A set of new womenswear woven worsted fabrics in Merino pure wool and wool blends with silk and bamboo viscose fibres have been developed for spring/summer/autumn seasons for a range of enduse applications such as businesswear, eveningwear and loungewear.

These fabrics have been finished to have a smooth and lustrous surface, a cool touch feel and high next-to-skin comfort. The wool/bamboo viscose fabrics are double-sided, so reversible, as they are constructed to have wool predominantly on one side and bamboo viscose on the other side. These are made machine washable and tumble dryable without using any shrink-resist treatment on wool.

This paper provides a comparison of their low-stress KES-F mechanical properties, handle and drape characteristics and warm/cool feeling (q_max). It is shown that the bamboo viscose, when used in a long float weave structure, provides high levels of lustre, cool feeling and lively drapability. These new fabrics have captured the interest of a number of top New Zealand designers who regularly participate in the New Zealand Fashion Week.