The much-coveted prize celebrates outstanding fashion talents from around the globe
A. Roege Hove is defined by its slinky, clingy knitwear, so it’s only fitting that today the Danish brand was announced as one of eight finalists for the International Woolmark Prize, which celebrates designers who succeed in showcasing Australian Merino wool in innovative ways. “It's such a big honour to be part of an iconic competition like this, especially for a knitwear brand, where working with wool seems like the most natural thing in the world,” designer Amalie Roege Hove says. “That being said, we love to work with untraditional yarns and materials to keep pushing the expectations for knitwear.”
This time around, the theme of the competition is “Dialogue” – a reflection of The Woolmark Company’s efforts to create a dialogue between design talents and established industry heavyweights. Each finalist receives a tidy sum of AU$60,000 to develop six Merino wool looks within their autumn/winter 2023 collection. “Introducing wool will allow us to experiment, investigate and innovate with yarns and techniques on a whole other level,” says Roege Hove.
Photos: Simon Baungaard.
In addition to the general prestige that comes with taking home the top prize – early winners include Valentino Garavani and Yves Saint Laurent – the overall winner will also receive AU$200,000, a game-changing sum for an emerging brand (one finalist will also receive AU$100,000 for the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation). Roege Hove can’t help but fantasise about how the prize money might benefit her brand. "If we actually won this competition it would mean the world,” Roege Hove says. “We would be able to focus even more on innovation, sustainability, new product ranges and give us the freedom to focus even more on developing and creative growth.”
Photos: James Cochrane.
Still, it is, as they say, an honour just to be nominated: finalists are connected to top boutiques and retailers worldwide and have access to the so-called “Innovation Academy”: a network of supply chain connections that could prove instrumental in the development of a brand.
Competition is stiff – other finalists include Lagos Space Programme from Nigeria, Robyn Lynch from Ireland and Rhude from LA. But it wouldn’t be the first time Roege Hove beat out tough competition to nab a big payout; the designer took home Denmark’s Magasine du Nord prize just last year. Who was the first person she told when she received word that she was a Woolmark finalist? “I think i just basically yelled it out in the studio, so the entire team where the first to know.”
Photo: Simon Baungaard.
