Alber Elbaz joins hunt for global fashion star

Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz is joining the likes of Giles Deacon and DSQUARED² designers Dean and Dan Caten to discover a rising design talent as part of the prestigious International Woolmark Prize.

Established back in the 1950s to celebrate the use of merino wool by emerging designers, the global fashion competition was famously a springboard for the early careers of design icons Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld -- both were winners back in 1954.
Organized by Australian wool industry giant The Woolmark Company, the global search sees industry figureheads from areas including Europe, the USA and China select a regional representative to attend the international awards ceremony in February 2013.
The regional winner will be named on July 12 -- taking home 50,000 Australian dollars (40,000 euros) to be put towards their next show, while the global winner will receive an additional 100,000 Australian dollars (80,000 euros).
Those in the running in the European category include JW Anderson and Olympia Letan, while in the USA section well known names such as Prabal Gurung and Naeem Khan are up for the prize. To see a complete list of designers nominated by region visit http://www.woolmarkprize.com/nominees/.