Emily Weight looks back on Fashion Week Australia from her first days as a volunteer to calling many big names friends today

AS a student working at the first MAFW and now Australian head of strategy and brand at IMG Fashion, Emily Weight has fond memories of seeing local talent come of age.

10 May 2001 Australian Fashion Week. Tsubi show with live rats. picMarco/Del/Grande modelling aust rodents model extremes

FROM a very young age, I always knew I wanted to work in fashion. In the late ’90s, I was a fashion design student at TAFE (now the Fashion Design Studio) desperate to make a break into the industry.

When Fashion Week started, I knew I wanted to be a part of it and volunteered at one of the first MAFW events held at the Hordern Pavilion.

After volunteering, I interned at The Lock Group, and then persistently called the team every Friday for about six months until I got a job. As a PR co-ordinator,
I packed media kits until all hours of the morning and faxed press releases to the media.

This year marks my 20th consecutive year of working on this amazing event.

Looking back on the years since then, my favourite moments are very personal: Less about the shows, more about the people behind the scenes.

A model wears a design by Akira Isogawa during his show in 1998.

Designers Akira Isogawa and Carla Zampatti with founder Simon Lock.

Nicholas Huxley, who I am lucky enough to call one of my mentors, is the head of TAFE. He’s the man behind the designers who hold up the fashion industry, training the likes of Dion Lee, Christopher Esber, Akira Isogawa and Nicky Zimmermann.

His annual student shows continue to be the highlight of each season as they showcase the future talents of our industry.

Models join designer Nicky Zimmermann on stage in 1997.

Kym Ellery, the Mercedes-Benz Presents Designer this year, is a friend and a personal favourite.

Her effortless yet elegant style suits my taste and I love her luxe use of fabrics in very non-fussy ways.

I was lucky enough to see TOME show at New York Fashion Week in February — I love their aesthetic, so I can’t wait to see their collection this season.

Kim Ellery with a model in Paris. Picture: Jake Terrey

A design from Kim Ellery's autumn winter collection in 2012.

I’ll also never forget some of our most famous runway moments.

The year Tsubi (now Ksubi) sent rats down the runway in 2001 to a squealing front row of fashionistas.

Or having Anna Piaggi on our shores raving about the talented young designer Akira — now a household name.

Tsubi sent rats down the runway but they didn’t get further than the perspex wall.

Italian Vogue Magazine fashion editor Anna Piaggi (right) with designer Jodie Boffa and model Kristel in 1997.

Or our final year at Overseas Passenger Terminal on Sydney Harbour.

Jenny Kee had built an incredible presentation space to showcase her scarf collection in a room styled by Romance Was Born designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales.

The room was filled with our gorgeous native plants.

As we look to the future in our 20th anniversary, let’s congratulate the designers, media, partners and industry greats who have shaped this once small event into a major global player.

Originally published as Emily Weight looks back on Fashion Week Australia from her first days as a volunteer to calling many big names friends today