A conflict emerged for the panel deciding this year’s National Designer award: whether to champion creativity or commercial appeal

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The process to select this year’s National Designer award winner was one of the most contentious in recent history, with one judge describing the result as a missed opportunity.

Established in 1997 at Melbourne Fashion festival, the award is widely regarded as an important step on the route to becoming a legacy Australian designer, with past winners including Toni Maticevski and Romance Was Born.