Australian fashion week 2025: highlights

The Guardian

16-05-2025

The wafts of fake snow falling from the ceiling were far from the most extravagant flourishes at Romance Was Born's sequin, crystal and pearl-encrusted 20th anniversary show, which closed out Australian fashion week. Photograph:Designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales tapped two disparate new collaborators for their collection, Australian painter Laura Jones and toy company Mattel, with nostalgic Masters of the Universe markings and Build a Rainbow logos rendered in sequins on body-skimming midi-length gowns. Photograph:Jones hand-painted landscapes on to a series of structured satin pieces, including a magnificent Watteau train that fell from the back of a form-fitting mini dress. Photograph:Playful bird and butterfly headpieces by milliner Phoebe Hyles, glittering opera gloves and satin trimmed shoes from Charles and Keith added elements of period drama, the era veering between art deco and 80s prom. Photograph:In a country with a notably casual approach, ball gowns are a rarity, but Plunkett and Sales are expert in placing Australiana motifs – gum blossoms, monarch wings, budgerigar faces – on tulle-stuffed, Pierrot ruffled dresses that would look perfectly at home at the Met Gala. Photograph:'Swim all day, dance all night' was the mood Liandra Gaykamangu wanted to conjure for her second solo show at Australian fashion week. The designer's breezy linens, crisp cotton and bamboo modal with a palette of cream, tangerine and russet meant the mood was more casual than club wear. Photograph:Liandra expanded her ready-to-wear range, all of it fit to pull on straight from the ocean. Her multi-darted shift dresses, now upgraded with pockets, are particularly wearable. Photograph:But swimwear, much of it printed and reversible, was still at the collection's core. As well as a sunset-shaded coral print, she added splashes of shimmering lurex to the mix. Photograph:In a week where many models stumbled in vertiginous heels, Liandra's styling was a breath of fresh air, with models in sneakers, sun-smart straw hats, swinging, beaded glasses chains and crocheted phone holders. Photograph:On every chair at Bianca Spender's show there was a pencil and a card with the question: 'What are you holding onto that you need to let go of?' It set an esoteric tone for the presentation of her 'Deliquesce' collection inside Anglican church St Barnabas, a luminous white space with soaring ceilings. Photograph:Spender, who trained first under her mother, Carla Zampatti, and then in Italy and France, is skilled at playing with proportion and draping in a way that few of her Australian peers can match. Photograph:Spender's collection featured twisted and tucked asymmetric hemlines, structured strapless tops, backless dresses with fluid lines and barely there architectural swimwear. Photograph:Over five years, Alix Higgins has built a cult following around the eponymous label that gives his shows an electric energy. In this collection, titled The Needle, he added silk tops, skirts and dresses to the digitally printed nylon pieces and up-cycled tees he has become known for. The colour palette popped: neon purple, turquoise, orange, yellow and red. Photograph:Higgins's own fragmented, wistful poetry was written on both the clothes and the runway carpet, a mix of single words and phrases: 'holy fool', 'tulips', 'roses', 'don't you remember', 'God'. Photograph:There is something disarming about an online generation's ideas being printed on the deconstructed silhouettes worn by Higgins's cast of friends. Photograph:After the Higgins show, fashion editor Maggie Zhou remarked that it made her want to cry (in a good way). Photograph:With her latest collection, Gabriella Pereira proved her mastery of both fabric and form. It featured slinky dresses, micro shorts, sharp tailoring and oversized coats. Photograph:The dresses from Beare Park were Calvin Klein-esque and ankle length, the most revealing included panels of lace, or long strips of silk trailing from hips and open backs. Photograph:In addition to her usual black, grey, chocolate brown and cream palette, Pereira added canary yellow chiffon and satin silks. Photograph:The Byron-based brand used its Australian fashion week debut to unveil a new product category: denim. The show started with a short film featuring the model Jessica Gomes cutting up a pair of jeans and planting the scraps in the soil to emphasise the collection's name: Return to Earth. Then Gomes opened the show in a red denim mini-skirt. Photograph:The presentation creatively styled the brand's signature athletic wear – sweaters, bike shorts, onesies, crop-tops and leggings – with its highly coveted, fluffy knitwear and the new denim skirts, shorts and jeans. Photograph:Jumpers were tied around waists to make skirts, shorts were pulled over trousers and tops were worn half-on, half-off. Photograph:The first eight looks on the Lee Mathews runway were head-to-toe white. The structured shirts, trousers, coats and dresses included a collaboration with London-based designer Renata Brenha: a dress with a swinging crinoline skirt. Photograph:Gradually the colour palette evolved to include lime-green checks amid accents of black, hot pink and cherry red. Photograph:It was a showcase of what Lee Mathews does best: loose, almost masculine silhouettes in luxurious, feminine fabrics that manage to be both practical and ethereal. Photograph:As each look emerged from behind heavy calico curtains, a star-studded audience that included Nigella Lawson and Miranda Otto looked on. Photograph:The Innovators is Tafe NSW's annual graduate showcase, and featured the collections of four Bachelor of Fashion Design students this year: Shiva Yousefpour, Emily Hon, Eidan Ceilidh and Daisy-Rose Cooper. Each one had an emphasis on cultural heritage and craftsmanship. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios
Cooper has already established a label, Sleight of Hand, and showed clothing inspired by organic processes and the Australian bush. Using techniques such as felting and fraying to create texture and buoyant silhouettes, Cooper sent a range of sculptural shorts, dresses, shirts and scarves down the runway. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios
One black, red and gold sleeveless top with accentuated shoulders and an asymmetrical line across the hips appeared to be assembled from fabric scraps and ribbons – in a nod to her use of dead stock. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios
For the first time since its inception in 1999, The Innovators show was not on the official schedule, despite its alumni including Christopher Esber, Zimmermann, Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios
The first look Charlotte Hicks sent down the runway was head-to-toe leather, followed by a sequin cocktail dress and a satin skirt covered in tassels. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied
The designer behind Esse Studios has long championed architectural wardrobe staples in sumptuous fabrics, but this evolution was more Boom Boom than Quiet Luxury – a fun transition. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied
Esse showed as part of Frontier, a group presentation that included five other designers like young talents Courtney Zheng (her debut at AFW) and Amy Lawrence (winner of the National Designer award) alongside more established businesses such as Matin and Common Hours. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied
In five years, artist Jordan Gogos has quickly established a reputation for runway anarchy with ultra maximalists collections, rainbow palettes and sprawling lists of collaborators. Photograph:This year Gogos worked with three shoe makers – Darren Bischoff, Joseph Botica and Olivia Bellevue – and visual artists including Troy Emery, who painted a playroom horse on a dress shaped to match the artwork. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
The designer also tapped artist George Raftopoulos to paint a scene on a floor length toga. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Gogos's Mediterranean motif, from ancient Athenian frescoes to Amalfi lemon prints, was thanks to recycled domestic textiles sourced from the designer's Greek community. Photograph:That throughline reached its zenith in a model balancing a 1.5m felted wig in the shape of a classical column on his head. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
But beneath the playful drama, there were wearable pieces, particularly a series of tapestry coats and blazers made from repurposed Greek blankets.
Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian