FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN FASHION SHINES BRIGHT
Winners of the Australian Fashion Foundation Awards 2017/18 Announced
SYDNEY (December 19, 2017) – The Australian Fashion Foundation tonight announced the 2017/2018 winners of its annual internship program at Pier One Sydney Harbour Hotel, Sydney. Fashion designers, Lucy Dickinson of RMIT & Mikala Tavener Hanks of UTS were each awarded a financial grant of $20,000 and a six-month internship at a global fashion house in the USA or Europe to help them pursue their talent on an international scale.
Notable guests who showed their support at last night’s cocktail party included: fashion designers Nicky Zimmermann, Dion Lee; Bianca Spender, Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman along with Louise Van de Vorst and Lincoln Pilcher.
“Both designers had a strong vision with collections feeling very innate and personal,” said, designer Dion Lee. Nicky Zimmerman said “Mikala’s collection was so refined and showed such restraint. You can see it on the floor in Barneys.”
“The quality of entrants was incredibly high this year and determining a winner was very difficult. We hope that we can provide a life-changing springboard for these two talented Australians. My only wish is that we could award more grants in future years," said AUSFF co-founder, Malcolm Carfrae.
The foundation’s commitment to opening doors to transform careers has been proven over the last nine years, with previous winners moving on to high profile positions across the globe. These include 2009 winner, Georgia Lazzaro who went on to become Design Director at Protagonist after a placement at Calvin Klein and Tim Watson (2012) who is currently Associate Designer at Thom Browne. Winners from 2014, Grace Butterworth and Alexander Oscar Kelvy have also formally joined the design teams for Giles Deacon (Grace) and Louis Vuitton (Alex), proving that internship placement truly opens global doors.
Judges present at the award’s announcement included Alison Veness, (Editor, 10 Magazine); Kellie Hush (Editor-in-Chief, Harper’s BAZAAR Australia); fashion designer Nicky Zimmermann; fashion designer Dion Lee; fashion consultant and former VOGUE editor Nancy Pilcher, Kara Hurry (AUSFF Board Member & Director of Entente Agency); and AUSFF Co-Founder Malcolm Carfrae (Founder, Carfrae Consulting).
Founded by Malcolm Carfrae and Julie Anne Quay in 2008, the Australian Fashion Foundation is a New York-based global non-profit organization which supports emerging Australian fashion talent gain world-class fashion experience and mentorship.
The AUSFF Scholarship Awards are open to designers, photographers, stylists, writers, and art directors - any fashion profession that meets the criteria of eligibility. To make a submission for the 2018/2019 AUSFF grants and for further information, visit www.ausff.org.
Further information on the winners can be viewed on their websites:
#AUSFF
