Big thank you to The Observer for showing the Woolmark campaign some love over the weekend!
Click here to check the full story.
Here’s Christian Wijnants, European winner of the International Woolmark Prize, with his design along with a quick Q&A.
How does it feel to win the award?
I am extremely happy about this prize. It was such a big surprise when I heard Mr Alber Elbaz say my name (with my belgian last name impossible to pronounce, it was very funny to hear). I am very honored to get the award from such a jury panel, I have a lot of respect for each of them. It is very encouraging and motivating when so talented fashion personalities appreciate/recognise my work.
Thanks to this award I can invest in my brand and also develop the rest of the collection I made for Woolmark (Out of 6 outfits I only made and presented one outfit yesterday, I will execute the other 5 for the final in London in february 2013).
Can you tell us more about your winning piece and its construction?
The collection (that I presented for Woolmark) is based on the simple idea to start from a single white yarn and to explore all possibilities you can achieve with it.
I wanted to challenge myself only working with one type of yarn in 100% Merino Wool and to work on seemless garments, knitted in one piece.
The dress I presented is handknitted and hand dyed in deep colours inspired by crystals and minerals.
After knitting the dress it has been tie dyed using wood panels to keep some parts white. The dyeing process was very challenging and intense as you need to dye in cold water for several hours the wool to avoid shrinkage. The piece needed 5 days to dry and only then i could see the final result.
The shape of the dress is very organic with big rounded sleeves, cocoon shaped and at the same time accenting the waist.
How does wool feature in your collections?
I use wool every season most of the time pure. A big part of my collection is knitwear and therefore I use merino wool as it is very rich and comfortable fiber.It represents for me a natural sophistication, unpretentious luxury. Accessible to everyone and timeless.
More of this young designers work available at www.christianwijnants.be
