Australian Fashion Week kicks off on May 31 this year. In keeping with tradition, Sydney’s fashion elite and A-listers will convene at Carriageworks to attend the event later this month.
This year’s event casts a spotlight on sustainability and provides a much-welcomed focus on First Nations designers. The five-day event is the first in the world to host an audience and physical catwalk since the pandemic started.
This year marks the Australian Fashion Week’s delayed 25th birthday. The overall event includes 36 live runway shows and 5 digital presentations confirmed by WWD. IMG’s on-site physical showroom facility, the suites, will host a number of additional shows in support of the main event. Afterpay is the new headline sponsor of the event.
Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar said in a statement,
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with IMG to create a world-class event that supports Australian designers both on a local and international stage.”
Straight Off The Runway
Eight chosen designers will be staging ‘see now, buy now’ shows as part of IMG’s Afterpay Australian Fashion Week: The Experience”, according to WWD. This means that attendees can purchase clothing from the included collections immediately after watching them walk the runways.
“With Australian fashion designers being the founding partners and the core of Afterpay, this year will see us champion and foster both emerging and established designers through various consumer shows like never before.”
Source: Elle
Who’s Showing?
The schedule includes designers such as Albus Lumen, bassike, Rebecca Vallance, Bondi Born, Christopher Esber, Commas, Ginger & Smart, Macgraw and KitX who will be showcasing their Resort 22 collection. It also features Oroton, Romance Was Born and Zimmermann. Design amateurs Auteur, Jordan Gogos, and Jordan Dalah will open up on day one. This year, shows can be live-streamed or viewed later via IMG’s OTT platform ausfw.com.
First Nations Runway
IMG has also announced a partnership with First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD), as part of AAFW.
Twelve Indigenous designers have been chosen to showcase in three separate events, Welcome to Country, the First Nations Fashion and Design Runway and the First Nations Fashion and Design Talk.
Natalie Xenita, Executive Director of IMG’s fashion events group in the Asia-Pacific region said in a statement,
“IMG is thrilled to announce our partnership with First Nations Fashion and Design. We are committed to playing an active role in the advancement of Indigenous Australian designers and leveraging our resources to amplify their voices in the Australian fashion industry and around the globe.”
Featured designers include Amber Days by Corina Muir, Aarli by Teagan Cowlishaw, Clair Helen, Grace Lillian Lee, Nungala Creative by Jessica Johnson, Ngarru Miimi by Lillardia Allirra Briggs-Houston, Keema Co. by Nickeema Williams, and Sown in Time by Lynelle Flinders.
FNFD Indigenous Corporation founder and director Grace Lillian Lee said,
“Indigenous fashion is the future of the Australian fashion industry, and what an honour to be featured as the first Indigenous runway show at AAFW’s 25th Anniversary, amplifying Indigenous voices for the next generation and chapter in AAFW history.”
Source: Ragtrader
Non +
Returning to the event, is food, fashion and music bon vivant Maurice Terzini. Gareth Moody (former Tsubi co-founder) and Terzini have collaborated on a surf-punk inspired menswear collection entitled Non +.
“We felt that we needed to participate in the promotion of Australian fashion business so there was no questioning we were launching the collection at Fashion Week,” Terzini said.
Source: The Guardian
The new menswear label came out of one of Terzini’s infamous New Year’s parties at Bondi’s Icebergs.
The design duo state that the styles are androgynous enough to be worn by either gender.
“It isn’t a style for everyone, but it’s about wearing it with attitude, whether you’re 25 or 65,”
Source: The Guardian
For more information, visit the Afterpay Australian Fashion Week’s website.
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