The "Merino Traveler" project, an initiative promoted by Pedro del Hierro, The Woolmark Company - world authority of Australian Merino wool, and the European Institute of Design (IED), has awarded the prizes to the winning students of its first edition, in an act that was attended by Julie-Anne Ivarra, Australian Ambassador to Spain, Marisa Santamaría, Head of the International Global Trends Unit of the IED; Elena Vilabrille, Director of the Fashion School of IED; Nacho Aguayo, Creative Director of Pedro del Hierro; Frances Magri, Regional Director for Southern Europe at The Woolmark Company, and Pepa Bueno, Executive Director of ACME.
The objective of this project is to combine training, employment, design, knowledge of renewable raw materials and product quality to create outstanding collections. For this first edition, the challenge that the students faced was to design and sew a women’s fashion piece in Merino wool, a 100% natural, ecological fibre that degrades without contaminating and is renewable, also it does not wrinkle and protects the skin from the cold and the heat.
Three young people have achieved this; Rebeca Sarabia, who has received training and an internship scholarship in the Design-Women department of Pedro del Hierro; and the duo made up by Marta Díaz and Marta García, who have travelled to Australia to meet the Technological Institute of Sydney to discover, first hand, the entire process of Merino wool.
The design team of Pedro del Hierro, true to its spirit of acknowledgement of the most noble natural materials, has devoted effort and time to collaborate with the youngsters, especially its Creative Director Nacho Aguayo, who recognized during the delivery of the awards, that "our experience has been very rewarding and didactic throughout the months that the Merino Traveler contest has lasted."
Likewise, Francesco Magri Country Manager of The Woolmark Company stated that "we are very proud to participate in the project together with two of the main realities of fashion in Spain: IED and Pedro del Hierro".
On the other hand, Elena Vilabrille, Director of the Fashion School of the IED Madrid stressed "the project has connected the creativity of our fashion students with the experience of two leading companies in the textile sector."
Likewise, Pepa Bueno, Executive Director of ACME, made a special mention to the students who participated in the project because "both winners and finalists demonstrated an extraordinary talent that made it difficult to choose the winning designs".
