Woolerina was established as a result of our founder Warwick Rolfe's long-held desire to take raw Australian Merino wool directly off-farm and follow it through to a completed garment. In 2005 Warwick and Robyn Rolfe launched a small collection of carefully designed, next-to-skin Merino clothing for women and men. With Warwick’s expertise in raw-wool selection and development of yarn and fabric, teamed with Robyn’s expertise in garment design, Woolerina was born.
Warwick joined the wool trade in 1975 as a trainee wool buyer for an Australian wool buying organisation and from his first day, he knew he had found his true passion. In 1980, Warwick and his wife Robyn moved to Forbes in central NSW where they established the first inland wool handling and brokerage centre, Jemalong Wool, which still exists today.
In the early 2000's, and having moved on from Jemalong Wool, Warwick had enough contacts to be able to develop his own line of next-to-skin Merino clothing and what was to become Woolerina.
The first Woolerina collection, launched in February 2006, was just four styles - two for men and two for women - in three colours, designed by Robyn. Simple styling and basic lines were the foundation for these original designs and this principal continues to be at the heart of all the designs we create. There are now many more designs for both women and men and our collection now also encompasses styles for babies and children. We are proud to be able to dress your family for warmth, comfort and style!
Working with a very specific selection criteria (carefully curated by Warwick) to select the raw, un-mulesed Merino wool which is used in our products and then following this wool through all stages of processing to knitting, dying and garment construction is what makes our brand unique.
Whilst the initial stages of processing must now happen off-shore, yarn is returned to us in Australia, enabling us to maintain close relationships with our knitter and dye-house in Melbourne and our garment makers in Sydney.
When we began in 2005, all our production was outsourced and we operated out of a small home office. Our current space on the Rolfe family property, just outside of Forbes in central NSW, encompasses offices, a shopfront and light, bright workrooms. You can read more about our space here. All design, pattern making, cutting and some garment construction, along with warehousing and despatch, happen at Forbes by our small, enthusiastic team.
Whilst we use modern machinery, the skills required to craft our garments with love are based on traditional methods and each garment passes through many hands before it is ready to be loved by its new owner.
In 2025 we celebrated our 20th Autumn Winter collection which featured many of our favourite designs from the last 20 years. Bringing our 2025 collection to life brought with it many challenges as we grappled with the deep loss felt by us all following the loss of our much-loved wife & mother, Robbie. Robbie played a very important role in the early days of Woolerina developing the patterns for our first four styles; she continued to provide support across the last 20 years, finishing with helping in our sewing room in early 2024.
It is bittersweet to share with you that, as a family we have made the decision to close Woolerina. This has been a decision we have spent a long time coming to and one which we have not made easily. You can read more here.
