Carla Zampatti's love of the Ethnic Business Awards

On the 3rd April 2021 Australia lost an icon. The Carla Zampatti story began in Italy where she was born and then in 1950 her family migrated to Australia. In 1965 when she was still in her 20’s she launched her first fashion collection. The rest as they say, is history.

The Ethnic Business Awards has held a special place in the heart of Carla. Since 1988 when the awards were first launched, Carla Zampatti served as a judge for the Awards and she continued this tradition every year for more than three decades. Being a migrant herself she believed in celebrating the success stories of migrant business owners and later when the Indigenous in Business award was unveiled she was equally as enthused. She was greatly moved by the stories of resilience and perseverance and each year she actively deliberated on the finalists with her fellow judges. Carla made an enormous contribution herself to the success of these awards. She made certain that we presented beautifully on the nationwide broadcast by always dressing our team in her gorgeous designer wear and she was proud to be mentioned and linked to the event.

Every year our MC Tracey Spicer and others such as Janice Petersen would gladly choose a beautiful gown from Carla’s collections and Carla would delight in seeing them worn so “well”. She brought a certain pizzazz to the awards and drew attention to her fine aesthetic. Carla always showed great generosity and attentiveness to her role as a judge and it is fair to say that she very much looked forward to meeting the finalists each and every year.

The Ethnic Business Awards are enormously proud to have been associated with Carla Zampatti. Her story is now forever entwined with ours and that of the hundreds of migrant and Indigenous business owners she has become known to over the vast number of years she was involved with the EBA. We will miss her terribly and mourn her passing. What a life and what a legacy she has left the nation. Vale Carla Zampatti.