Woolmark Prize Spotlights Finalists With Short Film by FKA Twigs
Ahead of the winner announcement on April 26, the 2022 International Woolmark Prize Tuesday released a short film to showcase this year’s seven finalists: Ahluwalia and Saul Nash from the U.K.; Egonlab of France; Jordan Dalah of Australia; Mmusomaxwell of South Africa; Peter Do of the U.S., and Rui of China.
Directed by British singer FKA Twigs, with creative direction by Zak Group and choreography by Juliano Nunes, the film, called “Playscape,” is inspired by sculptor Isamu Noguchi’s way of seeing play as a mode of creative exploration.
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The film sees an empty gallery of Noguchi’s sculptures being populated by a cast of characters at the beginning, including model Kai-Isaiah Jamal, dancer Kiddy Smile and DJ Princess Julia. The set is later switched into an imaginary landscape with a dancing number performed by her Avant Garden collective, wearing looks from the finalists’ Merino wool collections.
The short film also comes with an immersive showroom and a partnership with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.
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Zak Kyes, founder of Zak Group, believes that the goal of this creative project aims to “create a playground for the next generation of fashion talent to collide with dance, art, music and design.”
“FKA twigs was the perfect collaborator because of her polymathic practice and singular voice. We are indebted to Isamu Noguchi for providing the inspiration to take play seriously,” he added.
On April 26, the winners will be selected in London by a panel of industry experts, including Burberry’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci, Dazed’s editor in chief Ibrahim Kamara, industrial designer Marc Newson and Shaway Yeh, founder of Yehyehyeh and group style editorial director at Modern Media Group.
The finalists will have the chance to be stocked at leading stores, via the International Woolmark Prize Retailer Network.
One finalist will be awarded the International Woolmark Prize with a cash prize of 200,000 Australian dollars, or $144,000.
The Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation will be awarded to another finalist, with the winner receiving 100,000 Australian dollars, or $72,000.
There will also be a Woolmark Supply Chain Award “for outstanding contribution from a trade partner driving wool supply chain innovation.”
The Woolmark Company is a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, a not-for-profit enterprise that conducts research, development and marketing along the worldwide supply chain for Australian wool on behalf of the approximately 60,000 wool growers who help to fund the company.
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