Shine Awards 2022 nominee Emily Riggs on her label Iris & Wool

After using fashion as an outlet to deal with the trauma of cancer as a child, Shine Awards nominee Emily Riggs has turned to championing Aussie fibre in adulthood.

If Emily Riggs ever needs inspiration for her fashion collection, she simply looks across the 40,500ha sheep and cropping farm she runs with her husband in South Australia’s mid-north.

“In the wide-open station country part of the farm, it’s red soil and bluebush, but closer to where we live (in a homestead made in 1845) it’s green hills,” Emily says.

Emily Riggs of Iris and Wool. Pictures: Nadinne Grace

“My work is inspired by life in Burra, greens and navys, and I even have a Palomino horse called Magic, whose colouring influenced a part of my collection next year.”

Of course, the main inspiration for her fashion label, Iris & Wool, which she started on the Burra property in 2019, is the flock of sheep.

Emily’s Woolmark designs are made with 100 per cent pure Australian Merino, with a once-a-year autumn/winter collection for women, men and children, and for the first time a spring collection, released this month (September).

Emily draws inspiration from the land and animals at her SA family farm.

The wool is fully traceable to farms mainly in Victoria and NSW. Although for the first time about 110 bales of 19-micron wool from the Riggs’ Merino flock will be used in Emily’s autumn/winter 2023 collection.

Even husband Tom, the fifth generation to farm the land, brings his own brand of authenticity to Iris & Wool.

“We designed men’s Merino jeans together as well as men’s jumpers, which he wears. He loves them. He’s got good taste and men can be quite fussy,” says the 33-year-old mother-of-two.

“When I came to the farm and had a newborn I wanted to contribute, especially because Tom has such a love of Merinos. That was the light-bulb moment for me to start the business and showcase the fibre.

“Australian Merino wool is the best fibre in the world, sustainable, biodegradable, renewable, grown from sheep, air, sunshine and grass. You can’t get more natural than that.”

As much as Emily has a personal love of fashion, Iris & Wool was born from tragedy and has taken considerable innovation and determination to create.

After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lumphona as a child, Emily turned to fashion to help funnel her creativity.

Emily grew up around rural South Australia, with both her parents teachers and family links to farming.

Just before her 10th birthday she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent two years of chemotherapy. While sick, her mother passed away from breast cancer, having battled it for five years.

It speaks volumes that Emily donates $1 from every clothing sale to the McGrath Foundation, with the iris in Iris & Wool referring to her mother’s favourite flower.

“Because I lost my hair with chemotherapy people thought I was a boy and it shattered my confidence. I turned to fashion as a way to explore my creativity and people would look beyond my illness.

“At that time it was putting outfits together and playing dress ups, but I was thrilled when someone would complement my outfit.”

Emily with one of her sheep.

Growing up Emily was a keen horse rider and dressage competitor and after school completed a diploma in horse business management at Marcus Oldham, before becoming marketing co-ordinator at Moonee Valley Racing Club.

She says once she moved to the farm and had the light-bulb moment to start Iris & Wool, she then completed a “how to start your own fashion business” course, which helped her in each step, from the initial sketches and inspiration, through to suppliers, photo shoots and wholesalers.

Emily, who is on the board of the newly-created South Australian Fashion Industry Association, has recently worked with Australian Wool Industry Ambassador Catriona Rowntree for a “capsule collection” including a dress that sold out twice over, coat and three jumpers, and she’s now working on creating a core annual collection of most popular items, alongside her seasonal releases.

She describes her signature style as “classic”, adding she would love to manufacture in Australia but the only way to make the label financially viable was to produce offshore.

Iris & Wool is sold online and through more than 30 independent stockists around Australia.

“This is not disposable fashion, it lasts a lifetime. I’d love if everyone in Australia wore Merino wool.”

https://irisandwool.com/

Emily is a nominee in The Weekly Times Shine Awards, supported by Harvey Norman. If you know a rural woman with passion, dedication, belief, spirit or courage whose story deserves to be told, nominate her now.

Shine Awards 2022: Nominate a rural woman who deserves recognition