Ban Xiao Xue bags Woolmark Prize China regional award

The China region competition of IWP is co-presented with Vogue China. At the exclusive event hosted by Stuart McCullough, CEO of AW, owners of The Woolmark Company, and Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of Vogue China, Ban Xiao Xue was announced as the China champion who will join the IWP global final in February 2013 during London Fashion Week.

A judging panel formed by opinion leaders from the industry, Vogue China editor-in-chief Angelica Cheung, supermodel Du Juan, fashion designer Uma Wang, artist Xiang Jing and Ning Lau, representative of JOYCE as the exclusive retail partner of IWP in China, selected Ban Xiao Xue as the regional Champion by an anonymous scoring system.

“There were two candidates who were very close, but in the end Ban Xiau Xue won because of his innovative treatment of wool,” explained Ms Cheung.

“These days not many designers take time to do this. A lot of people just focus on design not knowing much about the raw material and the possibilities and potential of the fibre.”

Ban Xiao Xue has a deep connection to the Merino wool fibre and experimented in post treatment of his wool fabrics, before he created his very innovative work of ‘Growth’. He produces a whole piece of special fabric, mixed with Merino wool and little amount of silk, and allows it to drape on the human form with limited cutting, which creates a natural and poetic feel.

Merino wool is soft and fine, good at breathability and keeping warm, and what’s more it’s especially versatile,” explained Ban Xiao Xue.

“We congratulate Ban on his amazing submission,” commented Mr McCullough. “In my 25 years in the wool industry I have never seen such an innovative approach to the wool fibre, to have imagined this design is a credit to Ban Xiao Xue who will be a fine representative for China at the final award in February 2012.”

The Woolmark Company