The Woolmark Company’s International Woolmark Prize has just been awarded to the brand Lagos Space Company. Founded by Adeju Thompson, the designer will be awarded with $200,000 AUS to dedicate to their brand, as well as being stocked in retailers around the world and receiving business mentorship.
Every year, the Woolmark Company awards an emerging designer by encouraging them to use wool as the primary material for their collection that helps engrain sustainability into the future of fashion. Previous Woolmark Prize winners include Saul Nash last year and Matty Bovan in 2021, while this year’s finalists included A.ROEGEHOVE, Robyn Lynch, RHUDE, Bluemarble, MARCO RAMBALDI, MAXXIJ and Paolina Russo.
Adeju Thompson was announced winner last night during a ceremony in Paris presented by Lou Doillon. Having founded Lagos Space Station in 2014, Thompson’s non-binary brand uplifts African culture, talents and textiles. Its latest capsule collection, which explores this year’s chosen theme of dialogue, included indigo-dyed Adire cloth, its signature Yarubo pants, and some classic tailored garments.
The judges – which consisted of CR Fashion Book’s Carine Roitfeld, Alaïa’s creative director Peter Mulier, footwear designer Salehe Bembury, CEO of Browns and chief fashion and merchandising officer of Farfetch Elizabeth von der Goltz as well as other industry professionals – chose Lagos Space station for its innovative use of fabrics, commitment to sustainability, and its overall completeness.
The night also rewarded Copenhagen-based designer Amalie Røge Hove with the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, the late German designer also being a former Woolmark Prize winner. She will receive $100,000 AUS, which she plans to invest in yarn machinery for her studio.
The Woolmark Company continues to uplift designers globally, breaking down the barriers between the supply chain and the designer, and spotlighting them on a global scale, and have no plans to stop any time soon.
More on CULTED
See: WHO IS PETER DO, THE ELUSIVE DESIGNER NOW AT THE HELM OF HELMUT LANG
See: FIT CELEBRATES THE FUTURE OF FASHION WITH ITS GRADUATE SHOW
