Battle of the Titans

Talk about a tough decision. The judging panel at the 2008 L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Designer Award (LMFF) was not subject to any envy this year, having to choose between seven exceptionally talented finalists.

Australian designer labels Manning Cartell, Thurley, Therese Rawsthorne, Gail Sorronda, Antipodium, Carl and Friedrich Gray were all short-listed for the top prize, which included a $10 000 cheque from Woolmark and a networking opportunity at either the Premier Vision tradeshow in Paris or Pitti Filati in Florence.

In the end, Friedrich Gray designer Ben Pollitt joined the ranks of Toni Maticevski, Mad Cortes, Josh Goot and Yeojin Bae and became a recipient of the LMFF Designer Award.

Festival director Karen Webster said she was blown away by the standard of quality and talent this year. "This has been the hardest year to select the winner simply because the finalists were exceptional. They are certainly all talent to be reckoned with."

By Assia Benmedjdoub