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It started over a wilderness cuppa…

If ever there was a couple destined to do great things with wool, it’d have to be Ben Wilson and Amanda Dorset. 

Ben and Amanda had known each other since high school but it was to be years later that they’d reconnect and brew a quiet sheepskin revolution. Camping on the shores of Lake Wanaka with a bunch of old mates in the height of summer, they got to talking about the wonders of wool and game-changing ways they could bring the luxury and durability of sheepskin to the world. Their chat was a catalyst for the development of a new lounging concept - the Wilson & Dorset ethos of bringing nature into the home to create opportunities to slow down and re-connect with our environment and each other. 

It’s about getting up close and personal… with nature

It was by nurture rather than nature that led to Amanda’s passion for wool’s natural features, established during the five years spent marketing Icebreaker during the early days of the now-iconic New Zealand outdoor clothing brand.

In Ben’s case, wool might well be found in his DNA. One of Ben's earliest memories is of playing on the bespoke sheepskin carpet his father had made for the lounge in his family's East Taieri farmhouse. This is perhaps where his deep connection with the form and functionality of wool fibre was embedded. With three generations of entrepreneurial forebears behind him, seeing business opportunities in re-thinking primary products came naturally to him. They say it takes more than one person to make a good idea happen - and this is true of the Wilson & Dorset collaboration.

From our place, to yours.

From their destination store in Wanaka’s main street, Amanda and Ben now ship their signature Wilson & Dorset pieces all over the globe with their dream to redefine the shared spaces in which we live, work and play.