It hasn’t been a great year for fashion. The return of the bubble hem should tell us that. I could rattle off dozens of bad news headlines – Kering and LVMH earnings are down, Harrolds went into liquidation, Dion Lee collapsed (among others). And as we sent this magazine to print, news of the potential collapse of Australian Fashion Week, owing to the exit of IMG (which runs it), was emerging. It has since had a reprieve for 2025 thanks to support from the Australian Fashion Council.

Still, good news stories exist. One of the most heartening things I learnt this year is that there is still fashion being made in Australia. Not much. Perhaps not enough to make me feel entirely optimistic about the future. But there are brands that are dedicated to manufacturing here, and not just because it gives them a feel-good factor.