Country Life: 'I was struggling to find something that wasn't merino'

Her partner's dad has spent 40 years proudly breeding low micron crossbred sheep in the Hokonui Hills.

After moving onto Skyhill Farm, she started wondering why they did not do anything special with the beautiful fleece.

It was the Covid lockdown and Laura had been laid off and was pregnant. With time on her hands, she started brainstorming.

The goal: add value to the Perendale lambswool that Dean Munro and his father Ray grew.

"Being pregnant, my vision was having blankets for our children. I wanted something a bit different and I was struggling to find something that wasn't merino."

First she designed fisherman and herringbone ribbed blankets that are now two of her top-selling products.

"I love the whole field to fibre process and when people are purchasing a product, they can trace it back to our farm - to Skyhill."

In a lightbulb lockdown moment she also came up with a brand name: George Munro, named after their first child George, who is also is the first grandchild on the family farm.

"We wanted the name of our brand to be about the future, because we're passionate about sheep farming. It's so sad seeing so many farms disappear into trees."

The next woolen design to go into production were the winter beanies.

"So many farming companies give out acrylic beanies which just seems so backwards," she said.

There was also a limited edition lambswool jersey range for kids too.

"Kaye, my mother-in-law, is the most amazing knitter and was so proud that we were doing something with the wool, so she asked for some cones (of yarn) and she's been busy knitting."

Having everything made in New Zealand was always a must for the born and bred Invercargillite.

"I didn't want to send anything offshore. I wanted to support everyone from the grassroots up to getting the product designed and made."

To Laura's frustration though, the making process clocks up quite a few kilometres.

After being scoured in Timaru, the lambswool is carded in Wellington and turned into yarn, then it is back down to Dunedin to be knitted into products.

Sewn on all of the products is a crowned crest label with an 'M' for Munro between two smiling Perendales.

"Because we're Ngāi Tahu as well, I wanted to incorporate both our European background, but also the Ngāi Tahu aspect too. So we've got the koru design in there with the crown."

Laura's grandfather is from from Bluff and his family were French-Māori from Akaroa. While her partner Dean's whakapapa is from Aparima Riverton and Stewart Island.

Laura received a start-up grant from Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, who work on behalf of eight Te Waipounamu iwi to determine the best ways to support whānau development.

"I went to one of their roadshows, and they really loved what we were doing and how we were going to create something from a natural product.

"They helped us get the initial yarn up and running. And then everything has been sort of self-funded after that."

With the help of a mentor through the Southland Chamber of Commerce, Laura has working on growing the George Munro brand.

With overseas sales on the rise, things are looking up. Woollen products have been shipped to the UK, Scotland, France, Sweden, Canada, and the USA.

"Actually lots of ex-Kiwis in Japan have been buying our products too, which is awesome."

This is just the beginning as far as Laura's concerned. Her goal is for the George Munro brand to become a household name in New Zealand.

"I would love to be a one stop shop for lots of things, even carpets or furnishings where you could point up at the Hokonui Hills and say, well, this is where my carpets are from, rather than it just like being from anywhere."

But she admits she is having to take small steps at the moment while she is wrestling with two busy boys.

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