Dion Lee makes Woolmark Prize final

Joining Christian Wijnants, Sophie Theallet and Ban Xiao

Xue in the Woolmark Prize award grand final is Australian designer Dion Lee. Announced last night in Sydney, young designer Dion Lee edged out five other Australian designs to take the coveted International Woolmark Prize for the Australia region.

London Fashion Week designer Richard Nichol who was part of the judging panel said that whilst the standards of each designer’s entry were high, Lee would make an ideal ambassador for Australian fashion.

“Dion is the ideal designer ambassador for Australia. I think he has a good chance of winning the overall international competition also which would be a fantastic result for the perception of Australian fashion as a whole and inspiring for future generations of winners,” said Nichol.

The Woolmark prize supported by the Australian Wool Industry was relaunched this year to help promote outstanding design talent from across the world, as well as showcase the diversity of Merino wool.

The grand final will take place in London next February, and the winner will take home a 100,000 Australian dollars to assist in underwriting her next fashion show, and the opportunity for his clothes to be stocked in Harvey Nichols, US department store Bergdorf Goodman, Italy's 10 Corso Como and David Jones in Australia.