Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock awarded the 2010 Australian Fashion Laureate

life.com

Now this is a fascinating turn of events. Ten months after IMG Fashion Asia Pacific announced that Rosemount Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock would not be renewing his contract in October this year, amidst rumours of a straining of relations between Lock and IMG, which acquired the event in 2005 - and which speculation was only compounded after IMG virtually iced Lock out of this year's 15th anniversary event - Lock has just been announced as the 2010 Australian Fashion Laureate. This is an annual award that was introduced during Lock's tenure of the event as recognition for those who have made a significant contribution to the Australian fashion industry. In a release from IMG Fashion Asia Pacific, general manager Daniel Hill noted "This is a great exclamation mark on Simon's career in the fashion industry. With Rosemount Australian Fashion Week having celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, he should certainly feel very proud". Congratulations Simon. Well deserved. 

SOYA formulae

antipodium SS0910/sonny vandevelde

Project Runway is not the only fashion competition in town right now. The sixth annual Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards are still calling for entries – and not just in fashion. There is $70,000 up for grabs across seven categories, from fashion to film/animation, industrial/object design, music, photography, visual arts and visual communication. In addition to a $10,000 prize purse, each category winner scores a mentorship with an Australian creative luminary. They include Rachel Ward (film), Marc Newson (industrial/object design) and Zimmermann, this year's fashion mentor. The competition is open to Australian residents aged 30 or under at the application cutoff date: 31st July 2009. And while previous fashion winners have tended to include ready-to-wear designers, from Antipodium’s Geoffrey J Finch to Friedrich Gray’s Ben Pollitt, some may be unaware that fashion is an open SOYA category, embracing stylists, craftspeople, accessories designers and jewellers. Advice for entrants: provide as much detailed information as possible, from stockists to media coverage. Winners will be announced on November 11 at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.

Christopher Bailey, MBE

Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey is edging closer and closer to that Burberry Prorsum logo (a medieval knight on a horse). One hour ago, the Queen's 2009 birthday honours list was announced and Bailey, who joined the iconic British luxury house in 2001, has just been welcomed into the Order of the British Empire as a Member, for services to the British fashion industry. Bailey has a couple of rungs to go on the British order of chivalry before he is eligible to be knighted. But with a few more excellent Burberry collections under his belt, not to mention some more genius campaign casting, there may be no stopping him (well, unless he's a republican). Also just uploaded: a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Burberry's F/W 09/10 collection which stars Harry Potter star Emma Watson. The campaign was shot on the banks of the Thames in London, adjacent to Burberry's HQ, which is staffed by 800 across admin, design/photo studios and a cafe. The Watson get, and MBE, are good news for the 153 year-old company in the tough economic climate, which saw Burberry post a loss of 6 million pounds in the year ended March 31st. Also just awarded an MBE: Natalie Massenet, founder of e-tailer Net-à-Porter.com, which sells Burberry (among many other luxury brands) - but conversely experienced a 234percent profit hike in 2008.

Girl with a gong

Congrats are due to Erica Bartle, whose two year-old Girl With A Satchel blog has won Best Australian/New Zealand Weblog at the 2009 Bloggies, the results of which were just announced at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. Nice to see an independent recognised. Well done.

Oscars 2009 - Best In Show

1/ Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab haute couture
2/ Natalie Portman in Rodarte
3/ Kate Winslet in Yves Saint Laurent Atelier
4/ Reese Witherspoon in Rodarte (Getty)
5/ Marion Cotillard in Christian Dior haute couture (Getty)
6/ Freida Pinto in John Galliano
7/ Tilda Swinton in Lanvin
8/ Meryl Streep in Alberta Ferretti
9/ Anne Hathaway in Armani Prive
10/Angelina Jolie in Elie Saab

All other images: Reuters

Oscars 2009 - Best Meringues

1/ Sarah Jessica Parker in Christian Dior haute couture
2/ Marisa Tomei in Versace Atelier
3/ Penelope Cruz in vintage Balmain
4/ Melissa George in Dolce e Gabbana (Getty)
5/ Miley Cyrus in Zuhair Murad
6/ Taraji P. Henson in Roberto Cavalli
7/ Jessica Biel in Prada

All other images: Reuters

Oscars 2009 - Best Bonbonniere

1/ Sophia Loren in Armani Prive/Reuters
2/ Queen Latifah in Georges Chakra/AP
3/ Beyonce in House of Dereon/Reuters - also takes home the Best Ottoman Award

Oscars 2009 - live (kinda) from the red carpet

Six AFIs for The Black Balloon

It made a modest A$2.3million at the Australian box office, but won a Crystal Bear when it debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in February and led the nominations field at last night's 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards with 11 nods. The Black Balloon has just won six of those awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and the most prestigious Oz film award of all, Best Film.

Gemma Ward was overlooked in the AFI acting categories - and the film itself sidelined from the winner's podium at the recent IF Awards - but congrats to writer-director Elissa Down and her cast and crew, who also won AFIs for Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette), Best Supporting Actor (Luke Ford) and Best Editing.

The awards certainly won't hurt the film's chances in the US, where it opened on Friday night - and is already garnering some impressive reviews.

Click here to read the full list of the 2008 AFI Awards winners.

Pic: buycostumes.com

Gemma Ward - close, but no cigar

lanvinFW0708/style.com


Gemma Ward missed out on the Best Actress gong at tonight's Inside Film (IF) Awards on Queensland's Gold Coast for her role in The Black Balloon. The award has just gone to Monic Hendrickx for Unfinished Sky. According to Ward's Australian agency, Shanahan Management, Ward did not attend the awards - she is in New York, studying acting. [UPDATE] Although nominated for 10 IF Awards, The Black Balloon walked away with one: the IF Award for Box Office Achievement (after earning A$2.2 million). Next up: the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards in Melbourne on December 6, for which the film has received 11 nominations.

Finch takes flight

antipodium via refinery29

Congrats go to Geoffrey J Finch and his partners Ashe and Fenella Peacock, whose Antipodium brand has just - ie minutes ago - won the fashion category of the 2008 Qantas Spirit of Youth (SOYA) Awards.

Antipodium was originally opened by Ashe Peacock as an antipodian-specialist fashion boutique and PR showroom in London in 2003.

In 2006 Peacock, Antipodium director Finch and Peacock’s Perth-based sister Fenella launched the Antipodium label – and things went so spectacularly well, they swiftly dismantled the rest of the operation.

Debuting at Australian Fashion Week in May this year, the brand will add David Jones to its rapidly expanding stockists' list in February 2009.

Frontman/designer Finch, now 25, left his native Toowoombah for London in 2004.

He wins A$5,000 in cash, A$5,000 in flights – which he says he will use to build up Antipodium’s US business – and a mentorship with Peter Morrissey.

After collecting his Perspex trophy on stage, the self-taught Finch tells frockwriter that he was asked by the show’s host how he felt competing with more traditionally-trained designers. Two cases in point: the two other SOYA 2008 fashion finalists Dion Lee and Reiss Radvanyi.

His response was:

“I took the back door to fashion”.

The Black Balloon sweeps the AFI Awards nominations with 11 nods

As revealed earlier today by frockwriter - prior to the AFI nominations announcement - Australian feature The Black Balloon had been nominated in at least two categories of the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards. Frockwriter can now reveal that the film has in fact swept the 2008 AFI Awards nominations with 11 nods for, among other categories, Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Gemma Ward has been overlooked in the Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories - while her co-stars received four acting nominations between them. The 50th annual AFI Awards will take place at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on December 6th. Here is the complete list of nominees direct from the AFI's just-wrapped press conference in Sydney.


L’Oréal Paris 2008 AFI Awards Nominees

AFI International Award for Best Actor
• Eric Bana. The Other Boleyn Girl
• Russell Crowe. American Gangster
• Heath Ledger. The Dark Knight
• Jack Thompson. Leatherheads

AFI International Award for Best Actress
• Cate Blanchett. Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Judy Davis. The Starter Wife. Network Ten
• Rachel Griffiths. Brothers & Sisters. Seven Network
• Nicole Kidman. The Golden Compass

L’Oréal Paris AFI Young Actor Award
• Danielle Catanzariti. Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger
• Tom Green. The Ground Beneath
• Saoirse Ronan. Death Defying Acts
• Clarence John Ryan. September

AFI Visual Effects Award
• Death Defying Acts. James Rogers
• Double The Fist (Series 2). Doug Bayne, Adam MacGowan, Michael Blake & Bill McGuire. ABC
• Gabriel. Matthew Graham & Steve Anderson
• H2O – Just Add Water (Series 2). Barry Lanfranchi. Network Ten

FEATURE FILM NOMINEES

L’Oréal Paris AFI Award for Best Film
• The Black Balloon. Tristram Miall
• The Jammed. Dee McLachlan, Andrea Buck & Sally Ayre-Smith
• The Square. Louise Smith
• Unfinished Sky. Cathy Overett & Anton Smit

AFI Award for Best Direction
• The Black Balloon. Elissa Down
• The Jammed. Dee McLachlan
• The Square. Nash Edgerton
• Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay
• The Black Balloon. Elissa Down & Jimmy The Exploder
• Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Cathy Randall
• The Jammed. Dee McLachlan
• The Square. Joel Edgerton & Matthew Dabner

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
• All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane. Stephen Vagg
• Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

AFI Award for Best Cinematography
• The Black Balloon. Denson Baker ACS
• Death Defying Acts. Haris Zambarloukos BSC
• The Tender Hook. Geoffrey Simpson ACS
• Unfinished Sky. Robert Humphreys ACS

AFI Award for Best Editing
• The Black Balloon. Veronika Jenet ASE
• Black Water. Rodrigo Balart
• The Jammed. Dee McLachlan & Anne Carter
• Unfinished Sky. Suresh Ayyar ASE

AFI Award for Best Sound
• The Black Balloon. Ben Osmo & Paul Pirola
• Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Des Kenneally
• The Tender Hook. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Gary Wilkins
• Unfinished Sky. Andrew Plain, Annie Breslin & Will Ward

AFI Award for Best Original Music Score
• The Black Balloon. Michael Yezerski
• The Square. François Tétaz & Ben Lee
• The Tender Hook. Chris Abrahams
• Unfinished Sky. Antony Partos

AFI Award for Best Production Design
• Children of the Silk Road. Steven Jones-Evans
• Death Defying Acts. Gemma Jackson
• The Tender Hook. Peter Baxter
• Unfinished Sky. Laurie Faen

AFI Award for Best Costume Design
• Children of the Silk Road. Wenyan Gao & Kym Barrett
• Death Defying Acts. Susannah Buxton
• Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger. Shareen Beringer
• The Tender Hook. Cappi Ireland

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor
• Rhys Wakefield. The Black Balloon
• Guy Pearce. Death Defying Acts
• David Roberts. The Square
• William McInnes. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress
• Noni Hazlehurst. Bitter & Twisted
• Emma Lung. The Jammed
• Veronica Sywak. The Jammed
• Monic Hendrickx. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Luke Ford. The Black Balloon
• Erik Thomson. The Black Balloon
• Joel Edgerton. The Square
• Anthony Hayes. The Square

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Leeanna Walsman. Bitter & Twisted
• Toni Collette. The Black Balloon
• Maeve Dermody. Black Water
• Saskia Burmeister. The Jammed

TELEVISION NOMINEES

AFI Award for Best Children’s Television Drama
• Animalia. Ewan Burnett & Murray Pope. Network Ten
• Blue Water High (Series 3). Noel Price & Dennis Kiely. ABC
• Double Trouble. Rachel Clements & Terry Jennings. Nine Network
• H2O - Just Add Water (Series 2). Jonathan M. Shiff & Joanna Werner. Network Ten

AFI Award for Best Television Comedy Series
• Chandon Pictures. Rob Carlton. Movie Network
• The Hollowmen. Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. ABC
• The Librarians. Wayne Hope & Robyn Butler. ABC
• Summer Heights High. Chris Lilley & Laura Waters. ABC

AFI Award for Best Television Drama Series
• City Homicide (Series 2). MaryAnne Carroll. Seven Network
• Rush. John Edwards & Mimi Butler. Network Ten
• Satisfaction. Andrew Walker & Roger Simpson. Showcase
• Underbelly. Greg Haddrick & Brenda Pam. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series
• ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton. Bernice Toni, Polly Connolly, Jon Casimir &
Megan Brownlow. ABC
• The Gruen Transfer. Jo Wathen & Jon Casimir. ABC
• RocKwiz. Ken Connor, Joe Connor, Peter Bain-Hogg & Brian Nankervis. SBS
• Spicks and Specks (Series 4). Anthony Watt. ABC

AFI Award for Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series
• Bed of Roses. Stephen Luby & Mark Ruse. ABC
• East West 101. Steve Knapman & Kris Wyld. SBS
• Rain Shadow. Gus Howard. ABC
• Valentines Day. Tony Wright. ABC

AFI Award for Best Direction in Television
• East West 101 (Episode 2, Death at the Station) Peter Andrikidis. SBS
• Satisfaction (Episode 5, Truth) Daina Reid. Showcase
• Summer Heights High (Episode 8) Stuart McDonald. ABC
• Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Peter Andrikidis. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in Television
• Dogstar (Episode 26) Philip Dalkin. Nine Network
• East West 101 (Episode 2, Death at the Station) Kris Wyld. SBS
• The Hollowmen (Episode 1, Fat Chance) Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. ABC
• Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer's Apprentice) Peter Gawler. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama
• Don Hany. East West 101. SBS
• William McInnes. East West 101. SBS
• Callan Mulvey. Rush. Network Ten
• Gyton Grantley. Underbelly. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama
• Phoebe Tonkin. H2O - Just Add Water (Series 2). Network Ten
• Diana Glenn. Satisfaction. Showcase
• Alison Whyte. Satisfaction. Showcase
• Kat Stewart. Underbelly. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama
• Gary Files. Dogstar (Episode 26) Nine Network
• Taffy Hany. East West 101 (Episode 1, The Enemy Within) SBS
• Vince Colosimo. Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer's Apprentice) Nine Network
• Damian Walshe-Howling. Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama
• Hanna Mangan-Lawrence. Bed of Roses (Episode 1, Not Worth a Cent) ABC
• Amanda Muggleton. City Homicide (Series 1: Episode 3, Lie Down With Dogs) Seven Network
• Brittany Byrnes. H2O - Just Add Water (Series 2: Episode 25, Sea Change) Network Ten
• Madeleine West. Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy
• Rob Carlton. Chandon Pictures. Movie Network
• Rob Sitch. The Hollowmen. ABC
• Robyn Butler. The Librarians. ABC
• Chris Lilley. Summer Heights High. ABC

NON-FEATURE NOMINEES

AFI Award for Best Documentary
• Beyond Our Ken. Luke Walker
• Not Quite Hollywood. Craig Griffin & Michael Lynch
• The Oasis. Ian Darling
• Rare Chicken Rescue. Vickie Gest

AFI Award for Best Direction in a Documentary
• Beyond Our Ken. Melissa Maclean & Luke Walker
• The Oasis. Ian Darling & Sascha Ettinger Epstein
• Rachel: A Perfect Life. Fiona Cochrane
• Rare Chicken Rescue. Randall Wood

AFI Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary
• A Northern Town. Andrew Commis & Rachel Landers
• Bomb Harvest. Kim Mordaunt
• NIGHT. Laurie McInnes
• Rare Chicken Rescue. Randall Wood

AFI Award for Best Editing in a Documentary
• Not Quite Hollywood. Jamie Blanks, Sara Edwards & Mark Hartley
• The Oasis. Sally Fryer
• Rare Chicken Rescue. Scott Walton
• The Siege. Stewart Young ASE

AFI Award for Best Sound in a Documentary
• Fairweather Man. Ben Crane, Michael Gissing, Guy Gross & Mike Jones
• The Oasis. Felicity Fox & Michael Gissing
• Rare Chicken Rescue. Brett Aplin, Greg Docwra & John Willsteed
• The Siege. Ian McLoughlin, Antony Partos & David White

AFI Award for Best Short Animation
• Chainsaw. Fiona Cochrane & Dennis Tupicoff
• Dog With Electric Collar. Steve Baker & Damon Escott
• Mutt. Beth Frey & Glen Hunwick
• Paper City Architects. Daniel Agdag

AFI Award for Best Short Fiction Film
• fOUR. Zyra McAuliffe & Erin White
• Jerrycan. Stuart Parkyn & Julius Avery
• The Ground Beneath. Kristina Ceyton & Rene Hernandez
• My Rabit Hoppy. Anthony Lucas

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film
• 296 Smith Street. John Evagora
• Chainsaw. Dennis Tupicoff
• fOUR. Erin White
• The Ground Beneath. Rene Hernandez

SOURCE: AFI

Gemma pipped by Emma, Toni and co – but The Black Balloon scores an AFI Best Film nom

Nominations for the 2008 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards are about to be announced in Sydney and frockwriter can reveal that Gemma Ward's debut feature The Black Balloon has been nominated in at least two categories of Australia's most prestigious film awards: Best Film and Best Supporting Actress. Ward’s name does not appear amongst the Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress nominees - but her Black Balloon co-star Toni Collette, who was overlooked in the recent Australian IF Awards nominations for Best Actress in favour of Ward, has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Frockwriter can also reveal the full 2008 list of AFI Best Actress nominees:

Noni Hazelhurst
Emma Lung
Veronica Sywak
Monic Hendricks

More to come.

UPDATED: THE BLACK BALLOON SWEEPS THE 50TH ANNUAL AFI AWARDS NOMINATIONS FIELD WITH 11 NODS.

Josh Goot and Jaeha up for the world's biggest fashion design prize

josh goot SS09/style.com

Big news for Josh Goot and Alex Kim (who designs the NZ label Jaeha). They have just been announced as two of the 10 finalists in the 2008 el Botón-MANGO Fashion Awards, with a prize purse of, wait for it, 300,000 euros (A$586,000).

Announced yesterday, the other finalists are:

Silvia Garcia Presas
Jean Pierre Braganza
Peter Pilotto & Christian de Vos
Lee Jin Youn
Christian Wijnants
Miriam Lehle
Jakub Polanka
Aleksandar Stanic & Fiona Sinha

Sponsored by Spanish fast fashion juggernaut MANGO, the awards are conducted in association with five leading international fashion colleges:

• Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design (London)
• Escola Superior de Disseny, ESDi (Barcelona)
• Institut Français de la Mode (Paris)
• Istituto Marangoni (Milan-Paris-London)
• Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp).

The schools shortlisted the 10 finalists out of 50 candidates that were previously selected by the MANGO Committee.

The finals will be staged in Barcelona in April 2009 – and to assist getting their collections there, at least according to Alex Kim, each finalist receives 15,000euros (A$29,000).

A new award that is in its second year – with the inaugural prize last year going to Belgian designer Sandrina Fazoli - the el Botón-MANGO Fashion Awards boasts three times the prize purse of the Swiss Textiles Federation’s Swiss Textiles Award.

The Swiss Textiles Award touts itself as the more prestigious competition by virtue of its past prizewinners who include Raf Simons, Haider Ackermann, Christian Wijnants, Bruno Pieters and Marios Schwab.

The 2008 Swiss Textiles Award will be handed out in Zurich on November 13th in front of an international jury.

Braganza is a finalist there as well, alongside Rodarte, Louise Goldin, Toga, Cathy Pill and yet another Australian, Richard Nicoll.

Win-win for Julie Grbac

vogue.com.au

Didn't catch the show but congrats are due to Julie Grbac, who was just crowned the winner of Project Runway Australia.

Grbac walked, or should I say, drove, away with a 2008 Fiat 500, a six-page fashion spread in Madison and A$100K towards a collection showcase at the Melbourne Fashion Festival next March.

Will there be a series two?

According to the show's mentor Henry Roth, with whom I spoke a couple of weeks ago, that's a distinct possibility.

Carla Zampatti: "I'm not a global brand - but I have global customers"

Coupla interviews that I did after Wednesday night's Myer show. First up, Oz fashion industry veteran Carla Zampatti, upon whom the Australian Fashion Laureate was bestowed a fortnight ago. With the laureate's eligibility criteria dictating that a candidate “must have global reach”, I asked at the time: has Zampatti ever exported and do her fashion endeavours have anything remotely approaching a global reach? Here’s Zampatti’s answer.


Congratulations on your award.
Carla Zampatti: My Laureate.

Yes - your Laureate.
Well it was totally unexpected.

But you were nominated last year as well weren’t you?
I was nominated yes, But to win….I mean there is some wonderful talent in Australia. So to win was really quite extraordinary. And I think to be voted by your peers is a great honour because, you know, we’re all working hard to achieve the best results. And to have that approval, is very important.

How many times have you participated in Australian Fashion Week? I only recall seeing you on the runway there once.
Yes only once.

Why?
Simply because I like showing in a more intimate way and I think Fashion Week is about a thousand people.

In your acceptance speech you said that you thought the event had put Australia on the map.
Yes it has, I really believe… for brands that are not well-known. Particularly young brands who are trying to make a breakthrough. I think it’s very important for them. It’s one way to showcase what they are doing and allowing the buyers..

So, you didn’t think that you needed to be at Fashion Week then?
No, because I think we are a vertically-integrated organization with our own boutiques, so it’s less important for us.

Have you ever exported?
I used to have a store in New York.

How long ago was that?
A long time ago. Late ‘80s/early ‘90s.

How long was the store there for?
It was there for about 18 months. And in Washington, in one of these centres.

You had two stores?
Yes. For about 18 months, for both of them. But the timing was wrong. New York, late ‘80s/early ‘90s wasn’t a very good time. So we decided that to become really well known in New York, you really had to spend time there and I decided that was going to be too difficult for me and I had noone on the ground here that I could send. So I decided it was best to concentrate on my domestic market and develop my retail.

According to the Laureate’s eligibility criteria, candidates must have “global reach”. Which your brand really doesn’t have, does it?
No it doesn’t have. But I think we have international customers. We have many expats who don’t live in Australia who actually buy from us. By email.

But it’s not really a global brand.
No, it’s not a global brand.

You could have been a global brand.
I could have been, but I chose not to. I decided I’d rather… I wanted to concentrate in Australia. Also I think the difficulty… unless you’re making transseasonal product, which most people are doing today, it’s really hard to grow a global brand from Australia because of the opposite seasons. The main market is the northern hemisphere. So you almost have to run two collections and I also found that quite difficult.

If the Laureate is supposed to go to a brand with global reach, are you saying that you do qualify by virtue of the fact that you have international customers?
Yes – but also I did export at that point. And then set up two stores.

Is it too late now to export?
Well I mean my next generation…. I have my two daughters working in my business and they may do it. And I think Australia is much more on the fashion map than it has been in the past. So I think it’s much more possible. I think there’s an awareness about Australian fashion that probably when I started, there was not. Also in the ‘80s, I don’t think that awareness was strong either.

Might we see Carla Zampatti at New York Fashion Week?
[Laughs] No… well... I mean, under somebody else’s guidance, yes it could possibly be. Because I think it is a brand that will continue on beyond my stewardship. And I think I would leave that to the next generation.

Carla Zampatti: Australian Fashion Laureate

vogue.com.au

Congratulations go to Carla Zampatti, who was awarded the Australian Fashion Laureate this afternoon in Sydney.

In the wake of the demise of the FIA Awards, the Fashion Laureate is being touted as the highest Australian fashion accolade.

The award is a year-old joint initiative between the NSW government and IMG FASHION Asia Pacific - the latter which operates essentially as a defacto Australian Fashion Council.

According to the NSW Department of State and Regional Development:

“To be eligible, a candidate's body of work must have been carried out in Australia, must have global reach, must align with high ethical standards, and must link fashion to business”.

Sadly I could not make today's presentation.

I was however interested to read an AAP report of Zampatti's acceptance speech, in which she made reference to both IMG FASHION Asia Pacific managing director Simon Lock and Australian Fashion Week, the event Lock's Australian Fashion Innovators company founded in May 1996.

Zampatti is quoted as saying:

"We came of age with fashion week. We are now on the international calendar. Lock deserves all the accolades from the industry for achieving this."

It was an interesting comment, given that as far as I can recall, Zampatti only ever graced the Australian Fashion Week runway on one occasion.

From the outset of the event, Lock and co had always seemed quite focussed on targetting the new, younger, export-driven fashion guard which had emerged in Australia from the mid 1980s onwards.


carla zampatti

Carla Zampatti is undoubtedly an icon of the Australian fashion industry.

After migrating from Italy with her family in 1950, she launched her fashion business at the age of 23 and in 2005 celebrated the fashion milestone of 40 years in business.

Zampatti quit wholesaling in 1990 to focus on a vertical operation. The company's website lists some 18 Carla Zampatti stores within Australia.

Zampatti is no stranger to accolades, having been made a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the fashion industry and a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Zampatti is also a recipient of the Centenary Medal, the Chair of Australian multicultural broadcaster SBS, a director of Westfield Group, a trustee of the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation Trust, a member of the Development Committee of the Sydney Theatre Company and a board member of the Australian Multicultural Foundation.

But does she export and/or do her fashion endeavours have anything remotely approaching a global reach?


carla zampatti