Australian Fashion Week set to return in 2025

The Australian Fashion Council has announced the return of the premier fashion event after IMG’s exit left it in limbo.

At back L-R Aje co-founder and chief executive Adrian Norris, Ksubi creative director Pip Edwards, AFC chair Marianne Perkovic, chief executive Carla Zampatti Alex Schuman, AFC board member and Head-NSW at Australian Industry Group, Helen Waldron. Front: AFC chief executive Jaana Quaintance-James, Minister John Graham, Ordre founder Simon Lock. Picture: Sonny Vandevelde

Australian Fashion Week will go ahead in May 2025, driven by the not-for-profit industry body The Australian Fashion Council and the support of the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

The event will be held at Carriageworks in Sydney on May 12 to May 16, and will take in the recommendations of the fashion industry at large.

The news follows the exit last month of IMG from the fashion week. The group acquired the event in Australia in 2005.

At an industry-led show of support for a reimagined fashion week last month at the Sydney Opera House, Australian Fashion Council chief executive Jaana Quaintance- James outlined plans to reinvigorate Australian Fashion Week. This will include more collaboration with the fashion industry, and a sharpened focus on the needs of the designers and the broader creative economy.

“We are working hard to assemble best in class providers and forming advisory committees to be able to deliver an industry-led event,” she says of the plans for 2025, adding that more details will be shared early in the new year.

As Quaintance- James points out, the Australian fashion and textile industry is worth 28b to the Australian economy and employs more than 500, 000.

The industry came together in support of Australian Fashion Week in Sydney on November 18. Picture: Sonny Vandevelde

Simon Lock, founder of digital fashion platform Ordre, who started Australian fashion week in 1996, will be involved in guiding what the event will look like. Further appointments to be announced shortly.

“I’m looking forward to contributing my experience and international expertise to bring the event back to its core focus - an event that drives industry, for industry, and returns strong commercial outcomes for Australian designers,” he says.

“There’s so much talent, creativity and innovation in this country and I’m excited to see it amplified on the world stage and ensure Australian fashion is recognised globally for the powerhouse that it is.”

Minister for the Arts, Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, and Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham reaffirmed the NSW government’s commitment to the event.

“We didn’t want to lose Fashion Week and we are very excited the event will be going ahead in 2025,” he says.

“Sydney is a premier fashion destination in the Asia Pacific, so it needs a world class annual event that provides our local designers with a global platform to connect with the world’s major buyers, media and consumer audiences. It’s also an essential part of Sydney’s cultural calendar, sitting amongst our other world class events in late autumn and early winter, including the Sydney Writer’s Festival, the Sydney Film Festival and Vivid Sydney. These iconic events showcase the state’s creative industries along with the incredible cultural experiences on offer in Sydney, which draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the state.”

Australian Fashion Week will return in 2025. Picture: Sonny Vandevelde

Alex Schuman, chief executive officer of Australian fashion brand Carla Zampatti and a member of the Australian Fashion Council, says Australian Fashion Week’s impact is broader than the event, with the importance of an Australian fashion week seen in the its success stories.

“I think Australian fashion creators are as strong as you’ll find anywhere in the world. And Australian Fashion Week has been such an important launching pad for so many brands. There have been so many testimonials from AFC members to say this was their really big moment to break out from the Australian market into the world stage,” he says.