Project Protégé, created in Italy through the vision of Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani saw some of fashion’s most prominent figures identify and mentor promising, talented protégés over the months leading up to the event. In January 2008, some of the world's best young designers launched their Australian Merino wool collections to Europe's fashion elite at Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Italy. Following this historic event, the stunning collections and their designers traveled to Tokyo and Sydney, where an Australian Protégé was announced.

Kristian Aadnevik
Selected by Donatella Versace

A Norwegian who moved to England to attend London's Royal College of Art, Kristian Aadnevik began working for companies of the calibre of Harrods International in London and Charles Jourdan in Japan after completing his studies.

In 2004, he made his own signature debut, presenting his collection during London Fashion Week. Acclaimed in the British press as "one of the most interesting young talents on the London scene", he counts the Princess of Norway Mette-Marit among his fans on the home front. Donatella Versace, who chose Kristian for his rock attitude, is enthusiastic about the collection her protégé designed with Australian Merino wool.

Kristian Aadnevik's  collection for the Protégé Project

A virago with a metal soul yet also a supremely sensual grace is what Kristian Aadnevik has in mind, imprinting this collection with a narrative stream as he talks about the adventures of his woman, his muse.

Her journey begins in northern Europe, ever rich in Gothic mystery, and after passing through a languid Belle Epoque Paris ends in today's avant-garde East London clubs.
The collection features mostly ultra feminine dresses where easy wrap fit and sense of movement come from volumes and drapings defined by an expert choice of gorgeous Australian Merino wool fabrics.

Gold and silver glints, iridescent feathers and ostrich applications give the creations a bright touch.

Sandra Backlund
Selected by Franca Sozzani

A 2004 graduate of Stockholm’s Beckmans School of Design, Sandra Backlund is a tricot artist who assembles her knits by hand in three-dimensional collages, sculpture mode. Her style of working and the magic of her creations - authentic works of art - have both earned her major awards (e.g. at the Hyeres Festival International De Mode & De Photographie) and attracted the attention of the international press.

Franca Sozzani, editor in chief of Italian Vogue, chose Sandra for the Protégé Project; an ideal showcase for signaling the newest direction in knitwear through Sandra’s talent.

Sandra Backlund’s collection for the Protégé Project

The human form as the starting point - to reinvent, underline, camouflage. Through various artisanal techniques, Sandra Backlund takes knits to unknown heights, enveloping the body in supersoft Merino wools. For this collection, she envisions a surreal, magical, magnificent total look in tricot.

Finally freeing knits of a classic mannish connotation, the Swedish designer revisits the genre with a spiritual, intimate collection making use of the most precious Australian Merino wool yarns. Key colours in her palette: a warm powder pink and an intense dark red.

Jean-Pierre Braganza
Selected by Karl Lagerfeld

Born in London of an Irish mother and an Asian father, Jean-Pierre Braganza attended the prestigious St. Martin’s School. Upon graduating, he got the chance to work alongside Roland Mouret, from whom he learned the art of ultra feminine cuts.

On the calendar of London Fashion Week since 2004, he presents collections for both men and women that always capture the imaginations of international buyers and media.

This is his golden opportunity. Chosen by Mr. Lagerfeld for the Protégé Project, he explores the potential of Australian Merino wool through his distinctly structured style.

Jean-Pierre Braganza’s collection for The Protégé Project

A tribute to the female form celebrated through a keen use of sartorial geometry, Braganza takes a complex route in fashioning his designs.  He rethinks the body with unprecedented proportions, luscious layers, an interplay of Merino wool fabrics, and wool crepe inserts to give extra depth to the clothes.

On hour-glass dresses and suits, grey and black hues intersect with warm notes of bordeaux. The collection, which also includes some items for men, is an exquisitely elegant synthesis of the ideal wardrobe. A few basic pieces, contemporary of cut, classic of inspiration, where mixes follow precise rules and all variations capture the idea of a modern uniform.

Ioannis Cholidis
Selected by Paul Smith

A graduate of St. Martin’s School, Ioannis Cholidis is a Greek menswear designer who inflects fine tailoring with activewear and sportswear accents. In 2006, he designed a line of Puma sneakers presented during London Fashion Week. In the same year he worked with Stella McCartney creating clothes for the English band Coldplay.

Thanks to his eclectic approach to fashion and his inventive take on colour for men, in 2207 Cholidis was chosen by Sir Paul Smith - the best loved of English designers - to find a new way for men to enjoy Australian Merino wool.

Ioannis Cholidis’s collection for the Protégé Project

Frame by frame, Ioannis Cholidis’s collection depicts the everyday life of a stylish young man who shifts easily between business and casual looks.

Comfortably proportioned pants and shorts contrast nicely with slimfit shirts, pullovers and twinsets. Pants make quite a fashion statement, as in the wool denims for leisure occasions, or the sleeker models with exclusive detailing like copper hardware and the latest in padding and fringe. The colour spectrum ranges from the softest pastels to deep anthracite grey and navy blue hues.

The strongpoint of the Cholidis collection is a bent for reinventing the all-time classics of men’s casuals (usually denims or leathers) in Australian Merino wool. Result: soft five-pocket jeans, peacoat, bomber and biker jacket all in a wool fabric offering innovative ease and surprising tech performance.

Julian Louie
Selected by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein

Young Julian Louie left California to study architecture at Cooper Union University in New York. Two years later he discovered a passion for fashion, which he believed had the same imaginative force as architecture in defining the contexts of modern living.

In 2005, with an internship at Imitation of Christ, Julian entered the field firsthand. Subsequently, the young architect fell in love with fashion and joined the Calvin Klein style office headed by Francisco Costa. More recently he has worked as a freelance designer in New York.

Julian Louie's collection for the Protégé Project

Characterised by contrasts, the collection Julian Louie designed for the Protégé Project merges opulence and austerity, full forms and clean lines, structured silhouettes and lavish details. The mood is young, audacious and sophisticated.

Proportions capture a new concept in volume: darts, puffs, pleats, and gatherings that redesign the figure are perfectly offset by rich embroideries inspired by Robert Motherwell and Gustav Klimt paintings.

The palette presents variations on metallic grey, from pewter to graphite, lead to silver. Adding warmth to these tones is an intense shade of gold, as well as inserts and applications in primary colours (red, yellow, blue) interspersed with white.

Exalting Merino wool's versatility, Julian Louie constructs precious balloon dresses, preppie-style pants cut off at ankles, coats and jackets in ultra simple lines. This is a truly New York interpretation, at once bold and elegant, of the Australian fibre.

Ben Pollit
Selected by Kirstie Clements

After working in New York as a fashion stylist, Ben Pollitt returned to Sydney in 2006 with a vision for the Friedrich Gray label. The label assumed its own persona, by means of a mixture of meticulously selected fabrics and timeless cuts.

Pollitt studied industrial design and building construction. He is untrained in fashion, instead drawing his influence from the music of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, experimental bands including the Liars, and designer Ann Demuilemeester. Pollitt’s style sensibilities are dark and distinctive.

Ben Pollitt’s collection for the Protégé Project

Australian Merino wool played a major role in the Friedrich Gray 2008 Winter Collection, 'So We Dug a Tunnel'. Superfine woollen jersey made the statement in unisex singlets, cardigans, leather embodied tops, and all signature pieces of the collection.

Due to the flexibility and weight of the wool, shoulder and sleeve panels provided movement and a strong visual element, unique to the collection.

Emphasising simplicity in both style and appearance, Pollitt sourced his fabrics with great care. A specially developed, hand-treated leather from Japan, lightweight Merino wool and super-fine cotton were cuffed, zipped and draped to create androgenous shapes that layered black on black with shots of slate and sand.