A new exhibition about wool is expected to prove popular in a city that shot to prominence on the back of the 19th century wool trade.

The Fleece to Fashion exhibition, presented by Australian Wool Innovation, has opened at Bradford Industrial Museum and will run until January 13.

Organisers say the exhibition's content is "incredibly important" to the district's history, and the launch event celebrated the critical role the wool industry has played in Bradford.

The museum has permanent displays of textile machinery, particularly relating to worsted production, and the exhibition is seen as an opportunity for people to learn more about the role Australian Merino wool played in the industry.

After a successful showcase in Sydney, followed by London, Bradford Council secured the rights to bring elements of the exhibition to the city.

Charlotte Mills, from Australian Wool Innovation UK, said: "The content is incredibly important to the history of the Bradford area and the display at the Bradford Industrial Museum makes it available to the community.

"The exhibition will take you on a journey through the last two centuries of Merino wool in fashion when the first bale of wool arrived on the British shores 200 years ago for commercial sale, thus establishing the Australian wool trade."

In November 1807, the Reverend Samuel Marsden, owner of the third largest flock in Australia, arrived at William Thompson's Yorkshire mill with a barrel of his Australian wool.

A year later this fibre was woven into a piece of cloth which was tailored into a black suit he wore when he was introduced to King George III.

The introduction of Australian Merino wool in the 1800s changed the face of British weaving and the way mills worked, thus building the local economy on the thriving wool trade.

Weaving was a highly-profitable enterprise for Bradford and many other Northern towns during the industrial revolution. As wool shipments flowed from Australia to Liverpool, barges began transporting bales to Bradford along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

By 1850 Bradford was the fastest growing industrial town in England, and was on its way to becoming an international market place for the worsted industry.

Today, businesses including J H Clissold & Son and William Halstead & Co are some of the mills in Bradford that make a vital contribution to the UK fashion scene.