New England's night of nights
From its inception as a small local fashion parade in 1981, The Australian Wool Fashion Awards (TAWFA) has come a long way.
Or to put it more simply, local grazier-cum organiser Liz Foster's baby lamb has turned into one fine ewe.
Having begun as a small town design competition, with a "heavy craft accent", staged as part of the New England Wool Expo in 1981, the Armidale-based awards have now grown into a national event showcasing the diverse use of merino wool by national and international fashion designers and students.
Boasting a desire to educate and encourage young designers in the qualities of wool, entrants are enticed to use the many versatile wool and wool blend fabrics to create their entries with the rules stipulating each entry must use a minimum 40 per cent merino wool content.
Competing for more than 15 titles, one of the most popular sub categories is in the area of donated fabric design.
The first, secondary school donated fabric, is donated and distributed in two metre lengths upon application from schools.
The second features fabric donated from the research and development department of principal sponsor Australian Wool Innovation (AWI). This year the fabrics were a "polar fleece" style and a chiffon-weight lycra wool blend.
Prizes in the keenly-contested awards range from cash incentives to full or partial scholarships and gifts of work experience with leading Australian fashion designers.
This year the awards attracted almost 300 entries from fulltime or part-time designers. About 10 tertiary colleges and 30 secondary schools were represented at the presentation night which attracted 514 guests to the March 18 event and a further 504 to an encore matinee held two days later. High profile judges for this year's event included patron Lady Sonia McMahon, Melissa Grace from AWI, RM Williams designer Jonathan Ward, Hall of Fame inductee Anthony Leigh Dower and Penny Thomson from Melbourne label Carolyn Taylor.
Foster said the keen support shown by the industry, together with the 70,000-odd recorded hits on the awards newly-constructed website, suggest this year's entries could be seen by as many as 750,000 people.
Good news for the winners on the night, whose garments will not only appear in media reports arising from the event but also at the Sydney Royal Easter Show as part of the Shape Parade as well as at other wool-related marketing events.
According to Foster, who as TAWFA managing director is still heavily involved in the staging of the awards, the continued success of the awards is down to shear hard work and not lucky breaks.
Still a non profit organisation, Foster and her TAWFA team credit three things with the awards increasing popularity in recent years: the calibre of the entrants, the ongoing support from the Australian fashion industry and the continued involvement of the broader Armidale community.
"The awards have changed from being a small voice in a chorus of wool promotion to now being almost solo, although the Australian wool industry is now starting to address the promotion vacuum left after the demise of the Australian Wool Corporation.
"Initially judges were recruited simply by approaching many to get a few. Once some important names came to judge however, it became easy as each became disciples of the awards' cause and recommended others who would contribute or bring something else to the competition. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, but the awards must be striking a chord for these important people to want to keep coming."
One of the major differences separating the Armidale show from its competitors is the unique approach taken to ensure the safety of the volunteer models used in the event.
From the very beginning it is stressed to the models, recruited by "spotting" likely faces and figures in the street and advertising for model training days, that their participation is not a ticket into a modeling career.
Ttraining days include presentations from a local female GP advising on diet, self perception, substance abuse and general well being. Skincare and make-up specialists, and hair stylists are also brought into the fold and the models are also given a "fairly honest if not brutal" lecture on the modeling industry, particularly the traps, the chances, the sharks as well as the various types of modeling and career paths available in and around the industry.
"The awards encourage no smoking, will not tolerate substance abuse and encourages an atmosphere of mutual support, care and friendship for each other, rather than strident ambition, jealousies and self promotion.
"The models are volunteers but nevertheless appreciate the culture which supports them," said Foster.
While there has been talk of the awards being moved to a larger city to extend its reach, however Foster said this is unlikely to happen in the near future.
While capital city events are desirable to reach a more targeted audience, costs and commuting times would be prohibitive, she said.
"The awards is still a not-for-profit organisation although its continued growth and success my see a change to that in order to satisfy the increasing demands of sponsors. The essential culture of the organisation will never change though."