High school fashionistas across Australia are encouraged to compete in the Wool4School Design Competition, a chance to showcase our iconic Merino wool.
Students, from years 7-12 have the chance to design an outfit using at least 80% wool. The outfit can contain 1 to 4 pieces and, according to the criteria: must show the student's creative and innovative talent.
By putting wool into the minds of Australia's future fashion designers, The Woolmark Company hopes Wool4School will encourage students' innovative thinking and creative design, in keeping with the Company's tradition of fostering the education of the future generation.
First launched in 2012, Wool4School receives more than 85,000 student entries globally. Entrants learn the fundamentals of fashion design and explore the benefits and versatility of wool and the fabric it creates.
On the back of the success of Wool4School in Australia, The Woolmark Company launched the competition in Hong Kong 2015, the United Kingdom 2017 and Italy 2018.
This year the students can be in the running to win up to $1000 cash, an outfit made by an Australian designer and featured in an Australian fashion publication, a sewing machine and a Scholarship to Whitehouse Institute of Design in either Sydney or Melbourne.
Last year's Year 11 winner Cindy Kieu, from St Dominic's Priory College, SA, designed a coat which could be turned into a sleeping bag.
In her submission to the competition she talked about homelessness and how wool can save lives.
The padded full-length coat – made from the innovative wind and water-repellent Neulana Protect fabric – can not only become a sleeping bag, but also a swaddle for a baby.
