‘Clear and confident creative voice’ wins 2025 Lauren Hemens Award

_{Molly Taylor's final Ara collection - Charlie Rose photography}

Winning the 2025 Lauren Hemens Award for Commercial Potential has fuelled special memories for winner Molly Taylor.

The award for Year 3 students of Ara’s Bachelor of Design (Fashion Technology and Design) honours Ara graduate Lauren Hemens, who died in a tragic traffic accident as she was starting her career in 2023.

The Hemens family first offered the $3000 scholarship two years ago, seeking to honour Lauren’s passion and recognise her strengths in up-and-coming designers.

Molly Taylor said she knew Lauren personally during her first two years of study before taking a mid-study break and was grateful to honour her memory through the award.

She remembered Hemens’ “warm grounding presence and genuine investment in those around her”.

“It feels especially meaningful to reconnect with her legacy in this moment, in a way I never anticipated when I first began my studies,” she said.

“This recognition gives me confidence as I move into the next stage of my practice, knowing that my perspective and approach are valued.”

_{Examples of Molly Taylor's work - Charlie Rose photography}

Ara Senior Academic Nathan Ingram said the award recognised Taylor’s “exceptional achievement in developing a conceptually rich, visually refined and technically accomplished body of work.”

He noted that her final collection stood out as one of the strongest major works presented in recent years, with a point of view capable of contributing meaningfully to the contemporary fashion landscape.

“Molly’s consistency of aesthetic reveals a designer who has already begun to establish a clear and confident creative voice,” Ingram added.

The full list of winners in Ara’s 2025 awards for Bachelor of Design (Fashion Technology and Design) includes:

• Alexander Yee: Ara Award for Innovative Practice in Year 3 (sponsored by The Noeline McIlroy bequest fund)
• Jemima Lewis Gourdie: Longbeach Holdings Award for Sustainable Practice in Year 3
• Molly Taylor: Lauren Hemens Award for Commercial Potential in Year 3 
• Andy Sales: Purfex award for Commercial Potential in Year 2
• Amelia de Vries: The Fabric Store Award for Technical Excellence in Year 1

_{Alexander Yee's final portfolio - Charlie Rose Photography}

Alexander Yee, who was also the lead organiser of the student-run Prospect Ōtautahi fashion show for 2025, said the innovation award helped him recognise the value of experimental research within his design process.

“My drive comes from an experimental nature, a push to explore new areas and to seek a point of difference to elevate design,” he said. “This award validates those sparks of inspiration through the exploration of unconventional methods, techniques, materials and motivates me to keep aiming to push fashion design into areas …that are authentically tied to who I am.”

_{Jemima (Mima) Lewis Gourdie's final portfolio - Charlie Rose Photography}

Sustainable Practice winner Jemima (Mima) Lewis Gourdie was no stranger to recognition for her intrinsic approach to sustainability. She earned the 2024 Hokonui Fashion Open Upcycled Award and the 2025 Circular Designer Award through Mindful Fashion, for her piece featuring an evening bag derived from kombucha Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) she grew and harvested herself.