Munich was the place to be to find out more about performance fabrics this week: Apart from trade show Performance Days taking place at Messe Munich, the Bavarian capital also hosted the award winning ceremony of this year's Adidas x Woolmark Performance Challenge contest.

Innovative textile solutions for mountaineering and skateboarding made Hyokyoung Lee from Institut Français de la Mode, France, respectively Hope Kemp-Hanson from Savannah College of Art and Design, USA, the winners of the 2019 edition-chosen out of ten finalists by a panel of judges of industry experts.

Kemp-Hanson's project aims to "blend urban streetwear with skate equipment by creating a line of hidden impact protection made of merino wool that portraits a satirical look at the story of South Korean skateboarders" and was rewarded with a three-month paid internship with Adidas; Lee was awarded the prize money of €10,000 to "further develop her innovative and commercially viable idea of an energy-generating merino wool base-layer, mainly used for mountaineering and hiking, able to transmission data and, if needed, an SOS". “The concepts that we have seen from Hope and Hyokyoung convinced us that most of all the great ideas possible to enable people to experience the transformative power of sport by combining innovation and style use the benefits of wool. I want to thank all of the finalists as we have seen a lot of very strong concepts, and it was not an easy decision,” Tillman Studrucker, Senior Design Director, Adidas, says.

Julie Davies, The Woolmark Company General Manager, Processing Innovation & Education Extension and Woolmark Performance Challenge judge, states: “We saw that evidenced today with the incredible diversity of ideas presented by the finalists of this year’s Woolmark Performance Challenge. We are really encouraged by how the competition has grown over the past two years, which affirms our commitment to education and the potential for product developments with wool in new market areas." The award was judged by a panel of judges, including:

• Edward Crutchley - Dior/ Edward Crutchley, International Woolmark Prize Menswear and Innovation winner;
• Prof. Ellen Bendt - Textile Engineering Professor, Hochschule Niederrhein;
• Julie Davies - General Manager, Processing Innovation & Education Extension, The Woolmark Company;
• Jörg Hartmann - Head of Fashion & Technology, Stoll;
• Louis de Vos - Talent Acquisition Manager, Adidas;
• Peter Bona, former professional snowboarder + Head of Design Outerwear, Trousers, Textile Accessories, Hugo Boss Athleisure;
• Sabine Kühnl - Editor in Chief, SPORTSWEAR INTERNATIONAL;
• Tillmann Studrucker - Senior Design Director, adidas;
• Urs Weber - Editor, Runner’s World Germany.

The Woolmark Performance Challenge–in partnership with sports giant Adidas–is an annual competition for students and early career creatives to develop product solutions for the sports and performance market by integrating Australian merino wool.
This year more than 1060 students from more than 115 educational institutions from 21 countries registered for the program’s second edition.
Registrations for the next edition of the competition are already open on woolmarkchallenge.com.

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