Teatum Jones and Suket Dhir this year’s big Woolmark Prize winners

These days there is no shortage of international prizes from Andam to the CFDA award in the US that provide funding and guidance to emerging designers. Perhaps the most global of all is the International Woolmark Prize which recently unveiled the winner for its women award on February 12.

Since the 1950s the International Woolmark Prize has become one of the industry’s most prestigious fashion awards, having discovered talents such as Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and more recently design duo Public School and Belgian designer Christian Wijnants. Today the award is open to emerging talents across the globe, with separate prizes for women’s wear and menswear that include up to AS$100,000 (HK$558,000) worth of funding, a mentorship as well as distribution at some of the world’s most prestigious boutiques.

The women’s final, which was held during New York Fashion Week, showcased the work of six designers who were tasked with creating capsule collections using Australian wool. The judging panel, which included fashion editor André Leon Talley and prize mentor and designer Thakoon Panichgul, were won over by British women’s wear label Teatum Jones. The collection which was inspired by the work of English nun and founder of founder of Foxford Woollen Mills, Agnes Morrogh-Bernard who wove luxurious woollen blankets and restored hope to an impoverished town in the 1800s.

Designers Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones travelled to the mill to create blankets, skirts and jackets which they modernised with geometric foil prints and hand embroideries. They also developed innovative new fabrics including geometric wool lace made in France.

“This is amazing, we are honoured and excited and it’s just the beginning; we have only scratched the surface. This award lets us ignite the magic of wool, so the customer sees the romance,” said Teatum and Jones, who already have several awards under their belt including the UKFT best womenswear designers of 2015.

Earlier this year at the men’s final in Florence, six designers showed their collections to a panel of judges including Business of Fashion founder Imran Amed and designer Haider Ackermann.