This is my third time at Australian Fashion Week, but I don't think I'll ever feel jaded. It's easily Australia's most important week in fashion — and a personal highlight on my work calendar. The event's home is at Sydney's Carriageworks and sees local designers showing their Resort collections for the next year.
With a new sponsor on board, this year ran a little differently from years' past. The biggest differences being that most shows were across four days, instead of five, the introduction of Splash Sydney, Australia's first international trade show, and a new group show format called 'The Frontier'. The group show featured established and emerging Australian and New Zealand-based brands, including Paris Georgia and Wynn Hamlyn.
The purpose of AFW is to promote Australian fashion in a true and sustainable way, and act as a springboard to showcase our local designers for an international audience, all with the main goal of landing more stockists and visibility in market.
I love to share what I get up to in my day on Instagram and TikTok, and often I'll have friends respond and ask what it's really like to attend an industry event like Fashion Week, that often gets a reputation for being all glitz and glam. Given how many DMs I receive, I thought there might be more interest out there about what it's really like to attend Australian Fashion Week, so today, I'm sharing my experience.
Every year, I learn more about how incredible AFW really is. The work that goes on behind the scenes, from publicists to designers, to stylists and hair and make-up artists - it's a meticulously planned marathon. The week is big, inspiring, fun, but it's also hard work. Read on as I lift the veil on one of the biggest weeks of the year in Australian fashion.
The Runway Shows
The runway shows themselves are a sensory overload. Before the show begins, I get a kick out of celeb spotting and peeking who's in the front row (this week I've spied Pip Edwards, Jackie O, Carrie Bickmore and Francesca Hung) and settling into my seat to take in all the different sights and sounds. The music's often pumping, but when it's not, and we're sitting in silence, it equally sets the mood and tone of the show. It's so clear how much thought and preparation goes into meeting all the different senses to help bring the designer's vision to life and what message they're trying to convey about their brand. The craziest part? All this work goes into the show and it is always over faster than you imagine, all done within 15 minutes.
Beyond The Runway
Of course while we're there to see the latest runway designs, we love to do a bit of street style snooping. I love to see what other editors, stylists, influencers and creators are wearing and how they're adapting trends to suit their own personal style. I find it so inspiring to see how they're styling different trends and discovering niche brands.
The Connections
Fashion Week can feel like one big school excursion, with attendees from all different corners of the industry coming together for the week and travelling from show to show. It's an opportunity to catch up with peers across the industry, hold insightful conversations on how to move the industry forward, and learn from each other. The opportunity to network is also so important, and I've made so many connections over the years of attending Fashion Week where it's resulted in the opportunity to work together on content, and support each other's passions.
The Pressure
It's not all champagne and canapés. The pressure is immense, deadlines are tight, and the long hours can take their toll. Everyone has one job to do, which is to promote Australian fashion. The pressure has intensified over the last decade, where the need to publish content is instant, compared with what I've heard about Fashion Weeks' in years past. It means that myself and our team are running between shows and the on-site media center so we can write, edit and produce content before heading to the next show.
Attending Fashion Week as a journalist is such a privilege. It offers a unique perspective on the industry, and an inside look into the storytelling that helps bring a brand and a designers' vision to life. The creativity that comes out of this week is second to none and I'm excited to see the designer collections from this week land in store, and how the trends are adapted and worn in the real world.
Read more of our Fashion Week content.