Images by Ashleigh Carey
After almost eight years of building a fashion label around one of Australia’s most iconic natural fibres, South Australian designer Emily Riggs is changing things up.
Burra-based label Iris & Wool has launched its first collection to move beyond Merino wool, introducing cotton and linen while keeping the rural roots that have shaped the brand since its beginnings.
The new Spring Collection, Second Nature, features 13 new pieces in cotton and linen alongside the label’s signature wool, with softened silhouettes, refined textures and a palette of sun-washed neutrals and serene spring tones.
For Emily, the move is about expanding what Iris & Wool can offer customers while keeping the brand’s identity intact.
“Iris & Wool has always been about what feels honest an dinstinctive,” she said. “Second Nature expands our material story while staying deeply connected to our values. These pieces are designed to feel familiar from the moment you put them on, like something you’ve always reached for. This is a new chapter- one that feels, simply, like second nature.”
Emily founded Iris & Wool from the sheep farm where she lives in South Australia’s Mid North, drawing on her family’s connection to Merino sheep farming and her own love of fashion.
The label grew from a desire to combine those two worlds, with the designer previously describing its beginnings as a way to contribute to the industry she had grown up around.
Now, after years of trying to convince customers that wool can work beyond winter, Emily says it was time to diversify.
“Wool is a hard sell in summer, even though it does have temperature-regulating properties and it’s breathable and odour-resistant,” she said. “But consumers still think it’s only for winter, so it’s just made it a hard sell.”
The new collection features some of Iris & Wool’s recognisable details, including scalloped and pointed edging, alongside A-line dresses, kaftan dresses and a matching shirt and pants set with topstitch detailing.
There are still wool pieces in the mix, making sure the label’s original fibre remains part of the story.
Emily said the inspiration behind the brand continues to come from the landscape around her, as well as the sheep and wool growers who have been part of her life.
“Living and growing up on a sheep farm, I suppose the landscape and the sheep and the wool growers have inspired the design and direction with the brand,” she said.
The label has also developed a following among city customers who appreciate natural fibres and feminine pieces, extending its reach well beyond its rural home.
For Second Nature, the South Australian connection continues through the campaign, photographed by local photographer Ashleigh Carey among the almond orchards at Papershell Farm in Willunga. South Australian model Hollie Brown of Finesse Models fronts the campaign, with styling by veteran Adelaide stylist Mirella Romano.
The collection has already attracted attention from some familiar Australian faces, with Iris & Wool recently worn by actress Teresa Palmer, Olympic swimmer Ingie Chalmers, TV newsreaders Casey Treloar and Gertie Spurling, and local identities Brya Powell-Pepper and Elise Cook.
And if Emily had to pick one standout piece from the new collection, it would be the cutwork trim shirt dress, a versatile option she sees fitting right into the spring social calendar.
“I think a perfect piece for the upcoming spring racing season, polo, cricket, ladies’ lunches,” she said.
With Second Nature, Iris & Wool is proving that while wool may remain at the heart of the brand, there is now a little more room in the wardrobe for something lighter.
For more information and to shop the collection, click here.
