LONDON, United Kingdom — Today, as part of its continuing media partnership with The Woolmark Company, BoF can reveal that entrants for the 2016/17 International Woolmark Prize will be drawn from 63 nations —­ triple the number of qualifying nations for the 2014/5 International Woolmark Prize. In what it describes as "bold and thrilling geographic expansion," The Woolmark Company has appointed three new official nominating bodies, charged with finding emerging design talents to compete in the annual IWP, while expanding the geographical remit of others.

Not Just A Label founder Stefan Siegel will canvass his network of 20,000 emerging designers to nominate two representatives from the newly added region "Rest of Europe," which comprises of 36 new countries, largely situated in Central Europe. Siegel, is collaborating with The Woolmark Company, to expand the reach of the competition, "to designers in markets previously side-lined by the fashion industry at large." The new countries will be added to the European regional competition, which, along with regional competitions in Asia; Australia; the British Isles; India, Pakistan and the Middle East; and the United States, shortlists 12 competitors for the global IWP womenswear and menswear awards.

Next year, the Asian regional competition will also include Indonesia. "We are so proud the Woolmark Company is taking a leap to embrace this market," said Ibu Svida Alisjahbana, president and chief executive of the Femina Group, which runs Jakarta Fashion Week, which was announced as another official nominating body for the IWP. In addition, the India, Pakistan and the Middle Eastern regional competition, will expand to include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, while the Australian regional competition is also expanding, to include New Zealand.