Cruise on an Ocean Going Viking Cruise ship and you will be in good company. The throw at the end of your bed in the cabin is manufactured in New Zealand; woven in Auckland and supplied by Maxwell Rodgers Fabrics.
Stay at the prestigious Pierre Hotel in New York and you will find an exquisite custom throw. All made right HERE. One of 9 hotels in New York that have Wool throws in their guestrooms – all using Maxwell Rodgers, New Zealand made Wools.
Hotels and boutique lodges in Korea, Poland, China, Canada and primarily the USA make up a portfolio of projects that have the same theme. Casinos in Las Vegas. Boutique Lodges in the Napa. Cruise ships on the Mississippi. Ritz Carltons in Georgia. The list is impressive.
Its not like there’s a line up of hotel design companies at the border wanting to buy product made in New Zealand using Wool.
Maxwell Rodgers for a number of years have travelled globally, exhibiting at the key trade shows to tell their story and develop contacts.
Covid has restricted that but with restrictions easing – and travel possible without the shambles of MIQ – the company is again exhibiting in New York in November.
Locally too the company is at the forefront of adding value to our Wool. Their upholstery program has a comprehensive selection of textile and patterns, coloured to suit market demands.
Corporates and Government are embracing the story. The BNZ, for example, has instructed its architects only to use New Zealand made wool in their fitouts.
Their Superfelt, has 25 colours and is found in many commercial installations and increasingly residential applications.
The mid micron is sourced from various farms throughout New Zealand with the specifications on micron, colours and staple being determining factors. It is then scoured in either Napier or Timaru before being spun in Lower Hutt and dyed and woven in Auckland. A good story for the economy. A stunning story for the environment.
The company is increasingly finding customers wanting to know the back story of where the wool comes from – down to specific properties if possible.
As part of that story the market is demanding more specifics on what benefits Wool as a fibre brings to the environment. Sustainably and Ethically grown sheep is a good start but also its ability to neutralise Volatile Organic Compounds.
There is so much science that needs to be told but no one in the “Wool Industry” is doing the work to support the story.
Maxwell Rodgers find themselves in that roll before they get specific about their own product.