With The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader both currently in production, now is the ideal time to invest in a related costume piece from Stansborough Fibres, one of the authentic suppliers of The Lord of the Rings and Narnia product lines. Stansborough Fibres has been selling the Authentic Magic Fellowship Costume Cloak under full license and endorsement from New Line Cinema since the completion of The Lord of the Rings, and continues to supply Weta Workshop and New Line Cinema (now a division of Warner Brothers) with costuming, cloaks, and accessories made from the fabrics created for the fantasy trilogy.
“Our Fellowship cloaks are of very high quality, all hand-made individually and numbered as a registered limited edition. These are the only ones in the world that are made from the actual fabric used in the movie and from the yarn and fleece which is grown at our farm, Stansborough. It’s the only wool of its kind in the world. We take great care in making them as close to the original design as possible and sewn with every care when creating each garment,” says Cheryl Eldridge of Stansborough Fibres.
In addition to the full-sized cloak, there’s an adorable Mini Fellowship Cloak, made from the same fabric but without the double-lined authentic hood. This is a smaller replica of the Fellowship cloak, meant for a teddy bear or doll.
“The images on our website of the cloaks and the other products made from the same fabric are a good representation of our movie costuming,” Cheryl Eldridge continues. “Of course, the fabric is much better in real life and all the clients who have them are thrilled with them when they arrive. They are always more impressed with the actual products when they arrive.”
If you’re ever in New Zealand, escape to the real “Middle Earth” by staying at Stansborough Cottage or taking an interactive Experience Stansborough tour, with personal and group tours available by appointment. Elle Canada did an article in their May edition on what to see in Wellington, New Zealand, and Stansborough Fibres was featured as the place to go and purchase some unique New Zealand-made products.
Stansborough Fibres is also now selling through several clients in Vancouver, Canada, mostly higher-end interiors stores who love their innovative designs and 100% eco-friendly natural interiors lines. These products are from the corporate gifts, accessories, baby range, and interiors collections, rather than movie costuming, and are available at Atkinson’s, Bernstein & Gold, Fino Lino, RoseHill Bed & Bath, Provide, Moulé, and Inform Interiors.
For artisans wanting to make their own “Stansborough Grey” designs, Stansborough Fibres offers a Spinners & Weavers selection of washed fleece, roving slivers, and knitting yarn. There’s a wholesale Buyers Range for commercial clients, as well.
Order directly through the Stansborough Fibres website.
From New Zealand Farm to Hollywood
When Cheryl and Barry Eldridge looked to diversify the farming activities on Stansborough, their New Zealand sheep station, sixteen years ago, they had no idea the results would eventually be seen on cinema screens around the world. The unique fibre created by their flock of rare grey sheep was used to costume most of the main characters appearing in the blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy and was seen again in two other major Disney productions, Narnia’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, along with The Waterhorse, BBC’s Kidnapped and several other projects. This New Zealand couple says that producing the fabric for the “Fellowship Cloaks” and major costuming in the Lord of the Rings movies was their ultimate challenge and their biggest achievement to date.
In 1991, Cheryl and Barry Eldridge concluded that their hill country sheep and cattle farm, situated in a picturesque valley in the Wairarapa, two hours drive north of Wellington, was a marginal farming operation. Instead of following the example of many others that turned their properties into pine plantations, the Eldridges looked for more imaginative options. Their search resulted in them obtaining a small flock of grey sheep and several alpacas. These sheep are also now registered as a wool breed in their own right, “Stansborough Greys”.
These grey sheep, that historically originate from an island off the coast of Sweden, now have wool that is unusually silky, soft and lustrous. This is the result of many years of selective breeding and hard work, producing a “Stansborough Grey” flock of over twelve hundred. There are also sixty alpacas on the farm whose fibre adds warmth and variety to many of the end products. When on display in New York, the unusual qualities of the “Stansborough Grey” fibre caught the eyes of the Lord of the Rings costume designers and led to the order for the costumes for Tolkien’s creations, and other subsequent movies.
The Eldridges personally attend the shearing, hand sorting and grading of the fleece of each animal. After the fleece has been professionally spun, the yarn is then woven at their own small weaving mill in Wellington. 100% grown, inspired, designed and created in New Zealand, the end product is totally eco-friendly, from the sustainable way the animals are farmed, to the finished textiles. Fibres used are in totally natural colours or dyed with only biodegradable overdyes.
Cheryl Eldridge, who has a background in the creative arts, along with daughter Kiri, designs all the fabric, accessories and end product range. Barry Eldridge draws on an engineering background to expertly operate the historic looms they use in their factory. Both their sons, Jamie and Gavin, help with the farm and the accounts. The looms, that came out to New Zealand in the early 1900s, were developed in England in the 1890s to make fine worsted textiles and are themselves masterpieces of design and engineering. These were among the very first commercial looms manufactured, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and have the ability to still create heirloom textiles from a byegone era.
Cheryl and Barry Eldridge are constantly developing their range of original and unique fashion, interiors and baby wear. These are now marketed through outlets in the United Kingdom, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. What originally started out as an idea to keep a rare sheep from extinction and a farm operating profitably, has grown into a family business that begins out in the paddock and ends in high end fashion outlets or boutique hotels around the world, and increasingly on blockbuster cinema screens!
For more information, and the latest on Stansborough Fibres’ involvement in Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia, visit the Stansborough Fibres website.