Many decades ago, Woolmark, a company set up in 1937 to promote the use of Australian Merino wool in fashion, turned the spotlight in 1954 on two young, unknown womenswear designers by awarding them the first International Woolmark Prize (IWP) for fashion.

The first fresh young thing was Karl Lagerfeld, then 21, and the second was a certain Yves Saint Laurent, merely 18, at the time. These (then) young men won the awards for the coats and dress design categories, respectively–and we all know that they both went on to create fashion history. Nearly 50 years later, Rahul Mishra took to the stage and seamlessly knitted some pretty good history of his own. In February 2014, Mishra – representing India and the Middle East – walked away with the International Woolmark Prize for his “incredible knowledge of techniques and craftsmanship, with stunning embroidery adorning his capsule collection.”

Media@ Eluxe Magazine