The International Woolmark Prize celebrates outstanding fashion talents who showcase the beauty and versatility of Australian Merino wool. The 2025 edition, chaired by Donatella Versace, marks the first time in its new biennial format, with the winner to be awarded AU$300,000. Fashion’s most influential personalities, including Donatella Versace, Alessandro Sartori, IB Kamara and Law Roach, will come together in Milan on April 2 to choose the winner.
The 2025 edition, chaired by Donatella Versace, will award the winner AU$300,000.
The International Woolmark Prize has historically focused on celebrating the potential of Merino wool. Since its relaunch in 2012, it has expanded its focus to include sustainability and technological innovation, and is awarded to an emerging designer who showcases the beauty, versatility and modernity of Merino wool. The winner receives AU$300,000 to invest in the development of their business. For instance, Gabriela Hearst who won in 2017, leveraged it to strengthen her own fashion brand before becoming Creative Director of Chloé from 2021 to 2023.
The awards identified and nurtured the most influential fashion designers worldwide including Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren. The 2025 edition will take place on April 2 in Milan, bringing together eight design talents, tasked with creating a six-look capsule collection in Merino wool. Each of the eight finalists has received AU$60,000 to develop their collection. The winner will receive AU$300,000 to invest in the development of their business. For instance, Gabriela Hearst who won in 2017, leveraged it to strengthen her own fashion brand before becoming Creative Director of Chloé from 2021 to 2023.
“For more than sixty years, the program has been supporting design talent on behalf of wool industry,” says Woolmark Managing Director John Roberts.“The prize represents Woolmark’s continued social commitment, a sharing of resources, enduring support of local artisans and mission to lead the industry on a journey to nature positive. These designers are key players in this transformation, and we’re excited to see how their collections unfold.”
The finals will also witness the presentation of two industry awards. The Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation will be opened up to the broader fashion industry in 2025 and will be awarded to any brand within the fashion industry that has pushed the boundaries of Merino wool innovation. And The Woolmark Supply Chain Award celebrates the outstanding contribution by a trade partner and is presented to a member of the supply chain. Additionally, all finalists will be stocked at the world’s leading retailers through the International Woolmark Prize Retailer Network.
2025 International Woolmark Prize: The Finalists
Eight promising design talents have secured their place as finalists in the 2025 International Woolmark Prize. Selected from hundreds of applicants, these designers are ACT N°1, Italy; Diotima, USA; Duran Lantink, The Netherlands; Ester Manas, Belgium; LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi, France; Luar, USA; Meryll Rogge, Belgium; and Standing Ground, UK-Ireland.
As a pillar of the fashion industry’s future, the prize looks to continue its long legacy of supporting emerging designers in ways that allows them to develop and commercialise their brands. This year’s finalists have received AU$60,000 for the development of a collection of six Merino wool looks, which highlights the versatility, innovative nature and eco-credentials of Merino wool. “To do this effectively, designers need more financial support, better access to sustainable materials and time to innovate with the latest technology. Our revised program aligns more closely with the evolving needs of the industry,” said Woolmark Managing Director John Roberts.
2025 International Woolmark Prize: The Finalists
2025 International Woolmark Prize: The Jury
The 2025 International Woolmark Prize will be judged by a panel of industry leaders recognised for their expertise and influence. Presiding over this year’s jury will be Donatella Versace. “Supporting the next generation of fashion talent has never been more important. I am so excited to host the Woolmark Prize in our home city of Milan and to meet the designers selected. I am sure they will all be winners in their own way,” said Versace.
IB Kamara is Guest Artistic Director for the 2025 finals. Serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Dazed and Creative Director for luxury fashion brand Off-White, Kamara’s artistic direction will support the award in continuing to break down borders and barriers. “I’m honoured to be joining the amazing team at Woolmark for the 2025 Woolmark Prize, bringing fresh creativity as we celebrate these design talents” he says. “It’s so important that we nurture and inspire the talent who are shaping the future of the fashion industry and I can’t wait to meet the finalists.”
The jury also includes Law Roach, Image Architect; Alessandro Sartori, Artistic Director, Zegna; Tim Blanks, Editor-at-Large, Business of Fashion; Sinéad Burke, Founder of Tilting the Lens; Honey Dijon, DJ, Producer and Artist; Alessandro Dell Acqua, Founder and Creative Director, N21; Simone Marchetti, Vanity Fair Italia Editor-in-Chief; Roopal Patel, SVP, Fashion Director, Saks Fifth Avenue; and Danielle Goldberg, Celebrity Stylist and Brand Consultant.
History of the International Woolmark Prize
Founded in 1936 to promote wool to the global market, the International Woolmark Prize brought together the woolgrowers of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa who were truly visionary in their ambition to market wool to the other side of the world. This unifying industry body perceived that fashion designers could be the vehicles through which to open the minds of consumers to the possibilities of wool and subsequently increase its demand.
The earliest records of the International Wool Secretariat’s design competition attribute Valentino Garavani as one of its first winners, who at the time was a fashion student in Paris. The prize ensured he landed his first job in 1950 with couturier Jean Dessès before his own now-iconic maison, Valentino. In 1953, Yves Saint Laurent entered the International Wool Secretariat’s design competition when he was just 16 years old. The jury including Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy granted the teenager, third prize, and so Saint Laurent, who was born in Algeria, travelled to Paris to receive his award. The following year, a jury comprised of Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy awarded Saint Laurent first place in the dress category, and Karl Lagerfeld – who was 21 years old at the time – first place in the coat category.
The impact of this initiative on the course of fashion’s history cannot be overestimated, as it was from this 1954 edition that Saint Laurent was hired by Dior himself, before going on to create his own eponymous fashion brand. Likewise, Lagerfeld was hired by one Pierre Balmain who also put his prize-winning wool coat into production. The International Wool Secretariat’s design competition quite intentionally connected the industry’s establishment with talented individuals. Focusing on pure design, this early version of the prize allowed young creatives to submit sketches of garments, the best of which were realised in three-dimensional form by the finest couturiers, including Jacques Fath and Givenchy.
Today, the International Woolmark Prize’s advisory council, judging panel and mentor program are made up of the top editors, retail buyers and fashion designers, and continues this legacy of connecting like-minded people through the fibre of wool. In the 1980s when prices boomed, the prize was reborn as the Woolmark Award and attracted the best designers from across the world. Giorgio Armani, who won the award in 1989 and then again in 1992, is the only designer who has won two editions outright. Romeo Gigli, one of the most influential designers of the decade, won in 1990. It was also in the early 1990s that American designers Donna Karen and Ralph Lauren won the Woolmark Award.
With wool prices again fluctuating and in seeing a greater need to support fashion designers whilst at university, the prize developed an offshoot in partnership with The Royal College of Art in London. Second-year design students were paired with fashion houses including Escada and MaxMara, and were tasked to design and produce a collection to a brief, deadline and budget, where the winner received a placement at the company. This format continued until the late 1990s and then in 2008, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first bale of Australian-grown Merino wool in Europe, the award was again reborn as the Woolmark Project Protégé.
Ten young creators were paired with world famous designers including Donatella Versace, Calvin Klein, Paul Smith and, in a legendary return to the prize, Karl Lagerfeld, who acted as personal mentors to their chosen protégés. Also in 2008, Chinese designer Qiu Hao was announced the winner of The Woolmark Prize by Sonia Rykiel in Paris, and The Woolmark Company leveraged support from retailers and secured Parisian concept store Colette as the exclusive stockist of Qiu Hao’s limited-edition wool garments. Today, the head buyers of some of the best stores from around the world, including Lane Crawford, Boon The Shop, mytheresa.com, and net-a-porter.com are instrumental in then bringing these garments to consumers in London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Sydney and to the online community.
Perhaps the most significant effect of this is seen in Rahul Mishra who founded his womenswear label in 2008 in Mumbai with sustainable, slow-fashion at the core of the brand. In 2013, Mishra won the regional final of the International Woolmark Prize and went on to be the first Indian designer to win the global final at Milan Fashion Week. “I look back how I started my life with a very humble background,” said Mishra, who was invited to present his collections at Paris Fashion Week – a position he holds today. “I come here as a completely unknown designer in this sphere of fashion, and suddenly this prize gives you that big recognition, in an instant.”
When Donatella Versace judged the global final in 2013 alongside Victoria Beckham, Diane von Furstenberg and Franca Sozzani, she explained: “There are many interesting young people out there right now. Especially those who are capturing the essence of today in their own way, without copying anyone and by being themselves. Having the courage to state your ideas, today, it’s something rare. That’s why great initiatives such as the International Woolmark Prize are so important to me.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly took over the world in 2020, every industry entered uncharted territory. Going 100% digital for the first time, the UK’s Matty Bovan was awarded the main prize as well as the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation. The 2022 International Woolmark Prize saw some return to normality, with the final event once again taking place in London. As a pillar of the fashion industry’s future, the prize looks to continue its long legacy of supporting emerging designers in ways that allows them to connect, develop and commercialise their brands.
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
