Thread Together helps in bushfire relief as MJ Bale aims for carbon neutral wool

Thread Together on the front line to assist bushfire victims, and MJ Bale aims to produce world’s first carbon neutral wool.

MJ Bale Kingston suit.

It would be hard to imagine a less celebratory beginning to the year than the bushfire crisis. Like the rest of the country not directly in the fires’ path, Buzz has been watching in horror as it caused havoc.

But Australians are a generous bunch. The only positive has been seeing donations flood in to those who need it. The fashion industry has been doing its bit, with many brands and individuals donating proceeds from sales of specific items. Alex Perry is donating revenue from all sales this week, while Cue, Havaianas, Will & Bear, She Made Me, Hush Puppies, KitX, Dion Lee and Masons are all doing their bit with a variety of initiatives. And the list keeps growing.

Following her double wins at the Golden Globes, Phoebe Waller-Bridge announced that her suit, by London-based Australian couturiers Ralph & Russo, would be auctioned for the cause. The starting bid will be £50,000 ($94,546), and the money will be donated to four charities, Ralph & Russo confirmed. Buzz will have more online in the coming days on this.

One organisation at the frontline is Thread Together, which partners with about 70 fashion companies at all levels in Australia to take their new excess stock. It then works directly with charities to restore dignity to those in need. They are working with the Salvation Army, Anglicare and St Vincent de Paul to assist in the bushfire relief phase. Chief executive Anthony Chesler tells Buzz they started bushfire relief in October with efforts in Rappville, NSW.

Thread Together takes new clothing directly to affected communities within a week or two of the disaster, once exact needs have been assessed by charities. Two of their vehicles are distributing clothing on Kangaroo Island and Lobethal in South Australia, with another headed to the NSW south coast next week.

“All of our fashion partners have stepped up,” says Chesler. “We’re sitting on an inordinate amount of brand new clothing, and we’re adhering to protocol. We need to know the demographic, the mix of gender and age in particular. This is providing an opportunity to restore normality and provide dignity.”

MJ Bale pioneered the single-source suit a few years ago but it’s aiming to go one step further. In collaboration with its wool partner, the Kingston farm in Tasmania, the pair is hoping to create the world’s first “carbon neutral wool”, which it will announce in Florence at the Pitti Uomo menswear trade show this week. And while Buzz never imagined discussing methane in this column, it’s a fact that livestock contribute about 10 per cent of greenhouse gases. A recent CSIRO study showed a seaweed-based supplement can radically reduce the amount of methane emitted. Starting next month, Kingston owner Simon Cameron and MJ Bale owner Matt Jensen, assisted by the CSIRO, will trial the supplement on its merino flock to see its effects on the wool.

“Simon is one of the elite woolgrowers in the world,” Jensen tells Buzz. “You look at the context we’re all working in — there’s definite change going on in the world and degradation in the environment playing out. (This project) comes from that spirit of exploring what we can improve in the supply chain.”

Cameron is pragmatic about the project. “We need to understand the impact on the wool,” he tells Buzz. “We know the positive impact (of the supplement) on methane emissions but what we don’t know is the impact on the wool. We need to understand whether the sheep with the supplement grow faster, produce more wool, whether that wool is finer, brighter and more consistent in its strength than those fed with conventional feed.”

Jensen has committed up to $500,000 from royalties of the single-source suit to go back into biodiversity preservation projects on Kingston.