Promoting wool for summers

The Woolmark Company announced ‘The International Woolmark Prize’; a contest that crosses borders and cultures by seeking outstanding and emerging talent from around the world, aligning the support of emerging designers with the evolution of emerging countries.

Keeping with a long tradition of supporting individual excellence in design, the International Woolmark Prize aims to highlight the beauty of the Merino wool fibre at the hands of the world’s finest designers. Five regional awards will be held in Australia, China, India, Europe and the US. The winner from each region will receive A$50,000 as a contribution towards their next collection as well as an invitation to participate in the international final.

The winner of the international final will receive a further A$100,000 to assist in underwriting their next fashion show. In addition, the international winner will have their collection commercialized through key international retail partners including Harvey Nichols in the UK and Lane Crawford in China. Designers nominated from India include  Aneeth Arora, Arjun Saluja, Gaurav Gupta, Pankaj and Nidhi, Rahul Mishra, Rimzim Dadu, Ritesh Kumar, Samant Chauhan, Smita and Himanshu and Zubair Kirmani.

 The India judging panel comprises some of the countries most respected industry representatives including Priya Tanna – Editor Vogue India, Simon P Lock – Founder of Australian Fashion Week, Sunil Sethi – President of Fashion Design Council of India and Pradeep Hirani – CMD of Kimaya Fashion Pvt Ltd.