Farm & Fashion | Armidale, Australia

It's not too often that fashion takes me to Sydney, Australia. Naturally, you would expect fashion capitals cities like London, New York, Paris and Milan. So this visual voyage to the land down under was truly an eye opening experience. My role in this three day journey was to document the genesis of the suit making process which starts on a farm in New South Wales. When a little lamb is born his natural resources will produce some of the world's most prestigious fabrics. The other portion of the trip was to see the wool in action with a special Zegna Fall 2013 fashion show and 50th anniversary of the Wool award at the Royal Hall of Industries. In a nutshell, we saw the farm's way and the runway. The Zegna teams and the wool industry gave us a behind the scene look at the unbreakable bond of marriage between farm and fashion.

The media team and I woke up at the crack of dawn to visit the farm in Airdale, located one hour south of Sydney. Voyaging on an imitate aircraft overseeing the landscape views from Sydney to farms of New South Wales . Clearly, the words astonishing and breathtaking made a visual collaboration to say the least. Fresh air, cool waters, and a bright bold sun was what my eyes could see from my seat in the sky. The moment we landed we were on the road driving to Wilson Creek Farm. Motorcycle and truck drives sped through the rural area. No traffic,no need to slow down. While snapping away, I started noticing sheeps appear through my lens, a clear indication that we've arrived. Our greeting was no other then "baa." Then the wool breeders and shearers gave us a detailed tour of their role in the wool industry. Honestly, the wool production was a lot of information to process but visually everything made sense. Watching sheep shearing alongside styling gents in plaid wool suits was surreal. Something out of a menswear movie. Fashion and Farm walking side by side in a codependent relationship. Seeing the Zegna family and Farm family unite made me realize this experience was beyond clothes. This is a way of life, I mean one family happens to be an über luxe fashion brand but you get the point. Seeing the whole family participate in the wool production strengthen my appreciation for the fiber. The material has to be sent from the land down below to America, which explains the cost of a Zegna suit. So supporting the wool industry essentially means not using alternative fabrics so wool breeders don't have to use their property for alternative use. We wouldn't want to hinder this unique partnership.

The shots of me are by Filippo Fiora.