‘It’s Really Humbling’: Meet The Australian Fashion Laureate 2022 Finalists

“It’s such a surprise, I don’t think I’ve been nominated for anything before.” Those were the words of up-and-coming Australian designer Alix Higgins, after learning he’d been nominated for a prestigious Australian Fashion Laureate award in the emerging designer category.

“It’s really special, to be recognised among such talented people and my peers and this community of designers we have in Australia,” the designer continued to marie claire Australia. It’s community that has helped see Higgins to this point, rallying together to support Higgins in making a phenomenal debut at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week — a decision he took his time in making.

“It was the right decision, the right time, and I’m really happy with how things turned out,” Higgins said of his debut.

“I felt that people are excited about young designers and new perspectives and really want to foster that growth, which is something that I think the other designers I spoke with on the schedule agreed with.

“Since then, my business — well, there hasn’t been this overnight explosion or huge change [for my business], but it’s definitely steady growth. Each day it’s getting stronger and easier.”

The Australian Fashion Laureate, established in 2008 by IMG and the NSW Government, honours and recognisers the creativity, craftmanship and innovations of the Australian fashion industry.

“To even be included with the other nominees is incredibly humbing,” ALÉMAIS co-founder Lesleigh Jermanus, who is up against Higgins for the emerging designer award, told marie claire. “Considering that we started the brand less than two years ago […] it’s really nice to have the recognition of being included, I feel really humbled.”

ALÉMAIS — which is no stranger to awards this year — was launched in October 2020 as a way to use deadstock fabrics, quickly becoming one of the buzziest brands in the fashion industry and beyond.

“I do a little backflip every time I see someone wearing [ALÉMAIS],” Jermanus continued. “It’s genuine joy. It’s pure joy. And I think when you’re in this industry for so long to get to this point [Jermanus worked in fashion for two decades before launching her own brand], to have that recognition does feel very rewarding. I don’t think this industry is for the faint-hearted.”

Another nominee who was humbled but surprised by their inclusion was Laura Thompson of “merch with meaning” label Clothing the Gaps. A healthcare professional by trade, Thompson — who is a Gunditjmara woman — started selling merchandise during Victoria’s first COVID lockdown as a way to raise money for the Closing the Gaps foundation.

“We could no longer deliver our health promotion programmes to the Aboriginal community here in Victoria, so we just focused our attention on selling some merchandise online,” she told marie claire Australia.

“And now, over the last three years, we’ve realised the power of fashion to create social change. We’ve seen the ability for it to be able to influence politics. And in all honesty, the increased visibility through fashion creates cultural safety in the community, which is something we never expected would happen just through what you choose to wear every day.”

Clothing the Gaps is nominated for the Indigenous Designer of the Year award, but Thompson is firm when asked if it means she’ll be flexing her design skills further.

“No,” she says. “I think we’re in this really beautiful, niche market of merch with a message. It means that yes, we’re trying to design clothes that are cool, clothes that are made ethically, clothes that are great quality, but we can’t plan for our clothes seasonally or in advance, because our clothes are based on what conversations are happening in our community, and we never know what that’s going to be. So our next collection will be around Voice and Treaty and truth, and we could never have planned for that.”

For Sarah and Sebastian’s co-founder Sarah Munro, being nominated for the Sustainable Innovation of the Year is both an honour and a reminder.

“Sustainability is a journey,” she told marie claire Australia. “And I don’t think that will ever end. There will always be continual improvement and innovation that you can do to any business to better yourself.”

The jewellery brand might have sustainability baked into its DNA with its made-to-order business model and a strong stance against greenwashing, but it’s also working towards a Responsible Jewellery Council certification as well as working closely with ocean conservation charity initiatives. (As of August 2022, Sarah and Sebastian has donated over $115,000 to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.)

“I always get emotional when I talk about ocean conservation, but it’s such a big part of the Sarah and Sebastian vision to give back and support our community, especially our amazing partners who are actively creatively impactful change to save our oceans,” Munro said.

“Having that visibility and widening our platform to generate more awareness of the urgent need for ocean conservation is probably the most exciting aspect of this award for me, because more people are talking about it.”

The Australian Fashion Laureate winners will be announced at an intimate ceremony in Sydney on November 22. The winner of the Carla Zampatti Award for Excellence in Leadership, created to honour the late designer, will be announced the following evening at the opening night of Zampatti’s retroactive exhibition at the Powerhouse Ultimo.

The full list of nominees is below.

Designer of the Year, presented by BTC Markets

• Adrian Norris and Edwina Forest, Aje
• Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman, CAMILLA and MARC
• Christopher Esber
• Rachel Gilbert

Emerging Designer of the Year, presented by LG

• Alix Higgins
• Jordan Dalah
• Jordan Gogos, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos
• Lesleigh Jermanus, ALÉMAIS

Indigenous Designer of the Year, presented by Redken

• Denni Francisco, Ngali
• Laura Thompson, Clothing The Gaps
• TJ Cowlishaw, AARLI
• Liandra Gaykamangu, Liandra Swim