FOR at least 40 years wool fashion parades have been a popular part of the Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama and for most of that time the Australian Wool Corporation (now AWI) has been a major sponsor.
It will be the same this year at Woolorama on March 6-7, but from those many years of experience local co-ordinators Emma Kirk and Kristy Ball have gained the confidence to introduce new and different aspects of the fashion world.
Wool will remain the focus but the ladies have decided this year they will give it a more local theme.
Last year local models glided down the catwalk for the lunch time session and were enthusiastically received by the audience.
This time they have decided to run the entire program with local models and after last year the audience can expect the same professionalism imparted by former model Helen Dixon, who has generously spent time coaching the group.
Ms Kirk said the same beautiful range of casual, smart casual, evening gowns, swim wear and men's wear catering for everyone in all sizes and for all ages will be presented and much of it will be wool and stocked by local retailers in surrounding towns.
One of their retailers is the Williams Woolshed that has partnered with Woolorama for many years and has always sent a range of beautiful wool garments for the parades.
Ms Kirk said they would present their amazing garments again but this year they have a "really cool story behind the wool".
The Woolshed owners have been working on their bale to retail project for two years and now have the first garments available for the March fashion parade.
Spokeswoman Sarah Duff said they had set up a speciality store in partnership with Australian Wool Network within the complex, called the Williams Wool Store and it was unique in that it could complete the whole cycle from paddock to shop.
A number of other passionate wool producers around Australia have supplied wool for similar projects, but only Williams had a shop to complete the full cycle.
Called the DNA project, it worked with MerinoSnug a luxury knitwear company and garment supplier whose products were already on the shelves at the Wool Store.
The Williams project was established with a group of five big local wool producers whose wool followed right through the processing chain back to retail.
Once growers had sold their wool it was tested and any wool that met the right micron, length, strength specifications was separated and shipped in containers to China for processing and spinning.
It then went to New Zealand where it was blended with an eco-wool to make a softer, lighter and warmer product.
Ms Duff said from there it went to Melbourne where it was made into garments using incredible machinery capable of turning out seamless garments.
"The really good thing about partnering with such a large company is that on every garment there is a swing tag with a QR-code that can be scanned to learn the story about each farmer and that story goes out to the world," Ms Duff said.
"We have had customers come into the shop and it has gone to Belgium or America and it is putting this whole area on the map internationally."
The product can be found anywhere where MerinoSnug is sold.
The fashion parades will feature the 2020 winter collection and its new range of colours and garments can be found in the wool shed's stall at Woolorama.
Four parades will be held each day and again the 12.30pm lunchtime parade on Friday and Saturday will be something completely different that will show something of Wagin's creative talent.
Koshie Taipari, who owns the local Beauty by Koshie salon, will take the audience into the emerging fantasy lash artistry business.
It is a subject perhaps foreign to those who do not indulge in the social media world of influencers but put that aside and enjoy the sheer artistry of her work.
Ms Taipari was crowned Master Lash Empress of 2019 and her creativity will be featured on the latest cover of the Canada/US edition of Lash Inc Magazine.
Her winning work, based on the theme of Seven Deadly Sins, required a complete handmade outfit to be styled to complement individually hand sculpted eye lashes which, alone, took six hours to complete.
The finished result was photographed by local Mel English, from Lime Lake Photography, for online judging against a global field of entries.
In March Ms Taipari will compete in a three-day Gold Coast competition requiring the work to be done live in front of judges and she has again asked local girl Ebony Baxter to be her model.
Mr Taipari said lash artistry was a relatively new concept and it was only her first year of competition, but already she has set a very high bar.
Competition rewards are often in the form of product prizes and recognition rather than prize money but it can also lead successful entrants into judging, giving them the chance to travel around the world.
Perth will host the next Master Lash Empress titles at the Hair and Beauty Expo in September when contestants are required to capture the theme 'Galaxy - Endless Limits'.
The audience can expect to see three of Ms Taipari's creations at Woolorama.
Fashion parades times are 10am, 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3pm on Friday and Saturday.