Melbourne Designer Wins National Designer Award
Amy Lawrence, a designer from Melbourne, has been awarded Australia’s prestigious National Designer Award, a significant accolade in the Australian fashion industry. Reflecting on her unexpected win, Lawrence expressed her surprise, saying, "I really was not expecting this tonight."
Lawrence’s journey began during the Covid-19 lockdowns when she started hand-sewing intricate dresses from her home, shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Fashion Design from RMIT in 2020. In 2022, she began to sell her creations, though she was unsure if her designs could be commercially viable at the time. A year later, she officially launched her brand, remarking that her recent success feels like the culmination of a decade’s worth of effort.
Continuing to create every piece by hand in her home studio, Lawrence drafts patterns at her living room table and sews each dress in her front room. Her made-to-order garments take approximately six weeks to complete, allowing for a personal connection with her customers. “There’s something lovely about someone placing an order and me making a dress just for them,” she shared.
Lawrence predominantly uses undyed silks and employs a unique embroidery technique called fagoting stitch, which adds decorative gaps between fabric pieces. She learned this technique by studying home dressmaking guides from the early 20th century.
Caroline Ralphsmith, CEO of the Melbourne Fashion Festival and a co-judge of the award, commended Lawrence’s meticulous craftsmanship, highlighting that concerns regarding the commercialisation of her work were overshadowed by the stunning quality of her creations. "The handiwork is just mind-blowing… and they look amazing on," Ralphsmith remarked.
The National Design Award, part of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, recognises emerging designers within their first five years in business, offering a business development package with a $20,000 cash prize. Lawrence intends to utilise her prize money to collaborate with a local factory for small production runs of her designs, targeting wholesale.
Saskia Baur-Schmid, another Melbourne designer, received an honourable mention for her commitment to sustainability through her label, Hyph-n, which focuses on zero-waste production.
This year’s award marked a significant shift in the judging criteria, placing greater emphasis on innovation and creativity, allowing for Lawrence’s artistic approach to be recognised. Notably, she is the first designer in 29 years to accept the award publicly, as previous ceremonies were industry-exclusive. The 2025 Melbourne Fashion Festival featured a consumer-oriented runway show with a full house of 1,500 attendees showcasing the ten finalists.
In addition to her label, Lawrence worked for nearly five years with designer Toni Maticevski, a former National Designer Award winner. Ralphsmith emphasised the beauty of this connection, noting both are exceptional makers in the industry.