A Way with Wool

Davaar & Co is Kate's new online business selling wool jerseys with a classic back-country style that showcases her parents' beautiful wool. Inspiration came from Kate's late grandmother, "who was a wonderful knitter and made all our jerseys. She spun her own wool and would also dye it with things like tussock." The colours for Kate's garment range - Tussock, Bark, Snow and Granite - reflect the Southland palette. "I didn't have to look very far for inspiration," she says. "Wool is such an incredible product. There is a huge sustainability element to all that I am doing, too. I wanted to keep production in New Zealand, it didn't make sense to me to send our wool overseas to have it then sent back."

After finishing her agribusiness studies at Lincoln University, Kate originally aspired to have a corporate career. "But I realised pretty soon that I wanted to do something right here," she says, and it felt right to create a business based at her family's station. Kate's dad, Jimmy Macdonald, with his "good business head," was her initial sounding board and the whole process, from the first steps to the launch last month, took two years. "It could have been shorter," says Kate, "but I am a perfectionist and I wanted everything to be right. I get in the shed while they are shearing, I like being there and I have an amazing wool classer from up the road come down and she ensures the quality is there."

Kate's grandad, David Macdonald, is Davaar & Co's biggest fan. "He is so supportive. He's like my best mate and he's so proud that I am using our wool. It's that kind of support that keeps you going. We are a very close family and through each generation there have been hardships and they have all gotten through. I have seen my parents do that, and I guess it's my turn now to diversify a little and see where it goes."