Decades of declining demand for Australian wool thanks to competition from cotton and synthetics, poor marketing and, more recently, mulesing has left the wool industry desperate to lift itself out of the doldrums.

Although Australia dominates the global wool trade, co-ordinated wool promotion has almost disappeared since growers first voted to pay a levy of sixpence on each bale in 1936 to promote the product internationally.

Yesterday the industry said it would spend $120 million over the next three years to reacquaint consumers with the stuff modern Australia is said to be built on the back of - which is still produced by 55,000 Australian farmers.

This included a rejuvination of the Woolmark logo and the creation of the "Australian Merino" logo, which will designate a fibre comprised 100pc of what its name suggests and targeted exclusively at "high end" fashion.

"We have got to get higher prices to make our farms sustainable," said Don Hamblin, the head of the grower's organisation WoolProducers.

But the decision to place wool in How To Lose Friends And Alienate People will surely turn industry heads.

The movie stars Gillian Anderson and Kirsten Dunst and is about the kind of high-end crowd the wool industry would love to see constantly draped in expensive Australian Merino threads.

It is due out in October.