Earlier this week, luxury menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its Wool Awards in partnership with The Woolmark Company.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards, established in 1963, aim to reward Australian breeders’ commitment to quality. The first Wool Trophy was first awarded in Tasmania in 1963.
Ermenegildo Zegna and the Woolmark Company joined forces for the two-day anniversary celebration in Sydney, which began on April 21 and culminated in a star-studded gala event on April 23 to announce this year's Wool Awards winner.
The “multi-sensorial gala event” was held at the historic Royal Hall of Industries, with more than 200 media and VIP guests which attended from around the world, particularly from the Asia Pacific, Europe and USA.
Guests, included the 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.
During the celebration, Ermenegildo Zegna Group CEO Gildo Zegna and chairman Paolo Zegna, unveiled an installation with multimedia projections which highlighted the values shared between the fine woolgrowing areas of Australia and weaving district of Italy.
This was followed by a 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”.
The winner of the 50th Edition Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Award for Superfine Wool and the winner of the prestigious Vellus Aureum Trophy, were also announced and delivered to the winners – 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,” Paolo Zegna said.
“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.”
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.
To view more photos from the event, go to ragtrader.com.au's Facebook page.