Worker Story: George from Wilderness Wear

This is a featured post written by the team at Wilderness Wear, an Ethical Clothing Australia accredited brand. 

George … Ok, his surname might not be ‘Clooney’, but he looks a bit like the movie star. Actually, to associate our George with any sort of movie star would be incorrect, because he is more like a rock star – of socks (does that make him a sock star?).

As the chief behind the banks of sock knitting machines at Wilderness Wear, George has carved out an interesting career for himself. Initially a law student, he diverted his studies to accept a mechanics apprenticeship where he remained until that business closed after moving its manufacturing offshore. Already known to the management of Wilderness Wear, George quickly moved over to his current role.

Part of George’s skill and value comes his ability to manage machines of all different brands, origins and ages. Some, like the old Bentley Komets from the 1950s, are best serviced with a hammer while the newer equivalents by Sangiacomo from Santoni in Italy are highly sophisticated machines.

There is a political claim to fame within George’s CV, and that is the occasion where he made a pair of socks for the Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon. Paul Keating. A man of known sartorial high standards, the socks were surely a fitting match to his fine Italian suits!

A champion – or pin-up boy, if you like – of the Australian manufacturing sector, George is a valuable player within the Walls of Wilderness Wear and is representative of the drive of like-minded companies to keep these valuable skillsets onshore.