The brutalist runways of Eveleigh’s Carriagework precinct could also be quiet come Might as IMG publicizes its exit from Australian Trend Week. The way forward for the premiere business occasion is in danger with the New York-based firm withdrawing from the annual affair and subsequent business awards ceremony, the Australian Trend Laureate.
The 2025 iteration of AFW was set to showcase native designers’ upcoming Resort ‘26 collections. Now, the runway exhibits, talks and panels that usually happen over the five-day week are in jeopardy as IMG confirmed it received’t be concerned with subsequent yr’s proceedings.
AFW started in 1996 as a stage for rising and established designers to showcase their creativity and expertise to worldwide patrons, editors and tastemakers alike. All through its two-decade historical past, notable abilities like Zimmermann, Christopher Esber—each who now present at Paris Fashion Week—Camilla And Marc and St. Agni leveraged the exhibits to catapult their labels and seize world curiosity.
Nonetheless, a dwindling schedule and the departure of the lead sponsor, Afterpay, in 2023 prompted concern from insiders. Earlier this yr, Dion Lee, who was positioned as an Australian success story, shut his enterprise after failing to discover a purchaser following a three-month voluntary administration course of. The model entered liquidation after 15 years within the enterprise, with some cynics conflating the failure with spelling the tip for the formally thriving market.
Danish jewelry model Pandora supplied a lifeline for AFW in 2024 after approaching board because the official sponsor. The Copenhagen-based label introduced its intentions to return for one more yr again in August. “We’re extremely happy with IMG’s many accomplishments main Australian Trend Week for the final 20 years,” IMG Trend Occasions Asia Pacific vp and managing director Natalie Xenita mentioned in a press launch. “The occasion has performed a key function in ushering the business ahead,” she added.
The assertion ended with the next: “As a part of this shift, the corporate will additional focus its assets and experience on its expertise illustration enterprise. IMG Fashions in Sydney is not going to be impacted by this modification and can proceed to conduct enterprise as normal.”
Will Australian Trend Week Take Place In 2025?
Following the information, Australian designers, members of the media and style dignitaries gathered on the Sydney Opera Home to hearken to the Australian Trend Council unveil their plans for a “not-for-profit mannequin”.
“Whereas there’s uncertainty, with change comes alternative,” the AFC’s chief government officer, Jaana Quaintance-James, mentioned. “The AFC sees this as an opportunity to evolve the worth style week delivers for our business and the way it positions Australian style each at residence and abroad.”
“The AFC brings to this a not-for-profit mannequin, and an opportunity to reinvent style week to be one created by the business, for the business. Inside just a few days, we’ll announce an Trade Working Group [which] will embody AFW Founder Simon Lock, AFC members and style week stakeholders, who can be requested to work with us on planning the occasion for 2025.”
The extra we come collectively, and rally behind the AFC to collectively drive a brand new style week in Australia, the extra cultural discourse can be obtainable for style, and with that may come extra worth delivered to the Australian economic system, extra export {dollars}, and extra—principally feminine—jobs.”
Marianne Perkovic, chair of the Australian Trend Council, instructed the Australian Financial Review that “a lot work has already gone into the 2025 occasion”, which means that the precedence is for the present to go on regardless of it trying slightly totally different to earlier iterations.
“We are able to’t stage style week because it was by subsequent Might, we don’t have time for that. However we are able to create an occasion to showcase our business,” she added. Logistics are underway, with a promise for shopper occasions to nonetheless play a task within the operating of the week. (Particulars for that are but to be finalised.)
Extra to return
