In 2024 Grace Kelly closed her Brisbane-based brand Joaen to reassess its viability. On Tuesday night during Melbourne Fashion festival, she won the National Designer award – the most prestigious award for emerging talent in Australian fashion.
“It’s such a whirlwind,” said Kelly. “I didn’t expect this so quickly.”
Kelly established Joaen at the end of 2020, a “risky” time to start a business. Her relaunch in 2025 came with a renewed clarity, where she honed in on her family’s fashion history.
The name Joaen is a combination of her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother’s names – Joan and Jean. “I felt [Joan] doing that collection,” said Kelly. “And before things go into production, I go, ‘Yep, she’d be proud of this.’”
The label itself is also multigenerational – she shares the brand with her mother, Mandy Kelly. Mandy’s mother passed away when Grace was four, but Mandy said although Grace never knew her mother personally, she knew her through “the fashion spirit”.
“[Grace] started this company based on … the generational passing down of wisdom and fashion,” said Mandy.
Kelly looks to her mother’s and grandmother’s wardrobe for inspiration, taking the tailored silhouettes and durable fabrics from their youths in regional Queensland and translating them for more contemporary settings.
On Kelly’s father’s side, the family own a merino farm. Growing up surrounded by the “quality of what we grow here” is something Grace wants to champion in her designs. “I really want to make sure I celebrate our fibres.”
Although Mandy Kelly said Grace wanted to have her own label since she “was a little girl”, Grace enrolled in studying architecture after leaving school. Within four weeks she had dropped out and transferred to a fashion degree at Queensland University of Technology.
The National Designer award, now in its 30th year, is a key event at Melbourne Fashion festival. The winner receives a $20,000 cash grant and a $150,000 partnership package to help scale their business, with the award only eligible to businesses less than eight years old.
Grace Kelly said she was excited to use the money to “expand in every avenue we can”, including towards international markets.
Chris Wilson, the executive general manager of David Jones, who served on the award’s judging panel, complimented Joaen’s “cohesion from the silhouettes through to the colour palette”. Wilson also noted the “amazing level of detail and craftsmanship”.
Wilson was impressed by Kelly’s character. “I really admire the fact that she had enough fortitude to go, ‘What I’m doing hasn’t particularly worked. I need to reinforce what I want to stand for.’”
In the other categories of the award, Rachel Van Brussel of Van Brussel, who uses dead-stock fabric to create elevated streetwear, won an honourable mention for sustainability, along with a cash prize of $10,000.
The people’s choice award went to Justin Tong, who creates occasion-wear that draws from Vietnamese tailoring.