Named one of the finalists for the 2019 BT Emerging Fashion Designer Awards, Blair Archibald, a New Zealand born Melbourne-based designer, is the exciting designer who has honed his craft over the last few seasons.

A contemporary label that investigates the relationship between soft tailoring, sports and workwear, Archibald’s namesake line fuses practicality, adaptability and softens the rigidity of commercial menswear in Australia.

Archibald is known for engineering his garments with longevity and sustainability through a minimalist aesthetic, using local manufacturing and considered fabrics. Many of the pieces are genderless where silhouettes are cut in ways that they can be worn by both men and women.

This is also one of the reasons why the label was founded as Archibald dealt with gender identity issues. As a result, the mix between soft tailoring and linear pattern making is a reflection of blurring those gender parameters in the work.

There is a greater focus on sustainability in the 2019 BT Emerging Fashion Designer Awards where designers were encouraged to look at how their businesses operate as a whole.

The other two finalists include Courtney Holm of A.BCH and Minhee Jo of Aaizél and all three designers will present their collections alongside some of Australia’s most successful designers at the BT Runway event on 11 April 2019. One designer will be announced the winner on the night and will receive a prize valued at over $100,000.