There are only a handful of milestones beyond survival for Australian fashion designers.

“There’s being on the cover of Vogue and there’s the Met Gala,” says Sydney designer Nathaniel Youkhana. “You just want your work to be celebrated.”

But rather than wait for an invitation to the Met Gala from US Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Youkhana is cultivating adulation closer to home. One of Youkhana’s signature braided, gender-fluid creations will be showcased alongside two other emerging brands on the red carpet at the National Gallery of Victoria Gala in Melbourne on Saturday.

Among the WAGs, AFL players, rent-a-models and rich list regulars celebrating the opening of the Yayoi Kusama summer blockbuster, designers Youkhana, Jarrod Reid and Amy Lawrance will add stylish substance to the media wall.

“What I make is not everyday wear,” says Youkhana who has been refining his craft-meets-club aesthetic for seven years. “This is the perfect place to demonstrate what I can do. It will definitely create more work for me as a designer.”

Melbourne designer Amy Lawrance, who made her Australian Fashion Week debut in May, shares Youkhana’s sculptural approach to design, but her pieces are grounded in a quieter femininity, designed for a curious customer rather than paparazzi cameras.

“I’m always surprised when people say that my dresses would be great for a formal event because it’s not what I’m thinking about when I’m designing,” Lawrance says. “They’re more like wearable sculptures, but if someone wants to wear it on the red carpet, that’s just lovely.”

Melbourne-based Jarrod Reid’s exuberant dresses, melding British designer Richard Quinn’s kaleidoscopic approach to prints and volume with Sydney designer Jordan Dalah’s slippery silhouettes, completes the trio. There’s nothing quiet about Reid’s approach.

“Well, you won’t see them at Coles,” Reid says. “I just like creating a world I can escape into. My next project is in the world of Scottish fairytales.”