Loro Piana announced the winners of the seventh edition of the Loro Piana Knit Design Award, an international competition dedicated to talented students that give their own creative interpretation of some iconic yarns that represent the excellence of the maison. Through this initiative, in which the most prestigious international design schools have participated since the first edition in 2016, Loro Piana reaffirms its commitment to training and supporting young talents, with the aim of passing on the inestimable experience in the field of textiles that is one of its hallmarks.
Winners, Sumin An and Blake Dewitt of Fashion Institute of Technology of New York
Imagery courtesy of Loro Piana
The theme for 2023 is “Regenerate”: students from the six participating schools – the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York, Heriot Watt University of Edinburgh, Donghua University Shanghai, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Università IUAV di Venezia, and Institut Français de la Mode – were asked to develop a creative idea with a focus on themes of sustainability and reuse of fibres and materials. The goal is to innovate, experiment with, recycle and enhance the value of the maison’s exclusive yarns, both new and iconic – cashmere 2/27, Coarsehair, Wish®, Supercashmere, Royal –, playing with available colours and with the use of stitches to give rise to new weaves and textured forms. Its all starts with nature, the origin of excellence for Loro Piana, master in transforming the noblest raw materials into fabrics with an inimitable feel.
Following the initial brief, the students had the opportunity to fly to Italy to learn about the maison’s extraordinary craftsmanship heritage and to discover the entire production process, working closely with the Research and Development team and participating in guided tours of the wool mill.
Giuliana Matarrese, Andrea Batilla, Sara Sozzani Maino, Jordan Anderson
The projects finalists were presented on April 6th during a special event at Loro Piana’s headquarters in Via della Moscova 33 in Milan, with a jury of experts made up of some internal representatives including CEO Damien Bertrand, as well as personalities such as Sara Sozzani Maino, Creative Director Fondazione Sozzani and Educational & Scouting Advisor of Vogue Italia, Jordan Anderson, Editor-At-Large of NSS Magazine, Andrea Batilla, Brand Strategist and Author, and fashion and lifestyle journalist Giuliana Matarrese. The winners were students Sumin An and Blake Dewitt of Fashion Institute of Technology of New York.
The winning pair received the prestigious Loro Piana Knit Design Award 2023 handmade silver trophy, along with a scholarship and an employment contract with the company. The two students will also have the opportunity to create the finished project in the maison’s knitwear workshops in Piedmont, working alongside artisans who will share their expertise and a few tricks of the trade. Finished pieces will then be shown at Pitti Filati, to be held in Florence from June 28th to 30th.
Always a standard-bearer of the values of fine craftsmanship made in Italy, Loro Piana is proud of this initiative, which aims to preserve and enhance its savoir-faire while passing on to the younger generation a passion for excellence and facilitating their entrance into the job market. Opening its doors in this way, the maison aims to shorten the distance between teaching and the skills that businesses seek, establishing a concrete, well-structured synergy with professional schools and universities.