Ermenegildo Zegna announces winners of Wool Awards
03 Apr '12
3 min read
Ermenegildo Zegna is pleased to announce its selection of the best woollen fleeces of 2012, which have been awarded at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne, marking the 49th edition of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards and the 10th of the prestigious Vellus Aureum Trophy.
In honour of the occasion, Paolo Zegna, Chairman of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group has personally awarded the Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum Trophy to the Windradeen Farm, owned by Ed and Jill Hundy - whose 10.5 micron/1.37 kg ultra-soft fleece received a total score of 90.11 points - with a replica of the “Vellus Aureum” golden prize sculpture, exclusively created for Ermenegildo Zegna by the renowned Swiss sculptor, Mr. Not Vital.
The winners will also receive 750 grams of gold. The Rowensville Farm, owned by David and Susan Rowbottom, won the 2nd place, and the Millbank Farm, owned by Ross Blake won the 3rd place.
For the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy, Paolo Zegna awarded the top prize to Allan & Carolyn Phillips, from Glen Stuart Farm. The 2nd and 3rd places were respectively won by Andrew and Penny Hundy, from the Windradeen Farm, and JM Stephen Pty Ltd, from the Warrane Farm. The winners have been awarded with exclusive silver plates.
“It is always an honour to give these awards out, and this year is especially important as it represents the 10th edition of the Vellus Aureum competition and the 49th edition of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool award which prize the absolute best wool fleeces in the world. Our congratulations go to the winners and to each of the entrants” – explained Paolo Zegna, Chairman of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group.
“Not only do the Vellus Aureum Trophy and the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy demonstrate our continued support for wool as a product of excellence, they are a message of how important the wool industry is, and how important it is for our Group to maintain extremely high qualitative standards of raw materials. I am confident that our ongoing commitment to supporting research to improve the fineness of wool will contribute to the efforts of the world's top wool producers to strive for continued excellence.”
“Next year will mark the 50th anniversary since in 1963 the Group began awarding and incentivizing the best wool growers. To celebrate such an important anniversary we expect to see a significant turnout in terms of participants and overall quality.”
Fine Australian wool is some of the best Zegna's prestigious fabrics; the incredible quality of the wool allows Ermenegildo Zegna to continually improve the beauty and the performance of its products.
The annual Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards competition is open to Australia and New Zealand wool growers. To celebrate the importance of wool, and to incentivize wool producers to evolve the fineness and excellence of this multi-faceted fibre, Zegna established the first “Ermenegildo Zegna Extrafine Wool Trophy” in 1963 to award and reward the Australian woolgrowers' commitment to quality, in association with ASWGA, the Australian Superfine Wool Growers Association. Fleeces are judged on the criteria of quality, weight, yield, trueness to type & bloom, conformity of length, evenness and excellence.
The Vellus Aureum Award was launched in 2002 for wool measuring 13.9 micron and finer and recognizes the quest for the absolute excellence by benchmarking the finest woollen fleece in the world.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Group is a leading luxury menswear brand and one of the most renowned businesses in Italy.
marketing@alchempro.com
