Oscar winner Cate Blanchett says she’s thrilled to have won twice in a new list of awards celebrating stylish Australian women.
Blanchett was among 10 women honoured at the inaugural InStyle Women of Style Awards, attended by about 250 people in Sydney on Tuesday night. The Sydney Theatre Company co-director, who turns 40 on Thursday, scored the Reader’s Choice and Arts and Culture gongs. In a video message, Blanchett said she was especially “chuffed” to win the arts and culture award, beating the likes of renowned choreographer Meryl Tankard and writer Tara June Winch. “Particularly because of the company I’m keeping – and it was a diverse little group of us,” said Blanchett, who arrived in Sydney on Friday after promoting her new film, but was unable to attend the event due to family commitments. “Being someone who has had the great good fortune to work in both film and theatre and having a passion for the visual arts as well as architecture, a diverse and broad culture is really important to me as an Australian.” Eco-fashion designer Rachael Cassar, 24, scored the Instyle scholarship with a $10,000 cheque.
Among the judges were fashion designer Collette Dinnigan, film director Gillian Armstrong, and Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor.