DESIGNER'S VIEW

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29746, 13 February 1962, Page 22

DESIGNER'S VIEW

My firm makes coats for men and women, and we use nothing r>ut pure wool. If you asked why, the first reason I would be tempted to give is that wool is the cloth from which good coats have been made for hundreds of years. But there is more to it than that.

Our factory is very different from the workshop of a tailor seven centuries ago; why do we use the same cloth? The answer is that the basic problems of construction and wearability remain the same and wool is still unbeatable. You can

manipulate and mould it—that is, you can stretch and shrink it in manufacture to fit the figure. And, what is more important, you can be sure that this moulding will last the life of the coat.

No other material can match the durable shapeliness of wool in a wellmade garment. There are other- reasons why we always use wool: there is a tremendous range of woollen and worsted cloths, in price, colour, weight, and design. These are really beautiful cloths—some of the best in the world.

Buying them, we know we can be sure of receiving material of uniform high quality. This is the best encouragement to good workmanship, for me, as the designer, and for everyone in our factory. We are combining the integrity of our work with the integrity of those who made the cloth, and when we market the garment we have complete confidence in its quality and value. These are our reasons for choosing pure wool for our coats, but you could put it in three words: we know wool. —G. J. Stroobant, Director of New Zealand Raincoats, and designer of the coat which won the supreme award for 1962.