October 23, 2024 • 6 mins
The general manager of Exquisite Wool Traders explains how she got into the business of creating woollen caskets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wall Week with FMG here for the good of the country.
Well this week on the Country we are shining a
spotlight on wool all thanks to FMG joining me. Now
is the GM for Exquisite Will Trade is Polly McGuckin.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good afternoon, Polly, good afternoon, Rowenna, and thank you for
having me on your show for wal Week.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Oh, thank you so much for joining me as well. Look,
tell us a bit about what you do and how
you came to be involved in the wool business.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So it started when I was young, growing up in
a family of war buying and exporting business, family owned
and operated. And it wasn't until I grew older and
a bit wiser that I saw the benefits of war
and decided to start seeing where the war was being
sent to a mill that we deal with in the UK,
aw Hainsworth, which has turned and forty one years old,
(00:49):
and it's always supported our wall trade. Wow. I decided
to set up Exquisite Blankets back then and bring in
my first lot of bedding blankets in a very diverse
range of colors, and I actually reached out to top
interior designers in New Zealand and did a we road
trip introducing the blankets and I had a really good
(01:11):
result by doing that. They ended up in a number
of lodges and hotels around New Zealand. And then it
wasn't until two thousand and eleven that I got my
real encouragement through iwto had international architects coming into New
Zealand to learn about from paddock to interior fabrics how
(01:36):
to use them, and they wanted to guide and teach
them about the benefits of the sustainable, renewable fiber. We
hosted them at Yelts Walls. I displayed my blankets and
we had a lot of other wall displays and we
were so impressed by their interest in using them for
their designs and not just for blankets, but other us
(02:00):
of wall that they hadn't even thought about back then.
So that was a real turning point from me. I thought,
we need to gear it up and really start promoting
war as a fiber because it takes all the boxes,
not like plastics, which lease a dirty trail on the planet,
whereas wool via grades at the end of its life.
So that's what stemmed a true interest to where we
(02:23):
are today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
In where you are today, Polly, as you're also making
woolen caskets. Tell me about these because they sound amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So we're working with the mill to do the natural
legacy woolen caskets, which is New Zealand wall three fleecees
a wall in every casket. And when we started thirteen
years ago, it was very hard to get into the
funeral industry, but now we've every year we're getting huge
growth by receiving lots of feedback five funeral homes and
(02:52):
families that have used them to because they get so
much comfort from and they're very tactile and less confronting
for the young generation to see them in a funeral.
We are very passionate about the caskets. They really have
a place within the funeral industry.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
What's the feedback been like from farmers, because I imagine
it is just the most wonderful way to depart this
earth in a woolen casket. If you've been someone who's
farmed wall your entire life.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yes, so very positive. We have amazing stories like farmers
that have passed away having their farm branding on the casket,
so it's a very personal touch for that family and
it's very positive because at the end of the day.
They are made in the UK. It's all New Zealand wall.
We over the years have really relied on mills around
(03:43):
the world to support our wall industry, otherwise it would
be probably even worse off than it is today. So
we have our direct markets that we supply in to.
The farmers have really supported us and what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, amazing. Do they come in a range of colors? Like,
can you get a hot pink one like you could
with your blankets coming in different colors or we being
a bit more reserved.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
No, we've had that question, but we are sticking to
wall white and limestone gray, which is a lovely color
which is suitable for both female and male because you
can accessorize it with pink flowers, yellow flowers. Some farmers
have put their prize winning fleeces if they've had won
in the past, they've put that onstead of flowers. So
(04:26):
it's very personal.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, I love that and very dignified as well. Holly,
as someone who's so involved and through generations in the
wool industry, where do you see the future of it,
what do you see coming through?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well? I strongly think it has to be a global
campaign for wool not just we're focusing here on I mean,
we've got a great story to tell in New Zealand,
but we do heavily rely on international males around the world.
So as long as we can educate and make wall
affordable for people to use, that is the key I
(05:02):
think to see it grow because we have got Synthetics
as our competitor and it is a lot cheaper. So
wall is a luxury item, but we need to start
using volumes to make it cheaper and more affordable.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What's next for you, Polly blankets to coffins? What next?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, We've just this week launched the wall Bag, which
I've worked with a doctor of textiles on and we
really wanted to make an affordable wall bag that was
pretty robust, wouldn't hell because wall feltings renowned to pilling.
We've just launched that this week, so it's going really well.
It's going to be available through raw boone website, raw
(05:42):
Burn Farmshop, Exhibit will Traders and the Wallpot.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Of course Royal Bernstinction, Nadia Lim, Carlos Bagri, they would
have been right and behind this, yes.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So Nadia and I set up the Wallpot, which is
a bio degrade of all plump pot that was set
up nearly three years ago and now we've just done
the wall bag, so we're looking forward to seeing where
that goes.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Oh absolutely, I look forward to following your journey with interest,
polling mcguck and jigging for exquisite Will traders. Thank you
so much for taking time to chat with me this
War week here on the country.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
All the best, Thanks ro for having me on, and
good luck with War Week.
Wall Week with FMG here for the good of the country.
Well this week on the Country we are shining a
spotlight on wool all thanks to FMG joining me. Now
is the GM for Exquisite Will Trade is Polly McGuckin.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good afternoon, Polly, good afternoon, Rowenna, and thank you for
having me on your show for wal Week.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Oh, thank you so much for joining me as well. Look,
tell us a bit about what you do and how
you came to be involved in the wool business.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So it started when I was young, growing up in
a family of war buying and exporting business, family owned
and operated. And it wasn't until I grew older and
a bit wiser that I saw the benefits of war
and decided to start seeing where the war was being
sent to a mill that we deal with in the UK,
aw Hainsworth, which has turned and forty one years old,
(00:49):
and it's always supported our wall trade. Wow. I decided
to set up Exquisite Blankets back then and bring in
my first lot of bedding blankets in a very diverse
range of colors, and I actually reached out to top
interior designers in New Zealand and did a we road
trip introducing the blankets and I had a really good
(01:11):
result by doing that. They ended up in a number
of lodges and hotels around New Zealand. And then it
wasn't until two thousand and eleven that I got my
real encouragement through iwto had international architects coming into New
Zealand to learn about from paddock to interior fabrics how
(01:36):
to use them, and they wanted to guide and teach
them about the benefits of the sustainable, renewable fiber. We
hosted them at Yelts Walls. I displayed my blankets and
we had a lot of other wall displays and we
were so impressed by their interest in using them for
their designs and not just for blankets, but other us
(02:00):
of wall that they hadn't even thought about back then.
So that was a real turning point from me. I thought,
we need to gear it up and really start promoting
war as a fiber because it takes all the boxes,
not like plastics, which lease a dirty trail on the planet,
whereas wool via grades at the end of its life.
So that's what stemmed a true interest to where we
(02:23):
are today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
In where you are today, Polly, as you're also making
woolen caskets. Tell me about these because they sound amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So we're working with the mill to do the natural
legacy woolen caskets, which is New Zealand wall three fleecees
a wall in every casket. And when we started thirteen
years ago, it was very hard to get into the
funeral industry, but now we've every year we're getting huge
growth by receiving lots of feedback five funeral homes and
(02:52):
families that have used them to because they get so
much comfort from and they're very tactile and less confronting
for the young generation to see them in a funeral.
We are very passionate about the caskets. They really have
a place within the funeral industry.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
What's the feedback been like from farmers, because I imagine
it is just the most wonderful way to depart this
earth in a woolen casket. If you've been someone who's
farmed wall your entire life.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yes, so very positive. We have amazing stories like farmers
that have passed away having their farm branding on the casket,
so it's a very personal touch for that family and
it's very positive because at the end of the day.
They are made in the UK. It's all New Zealand wall.
We over the years have really relied on mills around
(03:43):
the world to support our wall industry, otherwise it would
be probably even worse off than it is today. So
we have our direct markets that we supply in to.
The farmers have really supported us and what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, amazing. Do they come in a range of colors? Like,
can you get a hot pink one like you could
with your blankets coming in different colors or we being
a bit more reserved.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
No, we've had that question, but we are sticking to
wall white and limestone gray, which is a lovely color
which is suitable for both female and male because you
can accessorize it with pink flowers, yellow flowers. Some farmers
have put their prize winning fleeces if they've had won
in the past, they've put that onstead of flowers. So
(04:26):
it's very personal.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, I love that and very dignified as well. Holly,
as someone who's so involved and through generations in the
wool industry, where do you see the future of it,
what do you see coming through?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well? I strongly think it has to be a global
campaign for wool not just we're focusing here on I mean,
we've got a great story to tell in New Zealand,
but we do heavily rely on international males around the world.
So as long as we can educate and make wall
affordable for people to use, that is the key I
(05:02):
think to see it grow because we have got Synthetics
as our competitor and it is a lot cheaper. So
wall is a luxury item, but we need to start
using volumes to make it cheaper and more affordable.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What's next for you, Polly blankets to coffins? What next?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, We've just this week launched the wall Bag, which
I've worked with a doctor of textiles on and we
really wanted to make an affordable wall bag that was
pretty robust, wouldn't hell because wall feltings renowned to pilling.
We've just launched that this week, so it's going really well.
It's going to be available through raw boone website, raw
(05:42):
Burn Farmshop, Exhibit will Traders and the Wallpot.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Of course Royal Bernstinction, Nadia Lim, Carlos Bagri, they would
have been right and behind this, yes.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So Nadia and I set up the Wallpot, which is
a bio degrade of all plump pot that was set
up nearly three years ago and now we've just done
the wall bag, so we're looking forward to seeing where
that goes.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Oh absolutely, I look forward to following your journey with interest,
polling mcguck and jigging for exquisite Will traders. Thank you
so much for taking time to chat with me this
War week here on the country.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
All the best, Thanks ro for having me on, and
good luck with War Week.
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