Two BA final year students Annie Duan (left) and Faye Lu (right), are shortlisted for the Loro Piana Knit Design Award 2025.
Dr Lo Ka-wai (1st from right) provides guidance and support for shortlisted students.
The Loro Piana Knit Design Award 2025, organised by the prestigious Italian high-end fashion brand Loro Piana, was held at Casa degli Artisti on 13 May 2025. This was an international competition that allowed talented students to use the various iconic yarns that represent the excellence of the Maison.
Two BA final year students, Faye Lu and Annie Duan, were shortlisted for the opportunity to develop a creative idea that focused on the theme "Winter Legacy" – to celebrate 100 years of history and heritage by experimenting and fusing linen yarns with classic Loro Piana winter yarns to craft a garment or silhouette and create a versatile, unexpected and seasonless heritage knitwear based on their own interpretation.
Faye and Annie proposed a knitwear design project titled “Threads of Time: Italian Stories in Linen & Pixel” according to the theme, which explores the journey of Italian heritage and projecting the journey into the digital age. Inspired by Loro Piana’s legacy of craftsmanship and their signature linen yarn, they blended historical motifs — especially the dynamic forms of Italian architecture, with reference to “Forme Uniche della Continuità nello Spazio” created by a sculpturer of the Futurist movement, Umberto Boccioni — with modern digital visuals thus defining “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space”. Jacquard and 3D knitting techniques merged tactile tradition with playful, digital language, while the linen yarn symbolised the continuity and evolution of the craft. The final created outfit celebrates both heritage and innovation, telling a story of Italian identity knitted across time and technology.
About the Loro Piana Knit Design Award
The Loro Piana Knit Design Award celebrates talented students from leading design schools around the world with an extraordinary passion for knitwear. The initiative, first launched in 2016, is an international competition that aims to give talented design students the chance to showcase their unique creative expressions with some of Loro Piana's iconic yarns. The aim is to preserve and enhance savoir-faire while passing on a passion for excellence to the next generation of talents. The vent is also a key project to encourage and discover new creative talents and give them support to fulfil their passion.
