There are few female designers who have left the impact on Australia like Carla Zampatti. A career spanning an incomparable 56 years in the industry, the designer made waves as a pioneer, leading the way for women in business. Opening doors for those who have only been met with constant adversity and pushback. Her legacy stands, and exactly one year after her death, she is being celebrated with an initiative from the Australian Multicultural Foundation in her honour.
What is the foundation all about?
The new initiative, known as the Australian Multicultural Foundation Carla Zampatti Scholarship for Young Women (AMF) will be aimed to celebrate her legacy as a fashion designer, businesswoman and champion for multiculturalism. The foundation will go on to support her work celebrating a multicultural Australia, and directly lend support to young women aged (18-29) who have emerged from culturally diverse backgrounds to achieve their goals where they may have some across financial challenges.
Zampatti herself was no stranger to this struggle, emigrating to Australia in the 1960's from a small town in the Italian Alps to a Western Australia she was met with many challenges. After a chance meeting with a department store owner, she worked hard to chase her dreams in spite of constant push back and adversity from the men around her. Unable to secure the small business loans that the men around her were granted she worked hard to change this landscape.
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Speaking of the foundation, the Executive Director Dr. Hass Dellal AO has stated:
“This scholarship will support the commencement of a personal or business project - whether it be education, technology, arts or business et cetera. This isn’t exclusive to fashion, and Carla wasn’t exclusive to fashion, she was a trailblazer in business. Through this Scholarship, we want to see more young women from diverse cultures overcome barriers and challenges to achieve their aspirations and in the process, strengthen the future prosperity of multicultural Australia”.
What is the foundation pledging?
In its inaugural year the foundation aims to pledge $10,000 to a single recipient. Additional funding for the scholarship will be funded in sequential years to increase the number of recipients each year and supporting funds.
Applications for the scholarship will close on Friday 6 May, and the winner will be announced on the 31st of May in Melbourne.
Image via @biancaspender
