The luck of… Richard Malone. Or simply pure talent. Last night the International Woolmark Prize was awarded to Irish designer Richard Malone, who's collection was created with minimal harm to the environment to work toward a sustainable fashion system. "I believe that sustainability needs to be the norm, and that environmentally conscious garments should be no less directional or desirable than any others,” Malone said.  The result is a six-piece collection of quite desirable utilitarian reworked fishermen workwear - but make it glam. The handwoven, traditional fabrics are organic and from protective farms, ensuring the piece can be recycled through Fibreshed, feeding back into the soil to help sustain future farms. We like this organic fashion farm concept. “My goal is to establish a network that can become a benchmark for a new way of producing fashion, that is both respectful to those who make it, and vitally respectful to our planet. Transparency is essential in our move forward and in future-proofing our industry and our environment. This collection aims to respect and trace each person and process involved in the collection's creation, with everyone given equal billing.”

The judges, including Tim Blankes, Hamish Bowles, Sinead Burke, Edward Enninful, Kim Jones and Takashi Murakami decided on Emily Adams Bode as the first ever winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, presented by Carine Roitfeld. Bode's menswear brand emphasises a slower-paced form of garment-making that focuses on history and preservation. "We will strive to only use natural, circular materials to produce our garments,” Bode said. "All textiles entering the studio will be archived with date and origin, into a system in order to track and preserve the story of our garments.” To sustainability and smart fashion choices.

by Roxy Lola

www.woolmarkprize.com