Tonight on 20th May 2015, the Australian Fashion Film Awards (AFFA) held its first red carpet event in Sydney’s Westfield Sky Lobby. About 150-170 people were expected at this event, with a mix of celebrities and PR/ media journalists alike. It’s an exclusive, invite only event that I was fortunate enough to attend (thanks to my friend/ founder of the event, Anastasia Fai). Here’s a sneak peek of the event and what AFFA is.
The Australian Fashion Film Awards (AFFA) is born to recognize, celebrate and reward passion, creativity and dedication made to the fashion film genre. AFFA celebrates the fusion of the two industries, fashion and film, which are seen as more and more intertwined.
Anastasia Fai (below) is the founder/ director of AFFA and also, owner of Style & Image video production company, said that she is excited to spotlight Australia on the world map in this rapidly growing genre.
Tonight, for the first time, AFFA announced the winners for 2015 from each of the following categories:
-
Best Independent Fashion Film – Justin Griffiths – ‘Wild West’
-
Best Hair & Makeup (Hair) – Renya Xydis (Russh Magazine) – ‘Phoenix Rising’
-
Best Hair & Makeup (Makeup) – Tamah Krinsky (Russh Magazine) – ‘Phoenix Rising’
-
Best Fashion Styling – Catherine Martin (Chanel) – ‘The One That I Want’
-
Best Sound Design or Music – Lo-Fang (Chanel) – ‘The One That I Want’
-
Best Visual Effects – The Woolmark Company – ‘Lost & Found’
-
People’s Choice – Phoenix Rising, Russh Magazine
-
Best International Fashion Film – Hogan Rebel – ‘We Are All Mad Here’
-
Best Concept – The Woolmark Company – ‘Lost & Found’
-
Best Director – Baz Luhrmann (Chanel) – ‘The One That I Want’
-
Best Australian Fashion Film – Country Road – ‘Summer Wonder’
The nominations for each of the Awards category can be found here.
Guests who attended the event include iconic fashion designers from We Are Handsome and Alice McCall, the multi-talented director/actress Gracie Otto, actress Emma Lung, models Didier Cohen, Sarah Ellen and the Stenmark Twins as well as the internet sensations SketchShe.
Actress Emma Lung who starred in Wonderland, a famous, recent Australian TV series presented at the Awards night, calling out the winner from the Best Hair and Makeup category.
The crowd itself was a mix. Not all of them come from a Fashion background. I met some of the loveliest bunch (photo below), Vesna and Sezna who runs their own PR agency, LaunchPadPR and have worked with the likes of George Clooney and Johnny Depp, really humble and were great people to hang out with; then you have Australia’s very own, rising fashion designer, Betty Tran and Dai Le who is a one time politician / ex ABC journalist / CEO and Founder of DAWN (Diverse Australian Women’s Network).
I also bumped into a friend, Gina Lednyak who runs her own social media company L&A Social
Marion Hume, one of the AFFA judges and a renowned fashion journalist, unfortunately couldn’t attend the Awards Ceremony tonight, however you can catch a glimpse of her here. She later also gave us a pretty nice comment below.
Overall, it was a great night of networking, meeting new people from various industries and bumping into old friends!
Watch this space for the next AFFA Awards coming to you in 2016.
Local Culture Guide 