23 September 2024

From Fleece to Flok

Oranga Ahuwhenua. Farm Life.

photographer: Francine Boer

After moving home to her family farm ten years ago, Nicola Wylie, 38, could have slotted herself into an on-farm role working beside husband Tom on their busy sheep and deer property in Southland, finishing in time to get the kids – Georgia, 11, Hunter, 8, and Alex, 7– off the bus. Instead, she decided to change things up. Using the wool grown on her farm and a little-known finishing process, she created the Lora & Flok bedding range in September 2023.

I’m the fifth generation to be farming at Lora Valley – it’s such a beautiful spot. We’re fifty kilometres from Invercargill in the Lora Gorge, surrounded by native bush. There’s a lot of history tied to this land – we’re very lucky to call it home.

I loved growing up on the farm, spending time outdoors and having so much freedom. I always hoped I would end up back on a farm, I just didn’t know it would be back here. Tom and I met at Lincoln University, and after graduating we headed overseas together. Tom was shearing in Scotland and England, and I worked in pubs and as a nanny. After our OE, we came home and Tom started working for my parents, while I drove into Invercargill each day to work. Fast forward three years and we were married and starting the journey of farm succession. I have a brother and sister, but neither of them were interested in farming, so we were able to start leasing the farm. Once our daughter, Georgia, was born I quickly moved into the stay-at-home-mum role. I loved being at home with the kids, but as they got older, I knew I wanted to do something for me – I didn’t want to work off farm, I wanted to be able to help out and I didn’t want to miss out on school camps or pet days.

Like all sheep farmers, we were fed up with wool prices continuing to drop. I’ve always loved wool, and I’ve always chosen natural fibres for everything. When I started reading about other farmers doing things with their wool, it motivated me. I suggested to Tom that we should have a goat doing something, and he was on board. There’s been a lot of changes on the farm over the years, but the one constant has been the sheep. We’ve been growing wool for 150 years, so it’s pretty special to be able to create something with our wool that we can trace back to our farm. We started brainstorming and talking to manufacturers to find out what wool processing was possible in New Zealand and what other products were in the market. We looked closely at our own wool and learned that it was quite high-bulk and that this characteristic made it ideal for bedding. I learned about a process called knopping, where the wool is turned into tiny, springy balls to become really resilient and incredibly lightweight.

Since knopping is a loose fill, it meant we could make a wool pillow that was fully adjustable. That, to me, was a massive benefit for people. I’ve been caught out so many times buying a pillow I thought was right only to take it home and be disappointed. Unlike a traditional wool pillow that’s very heavy and can sink in over time, or a feather-and-down pillow that goes flat, as long as you fluff your Lora & Flok pillow daily, it will naturally bounce back into shape time and time again. No two people are the same, so we decided to provide an extra bag of Flok Fill with each pillow. If you like a firmer, higher pillow, you add more fill; if you prefer a lower, softer pillow, you just take some out. It lets you fine-tune exactly how you want it and then, once you’ve got it right, you don’t let your partner steal it!

Top Image. Alex and Georgia playing in the woolshed. “We’re very lucky that our bedding is able to be made here in New Zealand. We wanted to keep it New Zealand-made, and we’ve been able to work with the factory in Christchurch to create a pillow shell with a wool-filled quilted cover,” Nicola says.

Above, top left. Georgia, Hunter, Nicola, Alex and Tom in the centre. “I don’t have a marketing background,” Nicola says. “So as far as Lora & Flok goes, I’m focusing on the things that are important to me as a consumer – quality, well-made products and great customer service – and figuring out the rest along the way.” Top right. Nicola says wool is more humane than feathers and down, and won’t trap heat – which can be a real issue for some people that have down bedding. Bottom left. Alex with an armful of Lora Valley-grown strong wool. Bottom right. “Wool has always been a part of the Lora Valley operation,” Nicola says. “We’ve still got the old Lora Valley stencils that have been the branding for the wool bales right from the get go. We don’t actually use them much anymore, but I have been using them on our bales for the pillows and duvets.”

When we learned we could also create a duvet from our knops I got really excited. I’m a hot sleeper and wool works so much better at keeping you from overheating than feather or down alternatives. But a wool duvet is heavy, so being able to make one that is lightweight and fluffy is a great benefit. I knew I wouldn’t be the only one who was waking up throughout the night from being too hot but didn’t want to sleep under a heavy wool duvet.

In terms of where to from here, we’re just seeing how it goes. We launched Lora & Flok to improve the return we get for our wool, and to give me a role in the farming operation that I was more passionate about. I’ve got a few ideas for new products, but we also need to focus on making sure people know about the benefits of wool – it truly is a wonder fibre, and farmers deserve so much more than what they’re getting for it. We’ve never known exactly where our wools ended up before now, and to now be getting customers coming back to us telling us how much they love it is really rewarding.