International Woolmark Prize confirms judging panel ahead of London final

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 15, 2019

The International Woolmark Prize is returning to London for the global final, and will announce the 2019 winner at Lindley Hall during London Fashion Week this Saturday.

The award hosted by the Woolmark Company has tapped an esteemed line-up of industry experts for the judging panel, including fashion designer Alber Elbaz; Business of Fashion editor-at-large Tim Blanks; InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown; and actress Gwendoline Christie.

The judging panel also includes, Laura Larbalestier from Harvey Nichols, Tiffany Hsu from Mytheresa.com and Kelly Wong from Lane Crawford, among a few.

Two UK designers are competing for the menswear award: Daniel W. Fletcher and Nicholas Daley, with other finalists including CMMN SWDN from Sweden, Willy Chavarria from the US and Youser from Korea.

Meanwhile, Albus Lumen from Australia, Brandon Maxwell from the US, Colovos from the US, I-AM-Chen from Hong Kong and Yohei Ohno from Japan are among the finalists for the womenswear award.

Both the menswear and womenswear winners will each receive AU$200,000 to support the development of their business, as well as mentor support, a Woolmark certification for their winning collection and the opportunity to be stocked in some of the world’s leading department stores and boutiques.

A further Innovation Award will provide a AU$100,000 cash prize and mentoring opportunities.