Woolmark names British Isle nominees

The International Woolmark Prize has named the regional shortlisted designers for the 2015/16 award, which this year will include the British Isle being added as its own region in the competition rather than being combined with Europe.

London Fashion Week designers Teatum Jones, J JS Lee, Thomas Tait, Fyodor Golan and Phoebe English have all been announced as the womenswear nominees, while Lee Roach, Kit Neale, Craig Green, Agi & Sam and Adrien Sauvage will compete for the menswear prize.

"The decision to expand the International Woolmark Prize to six regions to include the British Isles was due to industry demands. The UK is one of wool's most tightly held markets. It is an important market from a trade and consumer perspective," explained Stuart McCullough, managing director of The Woolmark Company. "It is also the most important market to inform global trends."

The international prize, which promotes working with Merino wool, will also see designer nominations from five other regions – Asia, Australia, Europe, India and the Middle East, and the USA.

Each region will hold its own awards to select the eventual 12 global finalists, who will all receive a financial contribution of 50,000 Australian dollars to their next collection, as well as an invitation to participate in the international final. The overall winner will receive a further 100,000 Australian dollars.

The British Isles regional award will take place on July 3, 2015.

Image: Fyodor Golan and Thomas Tait sketches