but this year woollen three-quarter length overcoats are trending.

He said this year's fashion gem was a "heavy" product, with a high wool concentration. "Up to a kilo and a half of wool per metre goes into this product," he said. "It actually chews up a lot of wool, which is great in terms of the volume of demand it provides."

Why call it fake fur?

Australian wool products sell well in China with the Australian brand UGG boot being a classic case in point. So why brand it as "fake fur" instead of Australian wool or sheepskin? Dennis said sheepskins were aligned with ugg-style boots, but a fur was "more of an overcoat material". According to him, it came down to marketing.

Helping drive price of Aussie wool

The majority of Australian wool is classed at 19 microns, and that is the preferred wool type in the mass production of the "fake fur" coat.

Elders wool broker Andrew Howells said that, due to the "retail success" of the coat, demand was "certainly" increasing for 19 micron. "We've seen a large rise in the price over the last three weeks," he said.

"The Chinese have made a lot of these garments in anticipation for winter sales, because they have proven to be pretty successful at a retail level - that's driven demand for more of that wool micron."

China is Australia's largest player in the wool export game, followed by India and Europe.