Rather than being worn close to the skin as with most Merino wool apparel, Lavalan was designed as a natural, environmentally friendly alternative to the synthetic wadding normally used inside quilted garments.

Dimensionally stable

Made using 85% Merino wool, Lavalan is already being adopted by high-profile sporting manufacturers and fashion houses for use inside jackets, vests, gloves and pants, the company reports. The textile is washable to 60°C and dimensionally stable to help avoid shrinkage and retain its shape when washed.

According to Woolmark, as awareness of Lavalan grows, it is becoming apparent to manufacturers that using the world’s finest wool inside a garment ultimately provides greater performance attributes than synthetics.

Lavalan is also said to be well-placed to take advantage of increasing demand for more earth-friendly alternatives to traditional synthetic fillings.

Successful product

Working with Belgian textile processor N.V. Van Riel and German manufacturer Baur Vliesstoffe, Lavalan’s inception began in 2006 during the development of Feltstop, a material created for use in mattresses and bedding. The light weight of the finished Feltstop textile was such that it encouraged the exploration of other uses for the technique, specifically in the apparel category.

“Our company has engineered and provided the technology of making wool washable at 60°C on loose fibres,” explained Dider Van Riel, N.V. Van Riel co-owner. “This unique process, in combination with the technology provided by Baur, makes Lavalan a successful product.”

“It was necessary to find a way to process and blend wool in a way to be able to produce a down-like wadding that was light, stable and strong enough to be used as the inner layer for active sportswear, without compromising the natural properties and benefits of wool.”

Comfortable and young fibre

The Woolmark Company’s Sports and Outdoor programme aims to position Merino wool as an established technical and high-performance fibre for sports/active apparel and to achieve a perception of Merino wool as being a technical, modern, comfortable and young fibre.

“As said many times before, Van Riel has found a strong commercial partner in AWI and paying the annual Woolmark licence fee has become an act of investing in commercial power,” said Mr Van Riel.

“As a rather small family owned company, for us it is simply impossible to come up with all the work and efforts that The Woolmark Company supports us with. The best possible example for this is the fact that two Woolmark licensees - Van Riel and Baur - who did not know about each other’s existence and productions, were brought together by the German branch of The Woolmark Company. Ever since the first meeting, The Woolmark Company has shown strong interest in the mutual technology of both partners, and today we still feel the positive influence of the support given.”

www.woolmark.com