Closing London Fashion Week in true sustainable style, Irish designer Richard Malone was awarded the International Woolmark Prize at last night’s event, whilst New York-based menswear label Bode took home the inaugural Karl Lagerfeld Award for innovation.
The International Woolmark Prize brought London Fashion Week to a poignant close with a glimpse at a more sustainable future for the industry. This year, the prestigious event pioneered transparency and traceability, with upcoming designers A-COLD-WALL*, Blindness, Bode, Botter, Feng Chen Wang, GmbH, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Matthew Adams Dolan, Namacheko and Richard Malone presenting fully traceable collections using Merino wool. Upcycled fabrics, natural dyes and transparent supply chains were all key motifs in the closing show, but it was Irish designer Richard Malone’s organic and regenerative approach to sustainability that saw him take home the prestigious International Woolmark Prize.
Each garment in Malone’s capsule collection is designed to minimise harm to our environment and work towards creating a circular, sustainable fashion system. From eliminating traditional chemicals to provide natural methods of dyeing to working with a society of incredibly skilled weavers in Tamil Nadu, India, the young designer is breaking industry norms to show how fashion can have a positive effect on the planet. “My way of operating a business is very old-fashioned,” he explains. “Everything is made to order, and we don’t wholesale or mass market anything. It’s quite exciting that [Woolmark] are willing to support something that is so radically different from the traditional supply chain.”