SYDNEY — Alémais cofounder and creative director Lesleigh Jermanus has won Designer of the Year at the 2024 Australian Fashion Laureate awards. 

Presented at a lunch at Bennelong restaurant inside the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, the awards were the last event staged by IMG in Australia after the company revealed last week it would be dismantling its local fashion events division, which also includes Australian Fashion Week, which IMG purchased in 2005. 

Emerging Designer of the Year was won by Gabriella Pereira, who designs under the label Beare Park, while Indigenous Designer of the Year went to Grace Lillian Lee. Nagnata founders Laura May and Hannah Gibbs won the Sustainable Designer of the Year award and Andie Halas, founder of social enterprise Thread Together — which redistributes excess new clothing donated by the industry to the disadvantaged — won the Carla Zampatti Award for Excellence in Leadership. 

The Australian Fashion Laureate for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Stephen Bennett, who founded the Country Road label in 1974.

“We are thrilled to bring the industry together for our final event to celebrate the accomplishments of Australian designers and industry leaders who have been the driving force behind Australian fashion’s cultural and economic impact this year,” said Natalie Xenita, vice president-managing director of IMG Fashion Events and Properties, Asia-Pacific.

On Monday, the Australian Fashion Council announced it would be taking charge of AFW’s resort 2026 collections showcase, which is due to place in Sydney in May. At the time of writing, a working group was being assembled to manage the development of the event. 

Alémais has been one of AFW’s biggest success stories. 

Now selling to 450 stockists in 57 markets, the brand experienced 52 percent year-on-year growth in the year to June 2024 — and 184 percent year-on-year growth in its biggest market: the U.S.

“It has been pretty wild this last year,” said Jermanus, who benefited from an Australian government Export Market Development Grant after working in design positions for local fashion companies including Marcs and Zimmermann and founding Alémais in August 2020 with her husband and business partner Chris Buchanan.

“It’s hard enough for emerging brands to to find a platform to grow in this industry. The EMDG grant, coupled with fashion week, gives designers a real opportunity to share their work with a global audience. So we need it. I think once there’s a bit more of a solid plan [for AFW’s future] and I’m sure that there will be, we would definitely look to support it in whichever way we can,” Jermanus said.