From being dubbed “Trend Weak” by British trend author Susan Owens in its infancy to turning into Australia’s sartorial reply to Paris and Milan, Australian Trend Week (AFW) has traversed a outstanding journey. What began as a daring regional experiment is now a globally revered model spectacle. Celebrating outback aesthetics and high-gloss runway glam, the occasion has matured into one of many world’s most intriguing cultural and business forces, rewriting the narrative of what Australian trend will be. It’s now not nearly garments however about letting the world sit up and take discover of the Australian trend scene- designers and their craftsmanship, expertise, and experimentation.
Now in its 2025 version, AFW returns with heightened objective, a near-cancellation drama, a legacy tribute to Carla Zampatti, and a brand new sponsor—Shark Magnificence—signaling a recent alignment of magnificence tech and trend futurism. From the entrance row at Carriageworks to reside streams beamed globally, the week guarantees runway revelations, digital disruptions, and directional model in contrast to anyplace else on the planet.
Australian Trend Week: Journey From Native to International
Based in 1996 by Simon Lock, a public relations advisor and former reporter of ski journal, AFW started as a regional showcase to spice up Australian design expertise on the world stage. Its debut was scrappy, rebellious, and at instances unsure, going through every part from {industry} skepticism to logistical chaos. In its earliest iteration, the occasion was often known as Mercedes Australian Trend Week, because of the luxurious automaker’s backing—a strategic transfer that aligned Australian model with world luxurious branding. The affiliation with Mercedes-Benz lent rapid credibility to a fledgling occasion nonetheless discovering its toes. Nevertheless it lacked polish; Lock’s ambition was clear: to create a platform that would elevate homegrown expertise to worldwide prominence. And whereas his imaginative and prescient paved the best way, the equipment wanted to evolve.
In 2005, Lock offered the occasion to IMG, the worldwide powerhouse that now produces trend weeks in New York, London, and Milan. With that sale got here construction, status, and entry to an unlimited worldwide community. Since then, AFW has grown into a sophisticated, globally revered platform, one which fuses the experimental power of its roots with the strategic precision of the style world’s elite.
The Evolution of Sponsorship: The Runway Timeline
- 1996–2005: Mercedes-Benz
The luxurious automaker gave AFW its first main enhance, lending European gravitas to a scrappy newcomer. Because the inaugural naming rights sponsor, Mercedes-Benz made it clear: Australia was now not trend’s afterthought—it was a vacation spot.
- 2006–2010s: Rosemount Property
The beloved Australian wine model ushered in a decadent way of life period, the place backyard events met runways and trend fused with indulgence. Beneath the Rosemount Australian Trend Week banner, the occasion leaned into native appeal with a worldwide wink.
With Afterpay, the runway turned immediately shoppable. This was the age of trend meets fintech, the place digital democratization allowed viewers to “see now, purchase now” in real-time. It marked a paradigm shift towards consumer-first trend.
The jewellery large introduced emotional resonance to the runway. Via themes of id and self-expression, Pandora’s involvement mirrored a need for extra private storytelling in trend, each on and off the catwalk.
The newest chapter is all about tech-savvy transformation. Recognized for high-performance hair instruments and modern innovation, Shark Magnificence is greater than a sponsor—it’s a backstage powerhouse. Anticipate salon-quality styling lounges, digital activations, and a brand new dialog round magnificence and efficiency.
In brief, every sponsor has not solely funded the style occasion—they’ve reshaped the runway’s cultural foreign money. In 2025, Shark Magnificence indicators a polished, tech-driven future for AFW that blurs the boundaries between model, utility, and spectacle.
The Australian Trend Council: A New Starting for AFW
As Australian Trend Week (AFW) enters a brand new chapter in 2025, one of the vital adjustments has been the formation of the Australian Trend Council (AFC). Following the announcement of IMG’s exit in late 2024, the way forward for Australia’s premier trend occasion was unsure. Nonetheless, the AFC’s involvement has paved the best way for a daring and industry-led reboot of AFW.
With a mission to strengthen the Australian trend {industry}, the AFC has steered the occasion alongside Vacation spot NSW. This new partnership marks a dedication to showcasing the dynamic expertise in established and rising Australian trend whereas guaranteeing the occasion continues to supply a significant platform for designers to thrive. The 2025 version at Carriageworks is ready to not solely honor the previous but in addition redefine the way forward for Australian trend.
So, Again to the Current: Australian Trend Week 2025
When and The place Is It Occurring?
Venue: Carriageworks, Sydney
Dates: Could 12 to 16, 2025
Anticipate a full week of runway exhibits; rising designer-showcases, magnificence activations, and cultural conversations—all set in opposition to Sydney’s urban-industrial trendy backdrop.
Who Owns and Operates Australian Trend Week?
AFW is owned and operated by IMG Trend Occasions and Properties, Asia Pacific, a division of the worldwide leisure, sports activities, and trend company IMG. They oversee all features of the occasion—from curation and designer choice to sponsorship and manufacturing—guaranteeing a worldwide commonplace of execution.
The Course and Goal of AFW: Extra Than Simply Garments
AFW has at all times been a runway, however now it mirrors the {industry}’s ambitions and anxieties. In 2025, the occasion displays a posh new trend panorama that calls for creativity and commerce.
AFW serves two distinct functions for designers:
- Client-Targeted Reveals: These are tailor-made for audiences buying public tickets, pushed by immediacy and digital engagement. Assume see-now-buy-now trend moments.
- Business-Solely Showcases: These invite-only exhibits goal consumers, stylists, editors, and different insiders. The main target right here is on long-lead influence and wholesale negotiations.
However even because the platform grows in status, the monetary pressure on rising designers stays stark. The price of participation—venue rent, mannequin charges, manufacturing scale—will be prohibitive, usually muting a few of trend’s most daring new voices. Right here, the function of sponsorship turns into much less about branding and extra about equitable entry and inventive survival.
Was the Australian Trend Week 2025 Nearly Cancelled?
Earlier this yr, whispers of a possible AFW cancellation despatched tremors by means of the {industry}. Diminished funding, escalating manufacturing prices, and sponsorship uncertainty introduced the occasion to a standstill—till Shark Magnificence stepped in to save lots of the season.
The last-minute lifeline not solely salvaged the showcase however signaled a shift: this isn’t simply an occasion of cultural significance; it’s a enterprise necessity—for designers, editors, consumers, and the higher luxurious ecosystem.
What’s New in 2025?
In addition to its very survival, AFW 2025 brings some large upgrades:
- 4K Livestreams + AR Enhancements: A world digital viewers can get pleasure from front-row experiences and backstage entry like by no means earlier than.
- First Nations Trend + Design Showcase: Now a each day characteristic, not only a one-off present—highlighting Indigenous storytelling and sustainability.
- Eco-Innovation Pavilion: Devoted to round trend, upcycling, and biodegradable textiles.
- Magnificence Tech Integration: Shark Magnificence’s affect might be seen on and off the runway, from hairstyles to tech demos.
Prime Designers & Runway Highlights to Watch
- Zimmermann: Resort-ready romanticism and sun-soaked luxurious.
- Christopher Esber: Architectural minimalism and subversive tailoring.
- Ngali: Elevating Indigenous artistry with cultural reverence.
- Alemais: Artwork-forward, eccentric layering, and maximalist appeal.
- Strateas Carlucci: Monochrome mastery with edgy, gender-fluid cuts.
Rising stars like Beare Park, Youkhana, and Iordanes Spyridon Gogos are including recent power—merging trend with efficiency artwork, activism, and future-facing themes.
Rising Trend Developments from AFW 2025
From the early runways and press previews, a number of standout themes are setting the tone for the season:
Desert-Core: Impartial tones, uncooked textures, sun-faded hues—suppose windswept minimalism meets outback romance.
Techno-Tailoring: Sensible supplies and modular silhouettes redefine precision dressing for the longer term.
Draped Minimalism: Clear traces, fluid quantity, and easy motion create quiet influence.
Nature Punk: Rebellious power meets darkish florals, recycled materials, and earthy edge.
Inclusive Design: Genderless cuts, adaptive items, and expanded sizing embrace radical inclusivity.
Fashion Echoes: Fringing particulars, vintage-inspired silhouettes, and refreshing sorbet shades add texture, nostalgia, and a touch of playfulness.
Learn how to Attend or Watch Australian Trend Week
Attend in Particular person
Public tickets can be found for choose exhibits and occasions. Go to the official web site australianfashionweek.com to order.
Watch On-line
All main runway exhibits are live-streamed in excessive definition through the AFW web site and YouTube channel.
Social Protection
Comply with real-time updates, appears, and backstage moments utilizing hashtags like #AFW2025 and #SharkBeautyRunway.
What Australian Trend Week Means for the International Market
AFW is more and more a launching pad for world relevance. Its affect travels far past Sydney—from Paris showrooms to Web-a-Porter listings. Designers who get away at AFW usually safe worldwide stockists, celeb placements, and media protection that propels their model onto the worldwide radar. In a time when the style world craves recent views, AFW’s distinct Australian lens—sun-drenched, resourceful, rebellious—units it aside.
AFW’s Influence on the Luxurious Sale and Resale Market
AFW doesn’t simply dictate what’s in—it shapes what holds worth:
- Submit-show buzz drives searches and demand for present and classic items by AFW designers.
- Runway standouts usually turn out to be extremely wanted on resale platforms, particularly when stock is proscribed.
- As sustainability and round trend turn out to be central themes, pre-owned luxurious sees a halo impact—shoppers need items with a narrative, a objective, and long-term worth.
Highlights of Day 1 (twelfth Could 2025):
Day 1 kicked off with a strong mix of emotion and magnificence as Carla Zampatti’s sixtieth anniversary tribute set the tone for the week.
Australian Trend Week opened with a commemorative runway present, archival retrospectives, and a capsule assortment by rising designers—all impressed by Zampatti’s empowering silhouettes and timeless imaginative and prescient. However this wasn’t only a homage—it was a symbolic passing of the torch, led by her son and CEO of the home, Alex Schuman. Decided to honour her legacy whereas steering the model into its subsequent period, Schuman infused the present with the identical spirit of generosity and innovation that outlined his mom’s profession.
To have a good time the milestone, a one-off tribute assortment featured reinterpretations of the Zampatti aesthetic by a powerhouse lineup of Australian designers: Michael Lo Sordo, Pip Edwards, Toni Maticevski, Romance Was Born, Gail Sorronda, Equipment Willow, Akira Isogawa, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, Alix Higgins, Grace Lillian Lee, Mariam Seddiq, and Bianca Spender. Every introduced their very own inventive lens to the legacy—leading to a present as daring, collaborative, and visionary as the lady it honoured.
Set in opposition to the putting backdrop of the Museum of Up to date Artwork, the runway captured sweeping views of Sydney Harbour, with the Opera Home and Harbour Bridge anchoring each shot. It was a visible and emotional excessive level—becoming for a designer whose imprint on Australian trend stays indelible.
Highlights of Day 2 (thirteenth Could 2025):
Day 2 noticed Lee Mathews mark 25 years in trend with a set celebrating her journey, that includes breezy clothes, applique florals, and utilitarian items; it was a reclamation of quiet luxurious, with sheer layering, artisanal bows, and breathable materials. Attended by celebrities like Nigella Lawson and Isabel Lucas, her present mirrored each a tribute and a celebration of her development. Her assortment wasn’t chasing virality—it was a reminder that subtlety, too, can command consideration.
The Frontier Present featured prime expertise like Wynn Hamlyn, Paris Georgia, and Amber Keating’s Frequent Hours, showcasing Australian and Kiwi design.
Charlotte Hicks’s “see now, purchase now” assortment targeted on creating an instantaneous connection together with her viewers by means of luxe leather-based separates and chic silhouettes.
Frequent Hours’ Amber Keating embraced streamlined items with daring textures, evoking a way of help for the {industry}.
Nagnata debuted with a brand new denim line and expanded knitwear assortment, whereas Joseph & James offered relaxed menswear separates.
Farage wrapped up Day 2 with a extremely anticipated present marking its return to AFW after 30 years.
Highlights of Day 3 (14th Could 2025):
Day 3 witnessed trend fluidity, legacy labels, and rising voices.
Aje made a assured return to the runway with a set filled with motion—ruffles, lace tiers, sheer pleats, and ombré textures. Designers Adrian Norris and Edwina Forrest leaned into authenticity, exhibiting appears styled for actual Australian lives.
Bianca Spender offered Deliquesce, a serene and emotionally resonant assortment impressed by transformation and ocean swimming. Silks, drapes, and a mushy monochrome palette conveyed a quiet, private evolution, whereas a brand new swimwear line marked a recent route.
Alix Higgins continued to command consideration along with his word-printed items and signature play on text-as-fashion, bringing mental edge to the runway.
Courtney Zheng, the Chinese language-Australian designer identified for dressing Troye Sivan, made her AFW debut. Clear traces, luxe materials, and quiet confidence outlined her minimalist but highly effective aesthetic.
Dan Single, Ksubi co-founder, marked the label’s twenty fifth anniversary with the launch of his e book The Diary of a Naughtie Child, reflecting on his near-fatal 2017 fall and inventive rebirth.
Road Fashion Highlight: Bag charms stole the present—significantly Labubu toys, now extra coveted than Birkins amongst trend insiders. The playful accent development is evolving right into a street-style standing image.
Highlights of Day 4 (fifteenth Could 2025):
Day 4 opened to excessive trend drama and creative storytelling throughout Sydney’s most iconic venues.
Acler on the Sydney Opera Home
Acler commanded consideration on the Opera Home steps with voluminous robes, sculptural tailoring, and sharp pleating. The palette moved from mushy neutrals to fiery crimson, marrying architectural precision with daring femininity.
Albus Lumen’s Sensory Showcase
Inside a uncooked warehouse house, Albus Lumen embraced texture and tactility. Pure materials, sandy hues, and ceramic accents framed a present that prioritized materiality and sensory depth over spectacle.
Joslin’s Romantic Layers
Joslin leaned into softness with sheer cottons, lace trims, and cascading ruffles. Refined asymmetry and tonal layers in ivory, taupe, and blush gave the gathering a refined but dreamy attraction.
Bondi Born’s Sundown Palette
With sculptural swimwear and tailor-made resortwear, Bondi Born delivered clean-lined magnificence in shades of seafoam, burnt orange, and sand—echoing each luxurious and sustainability in a single sun-kissed assertion.
Beare Park’s Luxe Utility
Beare Park provided a imaginative and prescient of contemporary energy dressing: outsized suiting, fluid silks, and high-sheen materials in a impartial palette. It was 90s minimalism reimagined with slick, directional polish.
Youkhana’s Avant-Garde Expression
Pushing boundaries, Youkhana offered a genderless, performance-driven assortment filled with upcycled supplies, freeform silhouettes, and expressive layering—a visible manifesto on sustainability and id.
Highlights of Day 5 (sixteenth Could 2025):
Day 5 encapsulated the revolutionary spirit of AFW 2025, mixing heritage with avant-garde expressions, and setting a dynamic tone for the way forward for Australian trend.
Wackie Ju: A Poetic Finale
Jackie Wu closed AFW with Saviour—a theatrical present that includes pillowy capes, sheer tunics, and silky units. The finale, a white robe splattered with crimson beneath a heavy coat, symbolized resilience by means of trauma.
Albus Lumen: Rebel by means of Reinvention
Marina Afonina’s Rebel assortment reimagined archival items with frayed hems, spray-painted blazers, and dip-dyed denim—marking a sustainable, directional shift for the model.
Blanca: Backyard Get together Glamour
Blanca’s Jardin present, set within the gardens of Vaucluse Home, blended summer time nostalgia with sequins, lace, boxy tailoring, and breezy magnificence.
Harm: Futuristic Aesthetics
Harm’s 55555 immersed audiences in a techno-futurist world of metallic equipment, utilitarian silhouettes, and dystopian visuals.
Rising Designers Shine
The Frontier group present featured Courtney Zheng’s brutalist denim and sheer robes, Wynn Hamlin’s hand-loomed textures, and Amy Lawrance’s starch-sculpted clothes.
Melissa Leong’s Runway Debut
TV character Melissa Leong made a strong runway debut for Gary Bigeni, underlining AFW’s rising inclusivity.
Takeaways from AFW 2025 : Road Fashion and Sheer Statements
Greatest Road Fashion
Exterior the runways, AFW 2025 turned a road model playground. Friends introduced their A-game with fearless self-expression within the type of outsized tailoring, archival designer items, and Y2K-inspired equipment. The temper? Effortlessly elevated. It wasn’t about perfection; it was about character. From monochrome minimalism to dopamine-drenched colour pops, the style crowd turned Carriageworks right into a reside temper board of up to date cool.
Sheer Materials
If there was one runway development that floated above the remaining—actually—it was sheer materials. Seen in every single place from Lee Mathews’ romantic gauze clothes to ethereal panels on eveningwear, sheer was much less about exhibiting pores and skin and extra about layering, motion, and visible depth. Delicate, sensual, and infrequently styled with structured separates, sheer components gave collections a contemporary, ethereal lightness.
Trend’s Timeless Edge: The place Craftsmanship Meets Innovation
AFW 2025 isn’t only a showcase—it’s a cultural barometer, capturing the place trend, sustainability, and innovation intersect. Because the Southern Hemisphere’s premier trend week, it fuses uncooked creativity with forward-thinking design, spotlighting every part from reimagined resortwear to Indigenous excellence.
From Carla Zampatti’s iconic tailoring to Lee Mathews’ easy silhouettes, this season affirmed a core reality: nice model endures. Simply because the runway revisits and reinvents the classics, in the present day’s trend lovers are rediscovering the lasting attraction of high quality—whether or not recent off the catwalk or revived by means of pre-owned luxurious.
It’s a reminder that basic designs aren’t simply admired, they’re collected. And essentially the most coveted items don’t at all times come model new. Pre-loved designer treasures, like these curated by The Luxurious Closet, echo the very ethos AFW 2025 celebrates: craftsmanship, sustainability, and enduring model.
Development Forecast: What We’ll Be Sporting Subsequent
From what strutted, swayed, and shimmered down the runways, right here’s what to anticipate:
- The New Tailoring: Boxy blazers and wide-leg trousers dominated, with exaggerated silhouettes and mushy suiting making a comeback.
- Earthy Minimalism: Clear traces, pure fibers, and impartial tones (particularly at Albus Lumen and Joslin).
- Y2K Revival 2.0: Assume up to date metallics, low-rise cuts, and glam nostalgia, led by Bec + Bridge.
- Digital Meets Bodily: Harm blurred the road between tech and textile, integrating VR components, NFT-linked designs, and digital twins.
Wrapping Up the Occasion:
Australian Trend Week 2025 didn’t simply predict what we’ll put on—it challenged how we take into consideration trend. Resilience, inclusivity, and id had been on the core of practically each present. And in an period of AI-generated quick trend, AFW reminded us of one thing fixed, that trend remains to be a deeply human craft.
From beachfront glam to conscious minimalism, from First Nations storytelling to digital couture—this yr’s AFW wasn’t only a second. It was a motion.
Keep tuned for resale developments and world ripples coming quickly.