UTS Fashion and Textiles graduate Domenic Roylance has been announced as the winner of the 2020 Carla Zampatti Foundation Design Award.
Zampatti – who this year celebrated the accomplishment of 55 years in the business of fashion – announced the winner of her namesake award today.
“I am proud to continue to support fashion graduates from UTS, especially during the challenging times that we have been facing in 2020,” she said.
"We must always look to the future and find ways to support and encourage the next generation of Australian designers to succeed in the global fashion industry.”
The award is intended to support further international study for an outstanding graduate from Sydney’s leading fashion degree, with the long-term goal of enriching the Australian fashion industry.
Roylance will use the award money to support further study in the Master of Arts in Fashion program at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College in London.
He accepted the award via Zoom in London, having recently been granted an exemption to travel to commence his studies.
“I want to say thank you so much to Carla Zampatti for the generous support she has given to students, particularly with everything that is happening in the world. This award has allowed us to dream big and hope for the future.”
Roylance, whose graduate collection was influenced by the yiayias (grandmothers) of Cyprus, says it’s his intention to evoke joy though his designs, expressed through quilting and embroidery.
Since graduating, Roylance has launched his own clothing brand and was selected to show at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival’s National Graduate Showcase in March.
He was also awarded an Australian Fashion Foundation Scholarship in December last year.
Associate Professor Timo Rissanen, director of the UTS Fashion and Textiles Program, praised the win.
“The opportunity and financial support to study overseas is an invaluable gift for an emerging fashion designer, enabling them to expand their professional connections and contribute to building a more networked fashion system.”
Andrew Boustani and Mei Zhang, the two other UTS graduates selected as finalists for the Carla Zampatti Foundation Design Award will also be undertaking further study overseas.
Zhang will join Roylance at Central Saint Martins College in London; and Boustani has been accepted for the Fashion Design and Society graduate program at Parsons School of Design in New York.