Since 2020, Country Road has been the proud presenter of the NIFA Fashion Designer Award. The award recognises an individual designer of original fashion apparel who has excelled both creatively and commercially.

The Award Considers:
– Excellence in fashion design
– Styling and product quality and originality
– Commercial capability (has created a minimum of two commercial collections)
– Cultural expression and storytelling
– Environmental and social contribution

The Prize:

The winner will receive a $5,000 prize or a 12-month industry mentorship with Country Road. The mentorship program is tailored to the needs and focus areas defined by the mentee, covering areas such as marketing, product development, sales and finance, and sustainability.
A $5,000 cash prize is offered as an alternative to the mentorship, where the mentee requires investment in business-related travel, capital, or operational expenses.

Named in honour of Franchesca Cubillo’s Mother, the Cecilia Cubillo Young Achiever Award recognises an outstanding young person between the ages of 15-25 years, who is excelling in their community and or the broader industry in the area of fashion, textile design, modelling, styling, wearable art, adornment/jewellery or fashion related role. 

The Award Considers:

– Leadership and advocacy
– Role modelling and mentoring
– Innovation and creativity
– Entrepreneurship and business
– Commitment to learning and developing practice
– An individual journey

The Prize:

The winner will receive a $3,000 cash prize.

Indigenous textile design holds deep meaning and continues to push the boundaries of contemporary First Nations cultures. It is a medium that offers freedom, where the use of the vibrant colours in textile design is represented in new expressions of old stories, which enable artists to stretch their imagination.

Presented by RMIT University, this award celebrates and recognises an individual designer of textiles, including woven, knitted, dyed, printed or surface ornamented constructions.

The Award Considers:

– Excellence in textile design
– Innovation and originality
– Quality of craft; print, dye or surface ornamentation (where applicable)
– Cultural expression and storytelling
– Environmental and social contribution

The Prize:

The winner of the Textile Design Award will receive a customised Textile Design Professional Development undertaken with globally recognised RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles, ranked among the Business of Fashion’s The Best Fashion Schools in the World. The prize is tailored to the winning artist’s requirements.

This award recognises strong, two-way relationships between First Nations communities and the textile and fashion industry, where social and economic benefits flow to communities, and where First Nations peoples’ agency in the collaboration process is front and centre. The award celebrates effective and productive relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the textile and fashion industry.

The Award Considers:

– Demonstration of collaborative process
– Demonstration of Indigenous agency in the collaboration process
– Cultural expression and storytelling
– Social and economic contribution to Indigenous communities
– Originality & Innovation

The Prize:

A $10,000 cash prize to be split between each collaborator, supported by QIC.

The Wearable Art Award celebrates design, artistry, construction, wearability and cultural expression, recognising an individual designer for the creation of a single (not a collection) worn item of clothing, accessory or piece of jewellery that demonstrates excellence in design, craft and artistic expression.

The Award Considers:
– Design quality, originality and artistic merit
– Cultural expression and storytelling
– Quality of construction, wearability and/or performance potential
– Environmental and social contribution

The Prize:
The winning artist will receive a $5000 cash prize from Pacific Werribee.

This award recognises an individual or group, and celebrates leadership in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business showing both creative and commercial success in textiles and fashion, and positively impacting the Indigenous fashion sector.

The Award Considers:
– Business innovation
– Product or service quality
– Environmental and social contribution
– Brand development and marketing
– Cultural expression and storytelling
– Impact on the Australian Indigenous fashion sector

The Prize:
The winner of the Business Achievement Award will receive a $5000 cash prize, supported by Canberra Centre.