Nachiket Barve, Sahil Kochhar nominated for International Woolmark Prize

The nominees for the International Woolmark Prize (2016-17) have been announced. Indian designers Nachiket Barve and Sahil Kochhar have made it to the list for India, Pakistan and Middle East regional category. The award ceremony will be held on July 15 in Mumbai.

The womens’ wear shortlisted candidates include: Nachiket Barve, Sahil Kochhar, Eka, Saira, Shakira and Zonia. Nominees for menswear include Bounipon, House of Arsalan Iqbal, Emperor 1688 and Mashael Alrajhi. In fact, 80 designers from 62 countries have been selected to participate in this year’s award which showcases the qualities of Australian Merino wool. Apart from Mumbai, five other regional events will be held during July in Hong Kong, Sydney, Milan, London and New York.

The selected nominees will present one look in Merino wool and a six-piece capsule concept to industry experts for the chance to represent their region at the final awards. Twelve finalists will receive 50,000 Australian dollars (Rs 2,585,844 lakh) financial contribution towards their next collection and an invitation to participate in the international global finals.

The winners of both the finals will receive an additional 100,000 Australian dollars (Rs 5,171,688 lakh) to assist with fabric sourcing and marketing of their collection and mentoring from industry experts. Both the international winners will have the opportunity to have their collection distributed through prestigious international retail partners including Harvey Nichols in the UK, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, David Jones in Australia, Boutique 1 in the UAE, Verso in Belgium, Leclaireur in Paris, Boon the Shop in South Korea, the Papillion in Indonesia as well as online through mytheresa.com (womenswear) and matchesfashion.com (menswear).

The six menswear finalists will meet in London in January 2017 and the six women’s wear finalists will meet in Paris in March 2017.