WA designer goes against industry slump to create wool athleisure brand
Bridgitte Brooks, pictured with daughter Clementine, has created a wool athleisure brand. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Anna Cox)
In short:
Farmer and occupational therapist Bridgitte Brooks has launched an athleisure wear business using all Australian wool.
The brand head of a men's fashion label say customers still want Australian wool products, despite an industry slump.
What's next?
Ms Brooks says the wool industry is "worth fighting for", and hopes to use fibre from her father's farm in the future.
In Bringo, 370 kilometres north of Perth, Bridgitte Brooks is adding "fashion designer" to her CV, under occupational therapist, farmer and mother of four.
"When you're breastfeeding babies, you have a lot of time to sit around and think," Ms Brooks said.
Growing up on a farm, and marrying into a farming family, Ms Brooks has a deep understanding of the connection between agriculture and Australian households.
Bridgitte Brooks's all-wool brand Homestead Road was launched last year. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Anna Cox)
Farm to fibre to fashion is a growing trend and Ms Brooks says one day, she hopes to use her own wool to make her products.
She likens her interest in fashion to the "paddock to plate" concept, which pushes people to know and appreciate where their food was grown and who it was grown by.
Homestead Road's athleisure wear (pictured) is made from Australian wool. (Instagram: homesteadroad_au)
"Right now Dad has loyalties to his wool broker, but I'm still using all Australian wool," Ms Brooks said.
Ms Brooks said the wool industry was a difficult place to be immersed and had been through "a tough time for the last few years".
"I want to do something to give back to the industry. It's worth fighting for,"she said.
While raising her young children, Ms Brooks noticed a gap in the wool athleisure market.
"So I just googled 'How to start a fashion business'," she said.
Ms Brooks said the process took four years and was "long and expensive".
But she was able to launch her brand in late 2024.
Brigitte Brooks says she wants to give back to the wool industry. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Anna Cox)
Clean and natural fibres still in demand
Reaching out to other wool-centric Australian brands for advice, Ms Brooks said marketing was one of the more difficult tasks.
Australian menswear company M.J. Bale has been operating since 2009, and sources its wool entirely from two farms in Tasmania.
Jonathan Lobban is the company's head of brand, and he believes the appetite for Australian wool is strong.
Bridgitte Brooks hopes to make clothes from her own family's wool one day. (Anna Cox; ABC Midwest Wheatbelt)
"The customer loves to know the origins of the wool, how it's farmed, the people, the family and the stories behind it,"he said.
The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has predicted a 12 per cent drop in production for the 2024-25 financial year, to less than 280 million kilograms.
If the forecast proves correct, it will be the lowest level in 100 years.
Mr Lobban said despite having concrete relationships with their wool farmers, the company had still felt the slump via the price of the cloth, once the wool was processed.
"We have to pass that cost on to the customer slightly," he said.
A drop in wool production is forecast for the coming financial year. (ABC North and West SA: Eloise Fuss)
Mr Lobban believes the woollen athleisure market is gaining traction due to growing demand for clean and natural fibres.
But he lists price as one of the barriers to merino products.
Mr Lobban believes a farm-to-fashion business model is feasible, placing emphasis on the importance of design.
"Fashion is agriculture's art form. You've not only got to be good at producing, but designing as well."