The World Textile Awards have announced a call for entries for their launch year with a vision to bring a new kind of competition to the textile industry. Whilst there are many fashion awards and a number of niche industry competitions, the World Textile Awards are aiming to be the first truly independent and global competition dedicated to celebrating and rewarding the best companies across the entire industry.

Adrian Dinsdale, CEO of the World Textile Awards, said: "From the outset, our vision was to select winners from across the supply chain, all the way from fibre production through to the end stitched product. And we are putting excellence ahead of all other factors such as company size or geographical location. It really is a level playing field."

Winners will be announced in each of the competition's 7 categories with one overall winner also garnering the prestigious title of 'International Textile Firm of the Year'.

Adrian Dinsdale went on to explain the importance of the competition: "I personally think that the textile industry has long missed out on the recognition that it deserves. There are so many firms worldwide doing truly amazing work and it is time we celebrated that and raised the industry's global profile."

The competition has been created by a partnership of textile professionals and award competition experts and is headquartered in London.

Judges are currently being scouted from the worldwide pool of textile professionals and interested parties can also submit their application to be a judge through the World Textile Awards website.

The competition is now open for entries and early bird reduced rates are available until 1st July 2014.