MATERIAL GIRL
Sustainable knitwear designer Kate Mischler weaves a kind of magic using natural fibres.
When Kate Mischler of sustainable limitededition knitwear label Elka Wild visited her homeland of Russia last winter, her own knits made up a big part of her packing. In -20 degree temperatures that even a down jacket couldn’t fend off, layered knits were what made the cold tolerable.
That’s because the wool she uses is uniquely warm for its weight. Possum merino is a blend of hollow down fibre from the brushtail possum and ultra-fine New Zealand merino wool, with a touch of silk. The blend is 30 percent warmer and even softer than cashmere, usually the most prized of yarns.
“Being a hand-knitter, when you invest so much time – sometimes 100, 200 hours into a single garment – you go for the most premium fibre that you can find, so the end product speaks for itself,” says Kate. “For that reason, I was in love with cashmere for many years. But after I was in New Zealand for a little while, I discovered possum wool, and that was the end of cashmere for me. I never looked back. Merino is amazing on its own, but when you add it to possum, it becomes something else.”
As someone who makes sustainability central to her business, Kate appreciated that possum fibre uses a resource that is otherwise wasted. Brushtail possum, a species introduced to New Zealand in 1837, is the biggest threat to New Zealand’s native bush and wildlife. Every night, the species destroys thousands of tonnes of forest, stripping food sources for native birds, and consuming and attacking endangered native birds, eggs, weta and land snails.
“It’s a major New Zealand conservation problem. We can’t get rid of them fast enough and the population is still growing exponentially,” says Kate. “These fibres shouldn’t be a wasted resource. You can discard them into landfill, or you can make them into something beautiful and warm and loved.”
When we speak, Kate is wearing a gorgeous pale grey and white cardigan-coat of her own design. She jokes that she’s “allergic to white” and expects to spill something on herself within minutes, but fortunately washability is another reason she loves possum merino. Unlike cashmere, which “pills as soon as you look at it”, the fibre doesn’t pill, and is resilient enough to be washed in a machine.
“Some merino, you can throw it in the washing machine, and even in the dryer,” says Kate. More importantly – and even better for the environment
– is that possum merino doesn’t require frequent washing, reducing water and detergent use.
“I think we are all guilty of over-washing things, and especially when it comes to natural fibres, you just don’t have to do that,” she says. “Possum merino doesn’t absorb odours. I can go through a whole winter without washing, just airing outside on a nice day.”
As a bonus, that infrequent washing helps clothes last much longer. “I still wear pieces that I made myself when I lived in Russia, more than 20 years ago,” Kate says. “Elka is what you call slow fashion. We don’t come up with pieces that will be discarded after one season.” –