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If you are not currently stressed out and a little crazy about the state of our environment, I recommend reading the news. It is common to believe that, as individuals, there is nothing we can do to truly influence the changing circumstances of our world, but together we can take important steps, and that is precisely the goal of the historic and longstanding International Woolmark Prize within to do the fashion industry. The International Woolmark Prize brings aspiring designers together and encourages them to improve the status quo when it comes to how these newer brands source and manufacture clothing, particularly with regard to the use of Australian merino wool. Previous winners include Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren, to name a few.
This year, after reviewing over 300 applicants from over 47 different countries, the finalists were selected. We had the opportunity to talk to three of them – Emily Bode, Matthew Adams Dolan and Richard Malone – about their upcoming collections to be shown at the 2020 Woolmark International Prize during London Fashion Week and their promised sustainability commitments within of their brands. and in the future. The IWP winner will receive funding to develop their collection, which will ultimately be sold to some of the best retailers in the industry. Winning this award as an aspiring designer means more than we can understand viewers. So it seemed like the best option to hear from the finalists themselves about the impact of this award.
Get ready to learn all the details about these three finalist collections for the 2020 International Woolmark Prize and get a glimpse of their inspiration and lookbook images.
What does it mean for you as an aspiring designer to be a finalist in the IWP?
I've known about Woolmark's history since I was at Parsons' school. The award is an incredible honor and opportunity to sit under these contemporary and historical names in our industry and work holistically towards a more thoughtful future in fashion.
What can we expect from your collection at the IWP?
A revival of historical techniques and processes in traceable and certified merino wool.
Explain the unique manufacturing, process, or development of wool that you used for this collection.
By working with the Woolmark Wool Lab, we have established contacts with suppliers and manufacturers that we might not otherwise have found. For example, one of these suppliers had merino wool felt. I have reinterpreted the historical tradition of collecting and patching wool souvenir pennants with a Woolmark-certified merino wool felt, which increased the practice of using a simply incomprehensible craft felt. This collection embodies and illustrates stories of the past of reuse, self-sufficiency and a commitment to the preservation of the craft.
What were some of your biggest challenges during this development?
One of the biggest challenges was the deadlines. As we worked with many of these factories and suppliers for the first time, we didn't know how to measure the production times of our previous collections.
Can you speak to other ways to achieve sustainability within your brand?
We work with historic mills and family owned factories in New York, Pennsylvania and Ireland to name a few. We also work with a handful of female manufacturers, such as our New York knitting mill and our India-based embroidery studio. Since the beginning of the brand, I have worked with historical, waste-free and climate-neutral processes such as hand loom, hand knitting and hand embroidery.
Any advice for aspiring designers to maintain sustainable brand building practices?
Think unconventionally about your design practices! For example, you don't just have to work with ecotechnical fabrics to run a sustainable business.
What does it mean for you as an aspiring designer to be a finalist in the IWP?
It is very exciting for me personally. I only work with sustainable and biodegradable or recycled fabrics, so doing research with wool was incredibly exciting.
My brand started with sustainability and is about making our planet, our employees and thus our industry future-proof. Nothing can be really modern or luxurious without considering its actions and effects. As a designer, I see a great personality in research and design solutions that work from the ground up and recognize every person and every process along the way. Much of the sustainability is based on the ego – designers who want to appreciate something innovative – while innovations or new systems often only lead to waste and damage. Leather alternatives are a good example. Nothing changes in the existing leather industry. In the end, only a more synthetic product is created that cannot be biodegraded.
Part of my project is going straight back to the ground and rethinking our archaic fashion systems that span everything from agriculture to the extremely harmful wholesale model that pervades our industry.
What can we expect from your collection at the IWP?
My IWP submission includes the use of natural, vegetable and organic dyes with experienced weavers to create beautiful, contemporary fabrics. I make sure that everyone in my supply chain receives more than three times the fair trade wage and that everyone's opinions and expertise are respected and encouraged – it's a real partnership. We have also set up a regenerative farm to reuse our water waste and promote crop rotation (once we have grown cotton) so that we are actually regenerating land that has become sterile through mass production and is giving something back to the planet.
I have also partnered with fiber scales in the UK to share information with the farm in Tamil Nadu so that natural woolen clothing can be biodegraded and our earth revitalized.
What were some of your biggest challenges during this development?
The intense testing that was done to determine what could be considered high quality wool under the Woolmark certification program. Many brands and certificates made of cotton or fair goods can simply be bought – they are not required by law. As designers, we don't have to be lazy and actually visit every facet of our supply chain to make sure it's authentic and secure.
Can you speak to other ways to achieve sustainability within your brand?
We regenerate marine waste into jersey, organic cotton, recycle water waste in regenerative farms and inform consumers about the recycling and repair of clothing. We never produce in bulk and everyone in our supply chain is treated fairly, appropriately paid and respected.
Any advice for aspiring designers to maintain sustainable brand building practices?
Never drop the ball. Don't push to keep to the existing schedule. Focus on excellent work, regardless of the time it takes. The schedule is archaic and irrelevant.
How does it feel to be a finalist in the International Woolmark Prize?
It is very exciting to be part of the price given its history and the support and care it offers.
How long have you been working with merino wool?
We have been working with merino wool for several years now and look forward to continuing to look for new ways to use it in the collection for the International Woolmark Prize.
What would it mean for you and your brand if you won the International Woolmark Prize?
It would be a great honor and a great opportunity for the company. Regardless of the outcome, the support and care that comes with the experience is invaluable.
What design or business opportunities could you pursue if you won the International Woolmark Prize?
The award really gives us the opportunity to further explore the diverse potential of wool as a material. Participation in the award offers us a platform to develop our business in a more sustainable and future-oriented manner.
What are your current traceability and sustainability guidelines and how do you plan to include them in your international Woolmark price collection?
We have tried to be aware of who we are working with on factories and suppliers. We are lucky enough to work with a number of sustainable factories in Italy. However, this is something we want to constantly improve and integrate into the business. In terms of the International Woolmark Prize collection, this is definitely something we want to involve more through sourcing recycled materials and manufacturing initiatives.
