The Australian Fashion Foundation has awarded two designers with USD$20,000 grants at its 14th annual AUSFF Scholarship Awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on Monday.
Fashion designer Kritikon Khamsawat, as well as RMIT graduate and creative director Olivia Law of The Whitehouse Institute of Design, have each received the grants as well as an internship with a global fashion powerhouse in the United States in 2023.
The awards are presented by the American Australian Association and The Next Generation.
This year’s winners were selected by a judging panel of leaders within the Australian Fashion Industry. This includes Camilla & Marc co-founder Camilla Freeman-Topper, Vogue Australi Editor in Chief and publisher Edwina McCann, The Next Generation director Courtney Miller, AUSFF co-founder Malcolm Carfrae, and Entente Agency founder Kara Hurry (also AUSFF board member).
The two winners (pictured above) were selected from a shortlist of ten finalists that also included Alex Petho, Aviva Gandler, Chritopher Wong, EvieRosa, Jarrod Koutros, Jason Clark, Madeleine Savleson and Victoria Talaina.
AUSFF said it continues to provide promising Australian graduates an opportunity to build their skills at an international level. Previous winners have completed internships at wardrobe.nyc, Dion Lee, Oscar de la Renta, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler,Louis Vuitton, Thom Browne, Alexander McQueen, DVF, and Calvin Klein.
Carfrae commended the scholarship awards event, which were held for the first time in real life since before the pandemic.
"We have been very impressed with the quality of the applicants," Carfrae said. "Thanks to our partnership with the American Australian Association and The Next Generation, we have been able to expand our awards to now include a reciprocal scholarship for American fashion graduates to receive bursaries to travel to Australia for valuable experience.”
Australian brand Dinosaur Designs created and generously donated the bespoke 2022 award trophies again with the return of the in-person event. The brand is co-founded by Louise Olsen.
The cocktail celebration and awards ceremony was attended by Australian fashion industry guests, including models Victoria Lee, Bambi Northwood-Blythe and Jena Goldsack, Natalie Xenita of IMG Fashion; influencer and model Tanja Gacic, and fashion TV host Kathryn Eisman.
American Australian Association president John Berry said the company will continue its partnership with AUSFF to give emerging Australian designers the opportunity to learn from global fashion icons in New York.
“We are delighted to play a part in realizing the dreams and ambitions of the next generation in the arts by building artistic exchange and collaboration between our two countries," Berry said.
AUSFF is a New York-based global non-profit organization which supports emerging Australian creative talent to gain international fashion experience and mentorship. It was launched in 2008.
The AUSFF Scholarship Awards are open to any fashion profession that meets the criteria of eligibility.