To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first bale of Merino wool to Europe from Australia in 1808, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) launched the protégé project early last year, recruiting five established fashion designers and insiders - Karl Lagerfeld, Francisco Costa, Donatella Versace, Paul Smith, Franca Sozzani - to select a protégé. The challenge presented to the young designers was to create a collection of outfits with Australian Merino wool as the main ingredient. The collections were recently unveiled at a runway show held at the Palazzo Corsini, Florence, with influential journalists, stylists and globetrotting fashion A-listers in attendance.
Here are up-and-comers to watch:
Julian Louie (Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein)
A native of Santa Cruz, Cali, he moved to study architecture at New York's Cooper Union; however, within two short years, he was exploring the relationships between architecture, painting, and fashion. A 2005 internship at Imitation of Christ cemented his decision to obey the fashion muse, as did and entire month spent painting yards and yards of silk chiffon for the Paris Haute Couture. (JulianLouie.com)
Jean-Pierre Braganza (Karl Lagerfeld)
The London-born Braganza was raised in Canada as the child of an Asian father and Irish mother. He later returned to London to attend St. Martin's, where his talent landed him the post-graduation opportunity to cooperate with Cary-Williams and Roland Mouret. (JeanPierreBraganza.com)
Kristian Aadnevik (Donatella Versace)
The 29-year-old Norwegian has had a path marked by prizes and recognition from London's Royal College of Art. He has collaborated with Harrods International in London and Charles Jourdan in Japan, and his own label, created in 2004, is now into its sixth collection. Both the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit, and Jamila have rocked Aadnevik. (KristianAadnevik.com)
Sandra Backlund (Franca Sozzani, Editor of L'Uomo Vogue)
Sozzani has a well-acknowledged talent for scouting out new fashion talent, like Sweden's award-winning Backlund. Backlund's amazing knits have already amassed a cult fan following worldwide (including yours truly - we've had her on our radar screen for almost 2 years) because of the way she approaches knits like a sculptor arranging knit shapes on the body in a 3-D puzzle. (SandraBacklund.com)
Ioannis Cholidis (Paul Smith)
Groovy Smith found a like mind in Cholidis, a Greek designer with a degree from London St. Martin’s School and a flair for preppy menswear. He has designed a line of sneakers for Puma that showed during London Fashion week, and freelanced for Stella McCartney, designing the clothes worn by Coldplay. (IoannisCholidis.com)
- Lesley Scott
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