#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

2013-04-24

Zegna's 50th Edition Wool Trophy celebrated in Australian style

To honour the 50th Anniversary of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards, Ermenegildo Zegna in partnership with The Woolmark Company, hosted a two-day celebration in Sydney, beginning on April 22nd with guided visits to some of the top Australian wool farms and culminating in a gala, multi-sensorial event held at the historic Royal Hall of Industries in Sydney’s Moore Park.

Journalists and media representatives from thirty one countries travelled to Australia to gain an understanding and appreciation for fine Australian Merino wool.

The farm tour was an ambitious day trip for one hundred and twenty media to the New England district where seven families of woolgrowers hosted guests and introduced them to the intricacies of growing the world’s finest wool. Each group of up to thirty five media were shown through the wool growing process starting from the history of wool and of the family through to shearing and the important stage of classing the wool, to help them understand the story behind producing superfine Merino fleeces that qualify to enter the competition for the Zegna trophy.

Pic: More than 60 male models outfitted in Zegna's Fall /Winter 2013 capsule collection were sent down the catwalk as part of the 50th Anniversary of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards.

The trip culminated in a momentous event held at the historic Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park Australia. During the celebration, over a thousand guests, including International and national media, VIPs, celebrities and friends of Zegna and Woolmark embarked on an extraordinary and memorable event. The unveiling of an installation with multimedia projections opened the event and highlighted the values shared between the fine woolgrowing areas of Australia and weaving district of Italy. This was followed by a stunning men’s fashion show, on the longest catwalk ever created in Australia, featuring more than 60 male models outfitted in the Fall /Winter 2013 capsule collection specially created by Zegna as a homage to the beauty and versatility of Australian wool and entitled “Australian Celebration”; and referencing as inspiration one of the earliest fabrics produced from Zegna Trophy winning wool.

On this occasion Gildo Zegna, CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Paolo Zegna, Chairman, announced the winner of the 50th Edition Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Award for Superfine Wool and the winner of the prestigious Vellus Aureum Trophy, both won by Ed and Jill Hundy of Windradeen.

"The fleece that won this edition with 11.5 microns is fantastic. More beautiful than fleeces from past editions, even if less fine,” explained Paolo Zegna. “Fineness indeed is not the only criteria of evaluation for the Zegna Wool Trophy, as demonstrated by the fact that the second and the third place holders are finer than the winner. The jury considers other factors in addition to fineness such as the length of the fibre, its strength, uniformity, colour and character. All important features that compose the quality of Merino wool."

“This event has marked a milestone in the history of the Australian wool industry,” explained Stuart McCullough CEO of Australian Wool Innovation, owners of The Woolmark Company. “Zegna is one of the single largest buyers of Australian Merino wool; to showcase this partnership to the world as they have done this week makes us very proud.”

Following the awards ceremony, local DJs Alex Dimitriades and Robyn Lawley set the mood in anticipation for the main act, international Australian Indie-Pop band the Temper Trap who played a selection of hits from their recent albums. Attendees at the event included Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir, Australian film star, Chris Hemsworth, Korean-American actor, Daniel Henney, Hong Kong-based actor and singer Leon Lai, and Australian actress and model Megan Gale.

Pic: Australian celebrities Chris Hemsworth and Megan Gale were among the high profile guests at the event.

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