Romney, Corriedale, Polwarth, Gotland, Valais, English Leister, Arapawa and East Friesian… these names rattle off fashion designer Liz Mitchell’s tongue with obvious delight.
Her journey to becoming “The Wool Activist” has led to the discovery that these breeds of sheep, and many more, call New Zealand home and produce wool with “an amazing palette, no dyeing and no chemicals”.
“I’ve been working with the natural colour range of black and brown sheep fibre. We’re developing luxury handknits with hand spun yarn straight from the fleece,” she enthuses.
The first time Liz got to put her hands into a freshly shorn warm fleece “something ignited and connected within her”. She took away four bags of wool, which needed to be scoured and spun and after much research and asking around, found a woman in Kaukapakapa who was able to help her with both.
Liz is best known for her red carpet gowns and high profile made-to-measure clients including former Prime Minister Helen Clark and actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, but has spent the past four years learning about felting, tracking down “mini mills” and along the way become a Campaign For Wool ambassador. And in an effort to remedy New Zealand’s dwindling fibre
