Formary, a textile design and development company has developed a new yarn consisting of 70 percent New Zealand mid-micron wool and 30 percent rice straw. A unique New Zealand yarn called Mibu has officially been launched on the world stage at the World Expo in Milan.

Formary, Co-founder Bernadette Casey said that the expo's theme was about feeding the planet, and the fabric was part of an exhibition where food and textiles intersected.

The wool-rice straw blended textile appears to have a much bigger future as the company plans to make the yarn into upholstery fabric by the end of the year.

The company also plans to visit the top 10 North American furniture manufacturers and distributors to show their prototype samples and start building interest and demand.

The new textile called Mibu will be woven in China under a recently signed memorandum of understanding between The Formary and its manufacturing partner, Zhejiang Furun Textile Company.

The 70 percent wool-30 percent rice straw woven fabric has the potential to use all of the wool New Zealand can grow in the mid 26 to 30 micron range, while at the same time helping reduce China’s massive air pollution problem caused by burning waste straw after the rice harvest.

Wool is a brilliant carrier for other fibres, while the straw fibre enhances the properties of wool, such as improving flame resistance and durability, making the fabric more hard wearing.