Updated August 31, 2017 09:47:14

Photo: The merino wedding dress stole the show. (ABC News: Kate Lambe)

Worlds collided at the Dowerin Field Days in the Wheatbelt, with farmers getting to see some of the high fashion their wool creates.

The eco fashion parade featured garments made from recycled wool blankets and coffee bean bags.

Five Western Australians were among 14 designers to drape merino wool and recycled materials on local models who graced the runway for the launch of the first Eco Fashion Week Australia (EFWA).

EFWA founder Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, who is also the designer behind Perth-based eco-fashion label Green Embassy, said merino wool had many benefits.

"It's like gold. It keeps the body warm, there is high insulation and it is biodegradable," she said.

"If a garment made of merino ends up on the land it becomes a soil again and there is no carbon footprint."

She said consumers must be conscious of the impact clothing has on the environment.

"The way it is going at the moment we are polluting our land our oceans are dying and all the dye coming from the fast fashion and microfibres in going into the ocean.

"It is a disaster for our environment."

Photo: Eco Fashion Week Australia founder Zuhal Kuvan-Mills with models at the Dowerin Fields Days. (ABC News: Kate Lambe)

Australian merino wool has been used for more than 150 years to create luxury items across the globe, but the industry has also been scrutinised for mulesing for more than a decade.

In August, Italian garment makers said the practice of mulesing had driven them to look at alternative suppliers.

Mukinbudin farmer Dane Farina said he decided to stop the controversial practice years ago.

"We finished mulesing in 2012," he said.

Mr Farina said other farmers should also consider putting an end to the practice, which some consider to be cruel.

Mr Farina said there were other benefits too.

"We just had our wool sold and marketed specifically on its non-mulesing trait," he said.

"We are actually getting a little bit of an extra kick in the price for that reason so it is good to see that."

Photo: A woman models one of the merino dresses. (ABC News: Kate Lambe)

While Mr Farina said his own style was more conservative than what was seen on the runway at Dowerin, it was great to see merino wool used in the fashion industry.

"It is more what we sell into, more than what we like to see ourselves wearing"

"The more we can market our product and if we can find that connection between retail and what we do on the ground, it can always be a positive."

Topics: sustainable-and-alternative-farming, agricultural-shows, wool, fashion, dowerin-6461

First posted August 30, 2017 21:44:05