New Delhi, April 28 (IANS): Indian designers Gaurav Jai Gupta, Nachiket Barve and Suket Dhir are among the nominees for the India and Middle East category of the International Woolmark Prize (IWP) 2015-16. The India and Middle East regional awards will be held in Dubai on July 22.

IWP, now into its fourth year, has emerged as a coveted award in the fashion world especially after the victory of India designer Rahul Mishra who achieved instant fame and recognisition soon after he won at the second edition of the awards.

Gupta and Barve have been nominated in the womenswear category while Dhir has been chosen in the menswear category, read a statement.

Another highpoint of this year is that a sixth region, The British Isles, has been added to the competition, with the regional award to be held in London.

The five other regional awards will be held in Shanghai, Sydney, Antwerp, Dubai and New York to select the ten finalists from both menswear and womenswear category, each receiving AUD$50,000 financial contribution towards their next collection as well as an invitation to participate in the international final.

The six menswear finalists will meet at an event held during Pitti Uomo, Florence in January 2016 and the six womenswear finalists will meet in New York in February 2016. The winners of both the events will receive a further AUD$100,000 to assist with fabric sourcing and marketing of their collection.

In addition, both international winners will have their collection commercialised through key international retail partners including Harvey Nichols in the UK, Joyce in China, Saks Fifth Avenue in the USA, 10 Corso Como in Italy, My Theresa online, Matchesfashion.com and David Jones in Australia.

The India and Middle East nominees will present sketches of a Merino wool capsule collection comprising of six outfits at the regional awards in Dubai, with one full outfit to be produced. The collections will be judged by a panel of local and international experts.