PRESS RELEASE
ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA 2011 WOOL
AWARDS
Passion for Wool
Ermenegildo
Zegna awards the winners of the Wool Awards for the best woollen fleeces of
2011 at the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney.
Sydney, 21
September 2011 – Paolo
Zegna, President of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group will award the 9th edition of the Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum Trophy to the
Hundy family from the Windradeen farm in New South Wales, Australia, who won
with a score of 87.97 points for a 10.5 micron ultra-soft fleece. They will be
awarded with a replica of the “Vellus Aureum” golden prize sculpture,
exclusively created for Ermenegildo Zegna by the renowned Swiss sculptor, Mr.
Not Vital, and with 750 grams of
Gold.
Fleeces are
judged on the criteria of fineness, weight, style, strength and evenness. The
Windradeen farm already won the same trophy in 2010 setting new world record of
10.0 micron and also reached the 3rd
place with another fleece in this year’s competition. The Gardiner family from
the Warrameann farm in Victoria, Australia, won the 2nd place.
For the
Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy for Unprotected Fleeces, Paolo Zegna will award
this recognition to The Oak Hills farm, who have improved their 3rd place in 2010, to win this year with a score of 95.2. The 2nd and 3rd places were respectively won by the
Snowhill farm and the Glen Stuart farm, both from Tasmania where the
Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards were established in 1963.
The competition
is open to Australia and New Zealand wool growers, and fleeces are judged on
the criteria of quality, weight, yield, trueness to type & bloom,
conformity of length, evenness and excellence. Zegna is pleased to demonstrate
its continued support for wool as a product of excellence, produced in both Australia
and New Zealand, the top wool production countries in the world. The Zegna
competitions have a long history in the wool world and the Zegna Wool Trophy
will continue to be coveted by the world’s best wool growers.
“It is
always an honour to give these awards out” – declared Paolo Zegna, President of the Ermenegildo
Zegna Group. –“To prize the finest vellum for the past 9 years
and the unprotected fleeces for the past 49 years is a message of how important
the wool industry is, and how important it is for our Group to maintain
extremely high qualitative standards of the raw materials.. I can confirm our
commitment to supporting the research of the highest fineness of wool, one of
the most significant raw materials of our production: superfine wool is a
fundamental material in both the formal and upper casual lines of our
collection.”
Our
congratulations go to the winners and to all the entrants. Our judges advised
that this year’s standards of entry were outstanding. We note with pleasure
that the winners are drawn from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania,
covering many wool growing areas.
The strong
rise in auction prices in recent times is a significant incentive for wool
growers to continue their work, aiming towards excellence of fibre. I am
confident that the recent promotional investments made by AWI – the Australian
Wool Innovation - will contribute the expansion, the appreciation and use and
of this magnificent fibre.”
The Ermenegildo
Zegna Wool Awards are run in association with the Australian Superfine Wool
Growers Association. Only wool from non mulesed and non single penned sheep are
allowed entry into the Wool Awards. All fleeces entered in the competition are
purchased by the Zegna Group, beginning their long journey along the road
towards the creation of the world’s finest quality menswear fabrics and
garments produced under the Ermenegildo Zegna Group’s brands.
Ermenegildo
Zegna has always believed, supported and invested in Superfine Wool from
Australia, and believes that it has significantly contributed towards winning
universal recognition, raising awareness and increasing consumer demand for
wool, as the natural fibre of excellence.
About
Ermenegildo Zegna Group
The
Ermenegildo Zegna Group is a leading luxury menswear brand and one of the most
renowned businesses in Italy. Founded in 1910 in Trivero, in the Biella Alps,
by the young entrepreneur Ermenegildo, whose vision was to ethically create the
world’s finest textiles through innovation and sourcing the noblest fibers
directly from their markets of origin, the company is managed today by the
fourth generation of the Zegna family. Since the late 1980s, the company has
implemented a comprehensive strategy of verticalization, creating a global
luxury brand which now ranges from fabric to clothing to accessories, is
focused on retailing, pioneering early entry in emerging luxury markets, BRIC
and Asia in particular, and was the first luxury brand to open a monobrand
store in China in 1991.
Ermenegildo
Zegna celebrated 100 years of excellence in 2010. Today there are over 560
Zegna stores (330 company-owned) in 87 countries around the world. The total
Group revenues in 2010 reached € 963 million.
For
further information, please contact:
Ermenegildo
Zegna Australia Press Office
Phone: (+61) 2
9356 6500
Email: patrick.esangga@zegna.com
ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA 2011 WOOL
AWARDS
Place Getters
ZEGNA TROPHY for unprotected fleeces
1st place - 95.2 points
Daryl and Irene Croake,“Oak Hills”, Pyramul NSW
2nd place - 94.0 points
Antony
and Joan Gee, “Snowhill”, Avoca, TASMANIA
3rd place - 93.8 points
Allan and Carolyn Phillips, “Glen Stuart”, Deddington, TASMANIA
VELLUS AUREUM
1st place - 87.97 points
EA & JT Hundy, “Windradeen”, Pyramul NSW
10.5
mic -1.39kg
2nd place- 82.37 points
AR and AC Gardner, “Warrameann”, Penshurst VICTORIA
11.3
mic - 0.79kg
3rd place - 82.28 points
AS & PA Hundy, “Windradeen”, Pyramul NSW
11.4
mic - 0.86kg
Photo Gallery from the 2011 Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy Dinner
held on the 21st September 2011
Photography by
Brad Mawby
Click to view larger image
2010 Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Awards
held on the 9th April 2010 at the Grand Hyatt, Melbourne
(Click on image to enlarge)
, Barry Walker (Yass), Allan Farrar1.jpg)
