Dion Lee has been revealed as the Australian winner of the Woolmark Prize at an awards dinner in Sydney, Australia tonight. An award for the next generation of fashion designers, the International Woolmark Prize highlights great fashion design talent as well as wool’s credentials in the fashion stakes.
Besides the prestige of following in the footsteps of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Dolce & Gabanna, Lee wins a $50,000 financial contribution towards their next collection as well as an invitation to participate in the international final which will see him compete against winners from Europe, America, China and India for the glory of being the winner of the International Woolmark Prize.
Lee’s felt coat design with ombre leather twist detail at the back and basketweave detailing on the sides was simply exquisite and was a clear choice for the Australian judging panel which included Edwina McCann – Editor, Vogue Australia, Simon P Lock – Founder of Australian Fashion Week, Malcolm Carfrae – Global Vice President of Communications for Calvin Klein, Richard Nicoll – Designer and David Bush – Buyer Womenswear David Jones.
“Felt is basically the fibres gripping and weaving together and I’ve always been attracted to its raw nature and the fact it’s one of the more sculptural fabrics in the wool portfolio,” Lee told SMH. “I’ve been working on giving my brand a global platform, so it will be extremely exciting to see my work represented with other international designers on a global platform.”
Lee was apparently a no-brainer of a choice according to Alyx Gorman, editor of The Vine who tweeted that he was chosen “because the judges think he will take the intl prize”.
His international competitors are: Christian Wijnants (Europe), Ban Xiao Xue (China) and Sophie Theallet (America) with India’s winner to be announced in the next few days.
Check out the amazing fashion videos created by Dion Lee and his fellow Australian Woolmark Prize finalists: Ellery, Christopher Esber, Magdelena Velevska, Carl Kapp and Song for the Mute. Our favourite is Magdelena Velevska’s, closely followed by Song for the Mute.
Australian Woolmark Prize finalist video: Magdelena Velevska
Australian Woolmark Prize finalist video: Song for the Mute
Australian Woolmark Prize finalist video: Christopher Esber
Australian Woolmark Prize finalist video: Dion Lee
Watch the other videos here.
The winner of the international Woolmark Prize final will receive a further A$100,000 to assist in underwriting their next fashion show with their collection commercialised through key international retail partners including Harvey Nichols in the UK, Lane Crawford in China, Eickoff in Germany and Bergdorf Goodman in the USA and David Jones in Sydney.
Hi Linus,I just wanted to let you know that your inrevtiew w/ Maron was spectacular. It was a great WTF reversal, where you played the part of Marc, and Marc played the part of the comedian being inrevtiewed. (However, you didn’t seem to have to ride the arc of being bitter and resentful to repctful, and you didn’t have any reason to apologize to him ) Anyways you did everything perfectly, and w/ high level of difficulty, to put things Olynpically. Much respect and I can’t wait for another podcast.Best,Jeff