Amanda Bransgrove moves between two very different worlds with quiet purpose. Known as a model and longtime face of New Zealand fashion and beauty, she is also the founder of WoolTraceNZ, a platform built to grow the value and global reach of New Zealand wool by connecting scourers, finishers and manufacturers in a single traceable network. As she prepares to step in front of the Tronque lens, she is also preparing to fly to India for one of the world’s biggest natural fibre fairs. We spoke to her about building with intention, the rituals that keep her grounded, and what it means to be part of the Tronque world right now.

1. You're about to head to India for one of the world's largest natural fibre fairs. Tell us about WoolTraceNZ® and what this trip represents for you.

WoolTraceNZ began in late 2024 with a question I couldn't leave alone: what do we do with what we already have, and why has so much value disappeared from wool?

My love for wool started on family farms, watching my dad work as a stock agent and my mother make our clothes. On one side is the farmer producing the fibre. On the other is the fashion world selling the final dream. Between them is a lost space where value, identity and truth disappear. That's where WoolTraceNZ began.

WoolPass™ is the digital fibre passport we're building to close that gap, carrying wool's farm origin, fibre identity, care and quality through the supply chain so the farmer doesn't become invisible once the wool leaves the gate.

This trip matters because I'm taking a New Zealand wool story into one of the world's most important textile environments. India has scale, skill and manufacturing depth. New Zealand has fibre, land, care and a story worth protecting.

2. You move between modelling and building a purpose-driven business in a traditionally male industry. How do those two sides inform each other?

Modelling taught me how image and story can completely change how people value something. Farming taught me that behind every natural material there's land, labour, animals and risk. WoolPass™ exists because I could see the gap between those two worlds.

Fashion often sells the beauty after the fibre is transformed, and the origin story gets lost, sometimes to petrochemical fabrics dressed up as sustainable under a polished layer of greenwashing. Coming from fashion gave me the language to see wool as more than a commodity. Coming from rural New Zealand gave me the responsibility to protect where it comes from.

Being a woman in a male dominated industry has made me more determined. I'm not trying to join the old system or beat it by becoming it. I'm building a bridge between the farmer, the maker, the brand and the person who chooses the final product, and women are often the decision makers in that space. We understand texture, care and what's worth keeping.

3. The timing of the Tronque shoot feels meaningful. What does it mean to be part of this at this moment?

It feels full circle, and I want to thank the Tronque team for inviting me in.

I've spent much of my life in front of a camera or behind one, but this feels different. I'm not just representing beauty. I'm standing inside a bigger story about age, purpose and creation, stepping into India with WoolPass™ at the same time as stepping in front of the Tronque lens, as a woman still visible, still building.

Women shouldn't disappear from culture or beauty as they age. We gather more stories, not less.

4. Does your passion for natural fibres carry into what you put on your skin?

Very much. Once you're aware of fibre, land and traceability, it changes how you see everything you put on your body. I'm drawn to products that feel considered and honest, not wasteful.

Natural fibres taught me that integrity matters at every layer: what something's made from, how it's produced, who made it, and how it feels against your body. Skincare sits in that same conversation. Both natural fibres and good skincare have a living frequency. You can feel when something's been made with care.

5. Can you walk us through your body care routine, day to day and when preparing to travel or shoot?

It's practical and simple. I don't wear much makeup day to day, but skincare is what matters to me. I look for products my skin actually loves, not ones that pill or dry it out. I'm from the era that lathered ourselves in oils and let the sun fry them in, and many of us are dealing with the consequences now, so I care much more about what goes on my body.

On a normal day: cleanse, moisturise, drink water, don't overcomplicate it. Before a shoot or travel, I'm more deliberate: eye patches, more hydration, more sleep.

6. Which Tronque product do you reach for most?

The Vitamin C Oil and the Neck & Décolletage Gel. They both feel luxurious and natural but still purposeful, like care rather than empty beauty. There's a difference between something expensive and something that feels intelligent on the body, and Tronque has that balance.

7. When you're deep in a project or navigating a big trip, what does self-care actually look like?

Practical: good sleep, water, no alcohol, natural fibres, good skincare, real food. I write things down, though I'm dyslexic, so the list is often under the last list, somewhere in a pile.

I'd rather go to bed early and get up early. Walking outside around the trees on my property gives me space to hear my own thoughts. Being with my dogs helps too. When you're building something from scratch, self-care can't just be indulgence. It has to bring you back to yourself, and nature does that for me more than anything.

Quickfire

Favourite way to start the day away from home?

Quietly. Coffee with water, a long hot shower, good skincare, a moment without the phone before the world starts asking things of me.

Best advice you've received as a woman building something from scratch?

Back yourself, but protect the work. Not everyone needs access to the whole vision before it's ready.

One book, podcast or song you keep returning to?

'One Life', written and sung by Stan Walker and my eldest son, Nauti.

If you could wear one natural fibre for the rest of your life?

Wool as it is intelligent, protective and totally renewable.

Last thing that genuinely stopped you in your tracks?

Realising WoolPass™ is no longer just an idea I'm carrying privately. It's moving into the world, and with that comes real responsibility. I thought my business building years were behind me. There have been moments lately where I genuinely think, "Wtf?" But in the best possible way.