Lin made last year's final but lost out to sports-luxe juggernaut P.E. Nation. He made the immediate decision to try again this year.

"Last year I wasn’t expecting I was going to win; it was an experience," he said.

"It’s tough as a menswear designer. [The judges] don’t just look at the creative criteria – they [evaluate] commercialised thinking ... Compared to other people, [my brand] is not as mature as other brands. In terms of creativity I am pretty proud of myself."

Lin, a knitwear specialist, has just completed a collaboration with a major Chinese company. But, in Australia, his label is still relatively unknown.

His entry for the prize is called "Dangerous Goods" and was inspired by his travels through Asia, where he encountered many workers in high-risk jobs such as construction and mining.

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"There are people [in these countries] working so hard for their lives," said Lin, who was born in China. "When you are doing those [dangerous] jobs, it’s work for life. You just have to do it. For us, we work in fashion, maybe some people see what we do is beautiful … and actually behind it we work so hard as well."

Lin said he had been working hard on tightening his business model, which has recently pivoted more from private orders to wholesale accounts.

"There is growth in my business. I hear that from my customers – my stuff is hard to find but for a designer it’s difficult to get into more stockists," he said. "Some stores want to see your product but they can be concerned if your brand is new. I am ready for it now."

The National Designer Award kicks off the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, which will include runway shows as well as the first Australian Fashion Summit, featuring curvy supermodel Ashley Graham and several industry leaders.

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The other finalists for the prize are MNDATORY, Blair Archibald, Double Rainbouu, Arnsdorf and Christian Kimber.

Festival chief executive Graeme Lewsey said sustainability was a big focus of this year's award, so much a separate prize will be given to a finalist who excels in this area.

“Menswear has juggernauted into the spotlight this season and many brands described their collections having non-gender binary appeal. It will be a difficult decision this season."

Chris Wilson, head of menswear at David Jones, which sponsors the prize, said retailers needed to stay ahead of the curve in signing innovative labels.

"It’s a really exciting time for us with designers placing more emphasis on their menswear offering, and in turn, our customers having a greater range of the best of local and international brands [to choose from]," he said.

The Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival runs from March 1-8. vamff.com.au.