To celebrate the noble fiber of wool and encourage producers to improve its fineness and quality, Ermenegildo Zegna awarded the Laine Extrafine and Vellus Aureum trophies at an exclusive gala dinner presided over by Paolo Zegna, CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group.
The exceptional quality of extra fine wool allows Ermenegildo Zegna to constantly improve the beauty and performance of its products. Superfine wool is the fiber that makes up some of its most beautiful and prestigious fabrics.
That is why, in 1963, the group created the very first extra fine wool Ermenegildo Zegna (the oldest award in the wool industry) to recognise the commitment of Australian wool producers to quality, in association with ASWGA, the Australian Superfine Wool Association. Vellus Aureum launched in 2002, rewards the quest for excellence and rewards the finest fleeces in the world with wool fibers measuring 13.9 microns or less.
Today, the race for the two trophies is open to Australian and New Zealand wool producers. Winning fleeces are judged on a series of demanding criteria such as fineness, style, strength and uniformity. For this 2016 edition of the Extrafine Wool Trophy, first place goes to Ed and Jill Hundy (Pyramul, Mudgee, New South Wales), second place to Allan and Carolyn Phillips (Deddington, Tasmania) and third place to Andrew and Penny Hundy (Mudgee, New South Wales). The Vellus Aureum trophy was awarded to David and Susan Rowbottom (St. Helens, Victoria) who took first and third place while Bradley Sandlant (Lexton, Victoria) was awarded the trophy for second place.
These producers were awarded for the superior quality of their wool and Paolo Zegna himself presented them with the trophy during a dinner held on April 4 on the terrace of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, in the presence of Zegna’s top clients, representatives of the international press and the main institutions associated with the wool industry.
“We’ve been honoring quality wool since 1963, and it’s always a pleasure to reward producers for their efforts to achieve excellence,” said Paolo Zegna, CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group. ” Remarkably this year, the first- and second-place fleeces in the Vellus Aureum trophy have been awarded to Ermenegildo Zegna.with fibers measuring 9.9 and 9.8 microns respectively, broke the previous fineness record. My sincere thanks go to the Australian Superfine Wool Producers Association and to all those who helped make this year’s awards a success in terms of the number of fleeces entered and the outstanding quality. Congratulations to the winners and the newcomers. Supporting, understanding and promoting the commitment and skills of sheep farmers and the processes involved in the production of superfine merino wool is our credo: we want all our customers to know and appreciate this. If in 2014 we took a majority stake in Achill Farm located in Armidale (New South Wales), it is not only with the aim of completing our one and only verticalization process – from the production of the natural fiber to the direct sale of the finished products to our customers via our network of boutiques – it is also a way to go further in understanding the secrets of production of this exceptional natural fiber.”
– All the competing fleeces are purchased by the Zegna Group and subjected to a second selection based on drastic criteria, and the best of them are used for the production of the exceptional fabrics that can be found in the Ermenegildo Zegna collections.
– ASWGA represents the interests of Australian superfine wool producers as well as major processors and users of superfine wool internationally. The long-standing collaboration between the Ermenegildo Zegna Group and the Australian Superfine Wool Producers’ Association is a testament to the shared and unwavering commitment to maintaining and improving the quality of Australian Superfine Wool and to jointly promoting the exceptional skills and dedication of Australia’s finest sheep breeders.
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