Last night, Melbourne-based fashion designer Amy Lawrance won Australia’s 29th National Designer Award. “What the fuck,” she mouthed in front of the 1500-person audience as her name was called.
“I was completely taken aback when I heard my name called out. I really wasn’t expecting to be named the winner and I am still finding it a little bit hard to believe,” Lawrance tells Broadsheet. “Receiving this kind of accolade from such an incredible group of experts is really affirming.”
Lawrance graduated from RMIT’s Bachelor of Fashion (Design) in 2020 and began making her now-signature designs from her home during Covid lockdowns. Her pieces are whimsical yet grounded in history. There’s a playfulness to her intricately made garments; scallop trims, hand-sewn fagoting stitches (tiny gaps are purposefully left in between individually lined pattern pieces) and pinched silhouettes are imaginative and charming.
Drawing inspiration from the first half of the 20th century’s homemaking ephemera, Lawrance pulls from dated dressmaking manuals and patterns, translating them for a modern audience. “A total love for the craftsmanship of dressmaking and the generations of craftswomen responsible for developing a craft is behind everything that I produce,” she says.
All her pieces are made-to-order, primarily created from undyed silk and hand-finished by Lawrance from her home studio. It takes around seven weeks for a piece to be sewn and ready for shipping – Lawrance works a full-time job on top of her fashion project.
“I think what I am most proud of is the fact that pieces are just as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside,” she says. “Every detail, no matter how small or seemingly invisible, is considered to ensure a beautiful, crafted item of clothing that will stand the test of time.”
Lawrance follows in the footsteps of esteemed recipients like Christopher Esber, Toni Maticevski, Alemais, Dion Lee, PE Nation, Romance Was Born and Strateas Carlucci. The award, eligible to designers in the first eight years of business, provides a foundational launching pad for burgeoning labels. Lawrance takes home a business development prize pack, including a $50,000 minimum buy from naming rights sponsor David Jones and $20,000 in cash.
“Amy Lawrance’s true craftsmanship and exceptional quality really stood out. Her dedication to creating something of absolute beauty, originality and refinement is testament to her original vision and focus on slow fashion practices,” says Caroline Ralphsmith, CEO of Melbourne Fashion Festival.
For the first time, the awards ceremony pivoted from an invite-only media event to a ticketed, premium Melbourne Fashion Festival runway. Lawrance was up against nine finalists (an increase from last year’s six): Alix Higgins, Amelia Mather of Boteh, Anna Pipkorn of Lovaan, Christopher Hrysanidis, Isabelle Hellyer of All is a Gentle Spring, Jackie Galleghan of Madre Natura, Jude Ng of Jude, Liandra Gaykamangu of Liandra, and Saskia Baur-Schmid of Hyph-n. Baur-Schmid took home the Honourable Mention for Sustainability, and Pipkorn won the People’s Choice Award.
