On December 19, 2022, New York-based global non-profit organisation The Australian Fashion Foundation, or AUSFF, hosted their Annual AUSFF Scholarship Awards for the 14th year in a row, presented by the American Australian Association and The Next Generation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia.

The event marked the foundation's return to an in-person event after two years of virtual judging, and was presented to designer Kritikon Khamsawat, a recent graduate of RMIT, and creative director Olivia Law of The Whitehouse Institute of Design.

Each winner will receive a USD$20,000 grant, alongside an internship at a global fashion house in the United States next year. The prize was presented in partnership with the American Australian Association (AAA) and The Next Generation.

The judging panel was comprised of some of Australia's fashion heavyweights, including Co-Founder & Creative Director of Camilla & Marc, Camilla Freeman-Topper; Editor in Chief & Publisher Prestige of Vogue Australia, Edwina McCann; Director of The Next Generation Courtney Miller; Co-Founder of AUSFF and Founder and Principal of Carfrae Consulting, Malcolm Carfrae and Founder of Entente Agency and Board Member of AUSFF, Kara Hurry.

The two winners were selected from a shortlist of 10 finalists that also included Alex Petho, Aviva Gandler, Chritopher Wong, Evie Rosa, Jarrod Koutros, Jason Clark, Madeleine Savleson and Victoria Talaina.

The program has an exciting track record for presenting promising designers with the opportunity to expand their skills in global fashion environments, with previous winners completing internships at wardrobe.nyc, Dion Lee, Oscar de la Renta, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler, Louis Vuitton, Thom Browne, Alexander McQueen, DVF, and Calvin Klein.

Malcolm Carfrae said of the scholarship, “We are thrilled that we are able to present the awards in real life again and meet the future stars of Australian fashion in person. We have been very impressed with the quality of the applicants. Thanks to our partnership with the American Australian Association and The Next Generation, we have been able to expand our awards to now include a reciprocal scholarship for American fashion graduates to receive bursaries to travel to Australia for valuable experience.”

The Next Generation’s Courtney Miller said, “The next generation of creative talent in Australia is so exceptional – we’re thrilled to play a part in supporting the next stage of these young peoples exciting journeys.”

“We are proud to continue our partnership with AUSFF to give emerging Australian designers the opportunity to learn from global fashion icons, leaders and innovators in New York. We are delighted to play a part in realising the dreams and ambitions of the next generation in the arts by building artistic exchange and collaboration between our two countries,” said Ambassador John Berry (Ret’d.), President of the American Australian Association.