Inside, cones of brightly colored merino wool dangle from the ceiling above knitting machines.

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Mr. de la Renta showed short-sleeve outerwear and a silk merino "cardigan coat" with a mink collar.

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Outlier now makes an OG blazer and winterized OG pants with an extrafine merino wool inner face.

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Martin Criminale's merino wool socks made by SmartWool LLC, of Steamboat Springs, Colo.

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Icebreaker, a maker of outdoor clothing, does well abroad with its use of pure merino in striking colours and shapes (pictured above).

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Many in the FMLN elite (like Jose Luis Merino) openly support Chavez.

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Though 100-percent Italian-made, this prized fabric actually originates oceans away, on the backs of merino sheep in Australia, the world's top shepherding location.

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Up to 12 colors of bright merino wool yarn are pulled from cones dangling from the ceiling into the teal-colored machines' high-speed knitting needles.

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Mr Merino insists the earthquake will have no effect.

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"I like to let the ingredients speak for themselves, " he says, and they do: Aoraki salmon from glacial waters, Cardrona Merino lamb, vegetables grown in his garden ("those beets were in the ground a few hours ago, " he told me), and eggs from his 21 chickens.

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