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…
