THE wool industry's headline fashion promotion, the International Woolmark Prize kicked off its 2015/16 competition in fine style last night.
Nominees were announced at a function in Sydney last night. Six womenswear designers and three menswear designers were named.
The prize will promote a fresh crop of fashion stars on the international stage and promote benefits of working with Australian Merino wool.
Last night's line-up of womenswear designers included Bianca Spender, Ashkar Line, Celeste Tesoriero, Elissa McGowan, Rebecca Vallance and Haryono Setiadi.
Menswear nominees were From Britten P/L, Han and P Johnson.
Come July, all designers will present sketches of a Merino wool capsule collection comprising of six outfits, including one fully-made outfit, to be judged by a panel of local and international fashion experts.
One designer from each category will take home $50,000 and an invitation to represent Australia at the international final, where they will face finalists from the British Isles, Asia, Europe, India and the Middle East and the US.
The menswear final will be held in Florence in January 2016 and the womenswear final will be held in New York in February 2016.
The international winners of the menswear and womenswear finals will receive a further $100,000 to assist with fabric sourcing and marketing of their collection.
In addition, both winners will have their collection commercialised through retailers including Harvey Nichols in the UK, Joyce in China, Saks Fifth Avenue in the USA, 10 Corso Como in Italy and Shanghai, mythersa.com, Matchesfashion.com and David Jones in Australia.
Last year Peter Strateas and Mario Luca Carlucci, from Melbourne-based label Strateas.Carlucci, represented Australia at the international final of both categories.
The duo wished this year's nominees the best of luck for the year ahead.
"It was an incredible experience and you all will see that first hand," Mr Carlucci said.
