Romance Was Born were awarded the prize in the fashion category for the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA) on Wednesday November 11, celebrating their innovation and creative spirit.
Designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales were selected from finalists Gary Bigeni and Arnsdorf to receive a once-in-a-lifetime mentorship opportunity with SOYA09’s inspirational fashion guru's Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, along with financial support in the form of $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in flights from Qantas.
The dynamo duo were thrilled to be acknowledged and say they will be using the cash and flights to pursue overseas growth, "We really want to put the flights and money towards doing a showing in London sometime next year. It's something we have always wanted to do when the timing was right!"
SOYA is a part of Qantas’ ‘Sharing the Spirit’ community initiative, which aims to help young Australians connect with their dreams, and achieve their potential. Romance Was Born's award was announced at a presentation at the MCA where finalists, mentors, media and the who’s who of Sydney’s artistic world came together to view an exhibition of the finalists’ work and celebrate the best new creative and cultural talent Australia has to offer. The high calibre of this year’s finalists demonstrates the unique ability of SOYA to showcase some of Australia’s best artists, musicians, designers and filmmakers.
Since the inception of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards in 2004, SOYA has been instrumental in fostering the careers of Australia’s top innovative and inspiring young talent in the arts including fashion talents from the Little Hero stable the past two years: Geoffrey J Finch of cult womenswear label Antipodium in 2008 and Ben Pollitt of Friedrich Gray in 2007. We love a hat trick!
