Loro Piana has named Viola Schmidt and Halla Lilja Ármannsdóttir of The Swedish School of Textiles the winners of the Loro Piana Knit Design Award 2026 for their project “Glitsky Mother of Pearl.”
Celebrating the 2026 Knit Design Winners
For the 2026 edition, the Loro Piana Knit Design Award honored textile design students Viola Schmidt and Halla Lilja Ármannsdóttir, recognising their distinctive exploration of colour and light. Representing The Swedish School of Textiles, the pair were officially announced as winners during an event at Galleria Rossana Orlandi in Milan, held on May 14 under the patronage of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.
The winning project, titled “Glitsky – Mother of Pearl,” stood out for the way it translated atmospheric phenomena into knitwear, aligning closely with the year’s theme of light, colour and material innovation.
Glitsky Mother of Pearl: Knitting Light
The 2026 theme, “Knitting Light Craft on the Evolution of Colour,” invited students to experiment with how light interacts with yarns, surfaces and volumes using Loro Piana cashmere blended with innovative fibres. “Glitsky Mother of Pearl” drew inspiration from a specific optical effect: when sunlight hits crystallised clouds, creating iridescent, pearl like plays of colour in the sky.
The designers interpreted this phenomenon through a modular knitted garment made of detachable diamond motifs connected via a linking system, allowing the piece to shift and transform as it moves. The upper layer is described as more structured and graphic to explore the depth of colour, while the underlying layer recalls light reflection, capturing the shimmering, mother of pearl dimension suggested in the title.
A Platform For Emerging Knitwear Talent
Now in its 10th edition, the Loro Piana Knit Design Award was created in 2016 to support emerging knitwear designers from leading fashion and textile schools worldwide. The prize invites students to reinterpret Loro Piana’s iconic yarns through experimentation, technical know how and a strong sense of materiality, reinforcing the Maison’s focus on craftsmanship and textile innovation.
The award’s trophy itself is shaped like a yarn bobbin and is held by the winning school for 12 months before being passed on to the next winner, with each edition engraving the school’s name onto the base to create a growing archive of creativity and design. This ongoing initiative helps bridge Loro Piana’s heritage in fine textiles with the next generation of designers, giving young talents a global platform at the intersection of luxury, innovation and knitwear.
