Deeargee Station, close to Uralla, New South Wales, lit up its iconic octagonal-shaped fleece shed final month for the night time of the Fleece to Style Gala Awards, welcoming 350 black-tie clad patrons via the gates and pens to witness a novel wool vogue present that includes rising designers. .
Based mostly within the New England area of NSW, the Fleece to Style Awards is an annual competitors that promotes the distinctive, versatile and sustainable qualities of Merino wool, whereas celebrating future vogue designers from throughout Australia who embrace the fiber of their collections.
The awards are run by Fleece to Style, a non-profit neighborhood enterprise that goals to teach and encourage the following technology of designers to proceed to experiment and discover the numerous qualities that Merino wool has to supply.
The distinctive Deeargee Station fleece shed in Uralla hosted this yr’s Fleece to Style Awards. PHOTO: David Waugh
This yr’s Fleece to Style Awards had been supported by AWI together with different sponsors from the wool trade, in addition to vogue manufacturers that use Merino wool of their collections, together with MJ Bale, Iris & Wool, EMU Australia, Girl Kate and Akira.
Positioned within the hills of New England, behind the township of Uralla, Deeargee Station performed host to this yr’s Fleece to Style morning present and Gala Awards night time. Deeargee is thought for producing a few of the most interesting wool in Australia and is dwelling to a novel octagonal wool shed inbuilt 1872.
The outfit, made up of a trouser go well with, cape and clouche hat, is made totally from Australian merino wool and gained the Dechen Kandro Supreme Award for native teen expertise. “I acquired my pantsuit inspiration from Chanel, however I needed to make one thing that might be worn for a special day or worn daily,” he stated. PHOTO: Damian Gosson
Fleece to Style board director and native fleece producer Liz Foster says this yr’s occasion was a extremely profitable gathering for fleece producers, vogue designers, the New England neighborhood and stakeholders. stakeholders from the wool trade.
“The Deeargee Woolshed, all lit up for our gala occasion, was really a sight to behold,” stated Ms. Foster.
“We had a daring imaginative and prescient to actually ship the idea of ‘trendy fleece’ in its purest type and due to the Sutherland household, homeowners of Deeargee Station, who allowed us to open their shed to the general public for the awards, your entire manufacturing was an incredible showcase of wool, vogue, in an iconic location in our native space.”
Supreme Award winner Dechen Kandro with the 2022 Awards judges: Australian vogue icon Akira Isogawa, vogue journalist and media character Melissa Hoyer (who was additionally the Grasp of Ceremonies) and former RM designer Williams and Nation Highway Jonathan Ward. PHOTO: Damian Gosson
There have been eight classes on this yr’s awards: Excessive Faculty, Rising Designer, Sportswear, Wearable Artwork, Variety in Wool, Profession Put on, Night Put on and Bridal Put on. Along with the awards for every class, there was additionally a Finest Advertising and marketing Award and an Innovation Award, in addition to the Supreme Award which was gained by native teenage expertise Dechen Kandro from Uralla State Faculty, who stated that Merino wool is a “very particular fiber” to work with. Moreover, Australian vogue icon Akira Isokawa offered a bespoke design internship.
