The Curtin University student said she was surprised to be named a finalist. "It's amazing," the former Sacred Heart College student said.
"It hasn't 100 per cent sunk in yet, but I bought my tickets to Frankfurt a week ago so it's become a bit more real."
She said she had not realised she was the only Australian finalist until one of her friends pointed it out when looking at the other entrants.
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READ NOW"I was not expecting it. I thought at best maybe I would get a wildcard if I was lucky," she said.
Joyce (21) was one of 225 entries to make it to the top 60 with her piece Alchemy, which consists of a dress and jacket.
The competition has three categories " ecological green, revolutionary blue and over the rainbow " with a prize for each. Ms Joyce said the ecological green category best suited her piece, which represents sustainable fashion.
"Alchemy was my inspiration " the medieval practice of alchemy and the process of transformation," she said. "A highly generalised view is taking a less precious resource and transforming it into something more precious.
"I have taken a piece of raw material " silk cotton - and transformed it into what I would call evening wear, though it could also lend itself to costume wear.
"Im adding value and using resources wisely and effectively without impacting the environment."
Ms Joyce said the piece followed the zero-waste design process she had been researching.
"Zero-waste design is essentially making an educated choice about how materials are used in the patterning process to eliminate the production of textile waste," she said. "If you laid all the pieces out they would interlock."
She said she liked the idea of sustainable fashion because it was "more meaningful and purposeful".
"It makes sense " you're throwing money away when discarding fabric, so I would like to keep up the practice," she said. "It does take more time and work, which is why many don't do it, but my honours research is about showing the feasibility of the design practice.
Ms Joyce said she was excited about her first trip to Germany because the country was "quite progressive in terms of the fashion industry".