The resulting 105 kilograms of wool will be shipped to Italy via sea freight and spun at Vitale Barberis Canonico, a sustainable factory that has the tick of approval from brands incuding Ermenegildo Zegna, Max Mara and Armani.
In 2020, Vitale Barberis Canonico derived 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources and reduced its water consumption by 14 per cent year-on-year. A limited run of 250 blazers will be made – the world’s first net-zero wool jackets, Jensen believes.
“This is slow fashion,” he adds. “It is true slow fashion. We plan two years out and, from our perspective, there is nobody else in the world with this level of direct, back-to-the-farm specific planning for a product.”
Sustainable farming projects supported by M.J. Bale include regenerating former farmland. Melanie Kate
While he admits that sea freight to Italy is not ideal, there is little wiggle room as Australia does not have the wool mills it once had to spin yarn. That said, sea freight is much more environmentally friendly than air freight, which has 44 times the carbon footprint of travel by sea.
M.J. Bale offsets this carbon emission with investments in eco-friendly projects, like the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, a project focused on regenerating former farmland in Western Australia.
Seaweed has enormous potential for the fashion industry and beyond, says Elsom.
Farmers must limit grazing and hand-feed the sheep a mix of seaweed and barley. Melanie Kate
“It grows quickly, requires very little from growers and can capture enormous amounts of carbon. It can be used in everything from food to nutriceuticals; it can be an alternative to plastic. We have even begun to spin it as a fabric. It is similar to rayon and viscose, with stretch.”
Feeding asparagopsis to 500 sheep is challenging and time-consuming, says Elsom, as farmers must limit grazing and essentially hand-feed them a mix of seaweed and barley, but it clearly shows the environmental commitment of some corners of the fashion industry.
“Time is really running out to make big changes,” he says. “So when people commit like this, it makes a difference.”
Eventually, says Jensen, M.J. Bale will be a carbon positive company. In the meantime, he is making the company’s experiment with seaweed open source for other fashion brands who want to be part of the journey.
“I want to help the industry by helping smaller players. We have gone down the rabbit holes, we have made mistakes – this is how you do it. It’s up to industry and people to take control. We are a smallish business so we can do these things. We may as well get on with it and share what we know.
“We are saying, ‘This is the playbook, this is how you do it.’ ”
MJ Bale’s carbon neutral suits will be available from September 2022. Join the waitlist at mjbale.com.
