FKA Twigs Honours International Woolmark Prize Finalists with Celebratory Short Film

In honour of the seven finalists of the 2022 International Woolmark Prize, FKA twigs directs and stars in PLAYSCAPE, a short film celebrating the art of ‘play’.

The film - directed by FKA twigs and creative directed by Zak Group with choreography by Juliano Nunes - presents the final International Woolmark Prize collection looks from Ahluwalia, EGONLAB, Jordan Dalah, MMUSOMAXWELL, Peter Do, RUI and Saul Nash. The International Woolmark Prize winners will be announced during a live event in London on April 26th, 2022.

The 2022 International Woolmark Prize is centred around the theme of play as a mode of creative exploration. PLAYSCAPE encompasses a film, an immersive showroom and special partnership with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. 

Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) was one of the 20th Century’s most important and critically acclaimed sculptors. From the 1930s, Noguchi conceived of playgrounds that offered a radical potential for physical and social interaction. He designed several ‘playscapes’ where the public could directly interact with sculptures in ways typically not possible in a museum. 

FKA twigs’ collective ‘Avant Garden’ launches its new era in this piece for the 2022 International Woolmark Prize. FKA twigs developed an exploration of play within creativity, which is a method in which the purest expression has a space to be birthed and happy accidents are embraced and elevated. 

The film, PLAYSCAPE, was inspired by Noguchi’s vision of play as a creative catalyst. Featuring and directed by English singer-songwriter and dancer FKA twigs, the film merges influence from fashion, art, dance, and music. The film opens with an empty gallery of Noguchi’s play sculptures, which becomes populated by a diverse ensemble cast of characters. In the second part of the film the cast enters an imaginary landscape, where a ballet sensibility is combined with elements drawn from hip-hop, modernism, contemporary dance and punk aesthetics. Guest appearances by iconic creatives activist and model Kai-Isaiah Jamal, DJ and dancer Kiddy Smile along with DJ and artist Princess Julia complement the unique silhouettes and mood of each designers’ collections. Dancers include Ève-Marie Dalcourt, Tania Dimbelolo, Dmitri Gruzdev, Meshach Henry, Salome Pressac, Hannah Raynor, Maycie-Ann St-Louis and Alex Thirkle. 

FKA twigs said the following on her vision for the film PLAYSCAPE: "It is an honour to be chosen by the Woolmark Prize to work with such talented designers and to create my first piece of work with Juliano Nunes, innovator of dance for the Avant Garden collective."

Brett Littman, the director of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, said: “As Isamu Noguchi once said: 'When the adult would imagine like a child he must project himself into seeing the world as a totally new experience.' Noguchi was proposing playgrounds for New York City as early as 1933 and would be pre-occupied by the idea of socially relevant sculpture for his whole career. The Noguchi Museum is honoured that the 2022 Woolmark Prize recognises Noguchi’s ground-breaking multi-disciplinary work and the importance of play in creativity as the inspiration for this year’s award.”

Zak Kyes said the following on Zak Group’s collaboration with the 2022 International Woolmark Prize: “For some, play is best left to children. But it is through play that creativity is sparked and new perspectives are created. Our vision for the Woolmark Prize is to create a playground for the next generation of fashion talent to collide with dance, art, music and design. FKA twigs was the perfect collaborator because of her polymathic practice and singular voice. We are indebted to Isamu Noguchi for providing the inspiration to take play seriously.”

Since its inception, the International Woolmark Prize has awarded and incubated some of the most era-defining fashion designers, from Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent to Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan, and Ralph Lauren. 

The winner of the IWP2022 will be announced April 26th and will be selected by an esteemed jury, including:

• Naomi Campbell, model, activist & businesswoman
• Riccardo Tisci, chief creative officer, Burberry
• Ben Gorham, founder & creative director, Byredo
• Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, artistic director, Hermès Women’s Ready-to-wear
• Edward Enninful OBE, editor-in-chief, British Vogue & European Editorial Director, Vogue
• Pieter Mulier, creative director, Alaïa
• Ibrahim Kamara, editor-in-chief, Dazed
• Carine Roitfeld, founder & editor-in-chief, CR Fashion Book
• Marc Newson CBE, industrial designer
• Sinéad Burke, educator, advocate & founder of Tilting the Lens
• Shaway Yeh, founder, yehyehyeh & Group Style editorial director, Modern Media Group
• Tim Blanks, editor-at-large, Business of Fashion