By Cosmo Kentish-Barnes of RNZ A sustainable fashion label was born and now grows on Georgina and Willy Lawson’s sheep farm in Otago . The wool from their Romdale hoggets is crafted into Ater designer coats and blazers . “Ater is my grandmother’s name backwards,” the label’s founder, designer and mother to three young boys, Georgina said.
Her grandmother, Reta, was a professional dressmaker who specialised in wedding dresses. “I spent lots of time in her sewing room as a child, fiddling around with her. She tried to teach me a thing or two.
She was pretty clever. Very clever, actually.” It was Lawson’s inspirational grandmother, and also the low value of strong wool, that gave her an entrepreneurial lightbulb moment.
“I was grumbling at my husband about declining wool prices and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you try to do something with it?’ And that’s how I started finding out what I could do with this great fibre that we grow here on the farm.” Woollen coats were a natural fit for the budding designer. “When we were living in London, I got a bit of an obsession with coats so I thought, ‘I’m going to start making my own’.
” A lack of strong wool innovation has been a major frustration for New Zealand growers. Lawson is bucking this trend. She said her coats require a medium to high-micron fibre for strength and the weaving of the fabric.
“Strong wool has been used in carpets forever, and I thought, ‘Why can’t we use that in the fashion .
