Taking stock: Woolmark 2014-15

Launching into its third year, the International Woolmark Prize has fast become one of the most sought-after designer awards of our times. Designer Rahul Mishra shot to international success, when he was announced the winner of the 2013/14 International Woolmark Prize. Mishra's seminal line displayed progressive graphic hand embroidery with Merino wool yarn on jackets, dresses and pants, with the graphic designs stemming from an eight-petal lotus to morph into complex structures.
This year IMG Reliance with the support of The Advisory board at Lakme Fashion Week have nominated designers Gaurav Jai Gupta, Suket Dhir and Nachiket Barve for the highly-coveted prize.

The Advisory Board

Saket Dhankar, Vice President and Head-Fashion, IMG Reliance

Innovative use of wool, modern design aesthetics with global appeal and potential commercial success of the collection were some of the important parameters designers were evaluated on. We received more than 30 applications and are delighted to choose the trio. I am confident that their exceptional talent and durable versatility will aptly represent India in the coveted Woolmark Prize.

Manish Malhotra, designer

They are notable Indian designers who are known for their significant contribution to the Indian fashion industry. These designs are not only versatile but also have a global voice with an Indian twist. Another important thing that I notice is that these young designers are reviving Indian crafts and are proud to showcase and work with Indian textiles and weaves, which for me is very exciting.

Nominees

Nachiket Barve
The work I do is an amalgam of a global aesthetic with Indian resources and people. Today, the boundaries that exist are not geographical but ideological. The exposure that the IWP platform gives is immense; it showcases your work to the entire design community. The collection I am making aims to celebrate wool and innovate with the material. I am looking forward to this project to be able to express myself through this unique medium to a wider audience.

Gaurav Jai Gupta, Akaaro
I am thrilled to be a part of this coveted award for the second time in row. It's a huge opportunity for me and I'm looking forward to present my work infront of the prestigious jury. I've more clarity on various things this time and I'm completely enjoying the whole process. Projects like these, I feel, certainly help you in self-discovery and innovate with your body of work.

Suket Dhir
Handicraft and handloom has been a people-centric industry and I'm hoping that this platform and my interaction with the industry leaders will help me strike the balance between organised and disorganised sectors. I'm trying to work on a lighter weight fabric, we have the right resources, weaves and textile background which will develop a unique product. A warp and weft of subtle correspondences and contradictions, my collection explores the trans-seasonal aspects of wool and the alchemic transformation of the fibrous wool into smooth silk like yarn rendering the fabric light, airy, fluid and yet full and supple.

Birth of Woolmark
In 1936, Australian woolgrowers voted for a levy to be imposed on each bale of wool they produced, to promote their product around the world. This audacious, visionary decision resulted in the formation of a body first known as the International Wool Secretariat (IWS); one of the initiatives of the IWS was a fashion design award to highlight the versatility and modernity of wool.

The Woolmark Prize was first launched in 1953, but it was at the 1954 awards that two young, unknown womenswear designers, Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, stepped up on stage to accept their respective fashion design prizes. Lagerfeld, then 21, was the winner of the coat category. Saint Laurent, at a mere 18 years old, won the award for dress design, judged by a panel which included Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Balmain. It was at that moment that fashion history was made…

By the 1960s synthetic fibres were posing a major challenge to wool's supremacy. To fight back, Chairman of the IWS, Sir William Vines, came up with the idea of a unique label that would be a guarantee of a wool product's composition. And so the Woolmark was born.

In 1964 the IWS organised an international competition to design the logo of the new brand. The Italian graphic designer Francesco Saroglia was chosen from the dozens of entries – his proposition of five black bands criss-crossing to form a skein-shape to perfectly represent the softness, elegance and modernity of wool.

The Woolmark Company continues to promote Australian Merino wool throughout the international fashion industry, highlighting to consumers the benefits of Australian Merino wool.

Some of the more recent design awards and programs supported by the Australian wool industry include the Protégé program in 2007 which aligned some of the world's most established designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Donatella Versace with young protégés of their choice; and most recently, the Woolmark Prize held in 2008, which revived the original IWS awards.