Milan, 24th March 2020 – 57 years ago, Ermenegildo Zegna -whose relationship with Australian wool dates of the beginning of the 20th century- established its inaugural “Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy” to award and incentivize growers to improve the quality of superfine merino and has consistently worked to celebrate the importance of this fibre and support growers in their quest to produce the best in the world.
This year, for the 57th edition of the prestigious program, Zegna - in collaboration with the Australian Superfine Woolgrower Association- , has once again honoured the world best wool growers by awarding the “Superfine Wool Trophy” and the “Vellus Aureum Trophy”. The 1st one is the oldest and most prestigious competition in the world of wool. On the other end, the Ermenegildo Zegna’s Vellus Aureum Trophy, was introduced in 2000 to reward the grower who has produced the finest of the finest merino fleece in the world . In 2016, the winning fleece was recorded at an exceptional 9.9 microns, making it still an un-beaten world record.
All wool is judged by independent judges according to a strict set of criteria including fineness, style, strength, colour and evenness.
The 2020 Ermenegildo Zegna Superfine Wool Trophy was won by Allan and Carolyn Phillips (Glen Stuart - Deddington, Tasmania)
2nd Place - Simon and Ann Louise Cameron (Kingston - Conara, Tasmania), 3rd Place - Ed Hundy (Windradeen Mudgee -Pyramul, NSW), 4th Place - David and Angie Waters (Tarrangower Merinos - Hillgrove, NSW), 5th Place - David and Betty Cameron (Gowrie -Guyra, NSW), 6th Place – Clive & Margaret Smith (Mulgowan - Amiens, QSL), 7th Place – Rodney & Carol Westmore (Patterdale - Deddington, Tasmania), 8th Place – Brett and Susan Picker (Hillcreston Heights -Bigga, NSW), 9th Place – Robert Freeman (Rose Villa -Ross, Tasmania), 10th Place – J Fletcher & Son (Kentucky Station - Kentucky, NSW)
The winner of the 2020 Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum Trophy was David and Susan Rowbottom (Rowensville - St. Helens, VIC)
2nd Place - Danny and Megan Picker (Hillcreston Park - Bigga, NSW), 3rd Place - Aaron and Rebecca Rowbottom (Myndarra - Koroit VIC), 4th Place - David and Katherine Picker (Clearhill –-Bigga, NSW), 5th Place - Heather, Stephen and William Reid (Kooringa Farming - Kooringa)
The extremely deep and persistent phenomenon of the draught and bush fires which have hit Australia and its population so hardly has inspired Zegna to make an additional contribution in 2020 to the wool growers who are determined to make personal investments into projects which can provide better supply and management of their water resources, fundamental for the life of their properties.
The Zegna Group and the Zegna Foundation will contribute for approximately 50% of the investments presented and approved.
“We’ve been honouring the best quality wool for over 50 years now and especially this year, the results of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool trophies are excellent, not only in terms of number of farms participating the competitions, but also in terms of the high quality achieved. This despite having very difficult weather conditions with persistent and tough drought which heavily harmed some areas of Australia.” said Paolo Zegna, President of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group. “For this reason, on behalf of our Group, I would like to congratulate not only the winners, but all the farms involved in the competition. A deep personal thanks goes also to the Australian Superfine Wool Growers’ Association for its great commitment to support the participation of its members to our competitions. A personal wish for a much better growing season goes to all those who continue to support our prizes and all woolgrowers in general . Finally let’s also hope the world will soon be out of the dramatic effects of the corona virus and will be able to restart again with a restored confidence, sense of responsibility and respect for the beauty of the environment and its products.
