THE Gold Coast will next month play host to a revamped National Retail Association's flagship fashion event - the Australian Fashion Design Awards & Festival.

A new major sponsor is one of the key changes to this year's event, expected to place the Coast on the national fashion radar.

Unlike previous years, this year's festival will run from November 28 to December 9 to accommodate a national telecast of the awards to be shown in Sydney and Melbourne on the same night the national final is held in Queensland.

Placing the focus on fashion retail in the lead-up to the key Christmas period will be an advantage for fashion retailers.

The telecast will be hosted by high-profile personalities Richard Wilkins and Deborah Hutton.

"This interstate telecast represents an enormous opportunity to significantly grow the awards' national television audience," says NRA events and marketing director Donna Caley.

"It will provide designers with even greater opportunities to promote their labels to a much wider consumer and industry base, with the potential to secure increased sales and further grow their businesses."

AMP Capital Shopping Centres will become the joint naming rights partner of the fashion design awards, in conjunction with the Queensland Government.

"AMP Capital Shopping Centres manages some of Australia's most loved fashion destinations, so it makes perfect sense for us to jump at the chance to support the NRA's Australian Fashion Design Awards," says AMP Capital Shopping Centres managing director Peter Feros.

Deputy Premier Anna Bligh says the Queensland Government is committed to helping Queensland's creative industries, including leading and emerging fashion designers and manufacturers.

"We recognise that innovation and creativity aren't always enough to succeed in today's competitive business world. That is why the State Government supports events like this one - it helps us help fashion businesses sew their organisational seeds of success," she says.

To bring a more commercial retail focus to the awards, a new segment will be introduced this year - the AMP Capital Shopping Centres National Retail Showcase. The presentation will feature some of Australia's leading fashion retailers presenting new fashion looks for
Winter 2007.

The preliminary judging of the awards will also feature a different format to previous years. This year's judging will see each category held as an individual showcase event, judged over four different days at various Gold Coast locations including the Sofitel Hotel and Pacific Fair.