IMG announced the winners of the 2021 Australian Fashion Laureate yesterday at Mimi’s Restaurant in Coogee, Sydney.
The prestigious awards recognise Australia’s exceptional talent and highlight innovations and conversations shaping the Australian fashion industry and its future. New Australian Fashion Laureate award categories for 2021 included: Indigenous Designer of the Year, celebrating Australia’s First Nations designers; and the Carla Zampatti Award for Excellence in Leadership, honouring persons who have made outstanding contributions to advancing the position of women in the Australian fashion industry.
The industry’s 2021 winners are:
Linda Jackson. Photo by Lauren Bamford
Australian Fashion Laureate Lifetime Achievement Award
Linda Jackson AO
Carla Zampatti Award for Excellence in Leadership, presented by Porsche
Grace Lillian Lee
Designer of the Year
Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, Romance Was Born
Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, Romance Was Born. Photo by Lauren Bamford
Emerging Designer of the Year presented by Shopify
Richard Jarman, COMMAS
Indigenous Designer of the Year
Julie Shaw, MAARA Collective
Julie Shaw, MAARA Collective. Photo by Lauren Bamford
Sustainable Innovation of the Year, presented by GlamCorner
Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan, bassike
Nick Molnar and Isabella Pennefather, Spell. Photo by Lauren Bamford
People’s Choice, presented by Afterpay
Elizabeth Abegg and Isabella Pennefather, Spell
A multi award-winning journalist and editor and experienced executive, Robyn Foyster has successfully led multiple companies including her own media and tech businesses. She is the editor and owner of Women Love Tech, The Carousel and Game Changers.
A passionate advocate for diversity, with a strong track record of supporting and mentoring young women, Robyn is a 2023 Women Leading Tech Champion of Change finalist, 2024 finalist for the Samsung Lizzies IT Awards and 2024 Small Business Awards finalist.
A regular speaker on TV, radio and podcasts, Robyn spoke on two panels for SXSW Sydney in 2023 and Intel's 2024 Sales Conference in Vietnam and AI Summit in Australia. She has been a judge for the Telstra Business Awards for 8 years.
Voted one of B&T's 30 Most Powerful Women In Media, Robyn was Publisher and Editor of Australia's three biggest flagship magazines - The Weekly, Woman's Day and New Idea and a Seven Network Executive.
Her career has taken her from Sydney where she began as a copy girl at Sydney's News Ltd whilst completing a BA in Arts and Government at Sydney University, to London, LA and Auckland.
After 16 years abroad, Robyn returned to Sydney as a media executive and was Editor-in-Chief of the country's biggest selling magazine, The Australian Women's Weekly.
