Sex toys in gift bags, influencers becoming designers, dresses sold as NFTs, audiences made to sit on camping chairs – it was fashion week, but not as we’ve known it.

This week, the Australian fashion industry descended on Sydney’s Carriageworks for five days of runway shows and presentations for a combined audience of media, buyers and consumers. For the second year, Afterpay was the event’s main sponsor, and the shift from a trade affair to a more customer-facing model was clear, with some shows that were fully shoppable straight from the catwalk, and others that offered select pieces as see now, buy now, like the week’s opener Bianca Spender.