After two years of judging virtually, the Australian Fashion Foundation (AUSFF) returned to in-person proceedings this week and hosted their 14th Annual AUSFF Scholarship Awards, presented by the American Australian Association (AAA) and The Next Generation, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

Accompanied by an esteemed judging panel including Camilla Freeman-Topper (Co-Founder & Creative Director, Camilla & Marc); Edwina McCann (Editor in Chief & Publisher Prestige, Vogue Australia); Courtney Miller (Director, The Next Generation); Malcolm Carfrae (Co-Founder, AUSFF; Founder & Principal, Carfrae Consulting) and Kara Hurry (Founder, Entente Agency; Board Member, AUSFF), the annual event showcased a promising future for the local fashion industry.

The 2022 AUSFF Scholarship Awards were presented to fashion designer Kritikon Khamsawat, a recent graduate of RMIT, and creative director Olivia Law of The Whitehouse Institute of Design. The two winners were selected from a shortlist of ten finalists that also included Alex Petho, Aviva Gandler, Chritopher Wong, Evie Rosa, Jarrod Koutros, Jason Clark, Madeleine Savleson and Victoria Talaina.

In partnership with the American Australian Association (AAA) and The Next Generation, the two winners will each receive a USD$20,000 grant and an internship with a global fashion powerhouse in the United States in 2023. Just some of the internships provided have been at globally-recognised brands such as wardrobe.nyc, Dion Lee, Oscar de la Renta, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler, Louis Vuitton, Thom Browne, Alexander McQueen, DVF, and Calvin Klein.

Malcolm Carfrae said of the scholarship, “We are thrilled that we are able to present the awards in real life again and meet the future stars of Australian fashion in person. We have been very impressed with the quality of the applicants. 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.”

The Next Generation’s Courtney Miller said, “The next generation of creative talent in Australia is so exceptional – we’re thrilled to play a part in supporting the next stage of these young peoples exciting journeys.”

“We are proud to continue our partnership with AUSFF to give emerging Australian designers the opportunity to learn from global fashion icons, leaders and innovators 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,” said Ambassador John Berry (Ret’d.), President, American Australian Association.

The event follows the 2022 Australian Fashion Laureate highlighting excellence within the professional industry.