The Art of Wool exhibition is looking for a WA venue if the State is to be added to the tour location list.

Australian Wool Innovation in collaboration with Armidale’s New England Regional Art Museum in NSW began the exhibition last year assisted by the Australian Government.

An AWI spokesman said the exhibition fuses fashion with art in a true celebration of Australian wool and bridges the gap between farm and fashion.

“It pairs stunning Merino wool garments from International Woolmark Prize alumni, including Dion Lee, Kym Ellery, Rahul Mishra and Christopher Esber, with significant pieces of Australian art,” he said.

“New pieces have been added to highlight the evolution of the coveted fashion award, including outfits from the 2014-15 IWP womenswear winner M. Palmos as well as 2015-16 nominees Celete Tesonero, Tara Horiuchi and Etxebema.”

AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough said The Art of Wool exhibition was a unique way to expose a wider audience to the fantastic design talent the IWP unearthed both here in Australia and from abroad.

“AWI has worked closely alongside NERAM since the initial stages of the exhibition and has played an integral role in connecting outfits from the IWP with artworks that highlight the Australian wool industry,” he said.

Mr McCullough said artworks from NERAM’s extensive collection of Australian art highlighted the significance of wool in the artistic and design imagination of Australia.

NERAM director Robert Heather said the exhibition brought together the quality of Australian wool production and the innovation of fashion designers who use it in their work.

“It has been a great opportunity for us to work directly with the wool industry to showcase the beautiful artworks in our collection,” he said.

An AWI spokesman said connecting the world’s leading fashion designers with Australian Merino wool was extremely important to the enormous influence designers had in setting global textile trends for mainstream retail brands.

“The IWP generates long-term incremental demand for Australian wool by connecting emerging designers, emerging markets and consumers with Australia’s versatile natural fibre,” he said.

“The IWP is now considered one of the world’s most prestigious fashion awards.”

For further information on The Art of Wool, visit AWI or NERAM websites.