Duran Lantink, a Dutch designer who works between Amsterdam and Paris, won the 2025 International Woolmark Prize at a ceremony at the Palazzo del Ghiaccio in Milan on 2 April 2025. The prize, organized by The Woolmark Company, comes with $195,000 for the winner to invest in his business, which FashionUnited put at about $180,000, along with ongoing support from industry and retail partners.
Two other awards were presented on the same evening. Pieter Mulier, creative director of Alaïa, received the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, the first time it was given in its new form as an industry award. Südwolle Group, a German spinner of worsted yarns, received the Supply Chain Award, which was accepted by its chief sales officer, Stéphane Thouvay.
Why the judges chose Lantink
According to Australian Wool Innovation, the parent of The Woolmark Company, the judges praised the way Lantink used Merino wool to reinterpret traditional knitting. His collection combined 3D reconstructed knitwear with historical Dutch knitting techniques and recycled army sweaters. The finalists presented their collections in a showroom format to about 200 industry guests before the winner was named.
“We are in a moment when we need to feel better.”
Donatella Versace, chair of the judging panel, as quoted by The Woolmark Company
Donatella Versace chaired the jury. Her fellow judges included IB Kamara, the program's guest artistic director, Alessandro Sartori, artistic director of Zegna, Alessandro Dell'Acqua of N°21, the critic Tim Blanks, the stylist Law Roach, the advocate Sinéad Burke, Honey Dijon, Simone Marchetti, Roopal Patel and Danielle Goldberg.
A new, biennial format
The 2025 edition was the first under a biennial format, FashionNetwork reported when the shortlist was announced on 19 November 2024. Each of the eight finalists received $39,000 to develop a Merino wool collection, and the winner's prize fund was increased to $195,000.
The eight finalists were:
- ACT N°1 (Italy)
- Diotima (United States)
- Duran Lantink (Netherlands)
- Ester Manas (Belgium)
- LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi (France)
- LUAR (United States)
- Meryll Rogge (Belgium)
- Standing Ground (United Kingdom and Ireland)
Mulier's award recognized Alaïa's continued use of Merino wool, including its Summer/Fall 2024 "One Yarn" collection, which was built from a single Merino yarn. Südwolle's award recognized its product development, innovation and sustainability work.
What it means for tailoring
The International Woolmark Prize is a design competition, and most of what reaches its runway is knitwear and ready-to-wear rather than tailored suits. Its purpose is commercial: Australian Wool Innovation chief executive John Roberts described it as a way to generate long-term demand for Australian Merino wool, the same fiber that fine worsted suiting is made from.
The Supply Chain Award is the part of the evening closest to tailoring. Worsted spinning is the stage where combed wool fibers are drawn into the smooth, strong yarns that mills weave into suit fabrics, and an award for a worsted spinner puts that middle step of the chain in front of designers and buyers. Readers who want to understand why worsted yarn matters for a suit can read our guide to worsted versus woolen wool.
The presence of Zegna's Alessandro Sartori on the jury is another link to menswear. For buyers, the prize is a reminder that a premium Merino suit sits at the end of a long chain that runs from Australian growers through spinners and weavers to the tailor, and that the wool industry spends money promoting the fiber at every stage of it.
