In just five days, the Australian fashion industry farewelled a legend, honoured Indigenous designers, debuted emerging talents and, of course, ushered in the new season’s trends. After a year’s hiatus, there was a renewed, palpable energy at Sydney’s Carriageworks as 45 designers returned to the catwalk.
And the trends were firmly in. While the week showed a depth and breadth of collections, from avant garde sensations to Instagram bait, clear trends emerged.Big, bold fashion is back with a bang.
Rebecca Vallance showed bows, 80s power shoulders and cinched waists in high-octane fabrics (velvet, lame, feather hems), while Mariam Seddiq and Yousef Akbar, who may be lesser known but have dedicated followings of their own and significant sales in Europe and the Middle East, played with jewel tones, exaggerated shapes and billowing sleeves. The message from these three designers was clear: get up, get dressed, go out.
Ostensibly, Australian fashion week is meant to be about resort wear, a change brought on in the early 2000s to differentiate the event from other fashion weeks and to give it global relevance for buyers who might not otherwise bother to make the long trip down south.
