Winners of the Australian Fashion Laureate were unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House. 

The ceremony is run by IMG, which made news last week after announcing that it was withdrawing from Australian Fashion Week and that this year’s Laureate would be its last event in the Australian market. The move was reported globally. 

The Australian Fashion Laureate recognises leadership, innovation and remarkable talent amongst leading and emerging designers. 

While the future of Australian Fashion Week remains unknown, the Australian Fashion Council will currently take the reigns for the next event in May in an interim arrangement. 

Some feel it’s cause for optimism. “The time has come for Australian fashion to be represented by those who know it best – our community,” said AFC chair Marianne Perkovic in her statement. 

In this context, the winners of the Australian Fashion Laureate carry particular weight as the designers who will be taking Australian fashion into its new era. This year, the pool of winners was female-dominated. Beare Park’s Gabrielle Pereira, Grace Lillian Lee and Alèmai’s Lesleigh Jermanus were all on the list. 

The Laureate is judged by 35 leaders, including members of the media, fashion buyers, stylists, previous winners and business and retail executives. 

This year, Marie Claire Editor Georgie Abay, who sat on the judging panel, said, “Throughout its history, Australian Fashion Week has been a platform for Authentically Australian creativity, showcasing the best local talent. Abay noted that Australian Fashion Week has launched the success of global fashion brands like Zimmermann and Dion Lee and the careers of international supermodels like Miranda Kerr and Gemma Ward.

“This commitment to excellence and innovation is celebrated annually at the Australian Fashion Laureate, which serves as the industry’s final gathering to commemorate the year’s most significant achievements and the visionary leaders who continue to shape Australian fashion’s cultural and economic landscape,” she added. 

Here is the full list of winners. 

The 2024 Fashion Laureate Winners 

The Australian Fashion Laureate awards designers across six categories and the winner is determined by a panel of industry leaders that include fashion journalists, retailers and Fashion Laureate Lifetime Achievement recipients. 

Designer of the Year: Lesleigh Jermanus, Alèmais

Lesleigh Jermanus won a Laureate Award for the second time after winning Emerging Designer of the Year in 2022. Jermanus launched her label during Covid-19 and despite these challenges has been able to create a label that has been both wildly commercially successful, currently stocked in 425 stores across 54 countries, and creatively compelling. 

Emerging Designer of the Year: Gabriella Pereira, Beare Park 

With a focus on impeccable tailoring and laidback silhouettes, Beare Park has become the It-girl label for the last few years. From relaxed jorts to diaphanous gowns Pereira’s range is extensive and her designs capture a modern Australian sensibility of relaxed elegance. Gabriella Pereira has also been involved in several initiatives, partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, designing a Pink Shirt for breast cancer research, and creating the off-field uniform of the Matilda’s following their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign. 

Indigenous Designer of the Year: Grace Lillian Lee 

A descendant of the Meriam Mer people of the Torres Straight Grace Lillian Lee was tapped by French designer and fashion luminary Jean Paul Gaultier to create couture for the Brisbane edition of his Fashion Freak show. Gaultier’s imagination was captured by Lee’s grasshopper-weave technique, which her mentor, Uncle Ken Thaiday, taught her. “I love her art; she is a real artist,” Gaultier said in an interview with ABC News Breakfast. He said the corset created for Freak Show was “absolutely fabulous – I am in love with that technique.” 

Lee is also deeply involved in the success of other First Nations and Indigenous designers as the founder of First Nations Fashion and Design a non-profit program that supports emerging Indigenous fashion in Australia. 

Sustainable Designer of the Year: Laura May and Hannah Gibbs, Nagnata 

Hailing from Byron Bay, Nagnata is known for its street style “movement wear” made of organic and renewable fibres. The brand is also committed to fair trade and ethical craftsmanship. Designers Hannah Gibbs and Laura May are also involved in their broader community partnering with Surfers for Climate and donating 10 per cent of all swim, surf and sports proceeds to supporting climate activism and the preservation of the Great Australian Bight. 

Award for Excellence in Leadership: Andie Halas, Thread Together 

The Carla Zampatti Excellence in Leadership Award was introduced in 2021in tribute to the late Zampatti. This year, Andi Halas, founder of Thread Together, won. A previous shareholder at Australian swimwear brand Seafolly Halas founded a social and environmental charity in 2012 that is focused both on fashion waste and the support of vulnerable Australians. Thread Together donates unsold clothing from designers, and the organisation clothes thousands of struggling Australians every week in partnership with hundreds of fashion brands, social services and charities. 

Australians are the largest consumers of fast fashion in the world, and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis is making it harder than ever for struggling Australians to make environmentally conscious choices. Thread Together’s beneficiaries include domestic violence survivors, refugees, and youth at risk. You can make donations to Thread Together here. 

Australian Fashion Laureate for Lifetime Achievement Award: Stephen Bennett, Country Road

Arguably the pioneer of quiet and accessible Australian luxury, Stephen Bennett cut his teeth working in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane garment district and founded Country Road in 1974 with the goal of providing well-cut basics to Australians. Since then, Country Road has become a destination for staple wardrobe items across women’s, men’s and children’s wear and accessories, along with more recent expansions into accessories. Not just the preferred brand of officeworkers Jacob Elordi has been spotted toting the iconic Country Road duffle bag.

Ruby Feneley

After completing a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Sydney (English Literature/Gender and Culture Studies), Ruby started her Australian media career as a media and marketing reporter for Mumbrella after a brief stint working in fashion marketing in New York. An ex-makeup artist, she quickly transitioned to beauty journalism and has held multiple in-house positions as a beauty editor. Ruby’s writing can be found across print and digital titles, including Dazed, GRAZIA, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Body and Soul, Refinery29, POPSUGAR, Marie Claire and ELLE. Now, she loves covering internet subcultures, TikTok trends, sex and relationships and fashion as much as she loves scouring shopping aisles for the best non-sticky lip gloss and tracking down the perfect pencil for a faux freckle.