AFL stars and WAGs shine in stylish 2023 Brownlow Medal red carpet
From old school glamour to new-age radiance, the AFL stars and their glamorous WAGs took the 2023 Brownlow Medal red carpet by storm.
In the lull between the penultimate round of AFL and its apogee — the Grand Final — the Brownlow Medal readily drums up a bit of hype for the biggest stage in Australia’s beloved sporting code. It’s our closest event to the Oscars.
With the dust now settled on a record-breaking AFL season, it was time for the red carpet to be rolled out at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. The AFL’s best players and their WAGs, or family members, left their grimy guernseys or game-day scarfs at home in favour of their sharpest and most eye-catching looks. With tailoring drawn from Australian labels P Johnson, and M.J. Bale, as well as plenty of international fare mixed in. The glamorous gowns and dresses represented the full rainbow of the fashion landscape.
With favourites Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli leading the charge, of Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs respectively, leading the charge, in local tailor P Johnson, other favourite’s Brisbane’s Lachie Neale, and Melbourne’s Christian Petracca were also sharp contenders in not just playing style, wearing their cleanest looks of the season.
But for once this season, all eyes weren’t on the players. With the best time for WAGs to show up their successful partners in their own right in sequins, gowns, and flowing dresses, jewellery shining brighter than the silverware to play for come Saturday. Sydney Swans’ Buddy Franklin, who earlier this year announced his retirement from the game, was there alongside wife and model Jesinta Franklin. Patrick Cripps who took home the award last year, arrived in a luxurious velvet dinner jacket.
Josh Daicos, the electric brother of Nick, kept most of his trademark grizzled look, a rough-around-the-edges take with a bit of grooming to meet the radiance of partner Annalise Dalins.
Menswear was ever-classic for the AFL stars. And black, while the dominant shade for the AFL players, was anything but boring. Satin lapels draped over crisply-pressed white shirts with neat black bow ties. Highlights include Toby Greene, in P Johnson and Jimmy Choo, who shed his mischievous on-field demeanour in favour of one of the standout tailoring moments of the evening. Touk Miller, star midfielder for the Gold Coast Suns, bucked the trend, opting instead for a ’90s inspired white blazer. In rare instances, the classic bow tie was eschewed for a more casual tie, as it was for Daniel Rioli of the Richmond Tigers.
For the WAGs, colours ran the full spectrum. Old-school Hollywood glamour in the form of pearls and scarlet for Julia Edwards. Brodie Ryan wore a shimmering, deep green dress, and of course, there was plenty of bright pink, the colour that has dominated red carpets all over the world this year. Barbiecore has not lost its touch down here in Australia. Metallic clearly the theme of the evening, plenty of guests continued the trend, including Mardi Dangerfield and Alice Hughes, alongside former Geelong Cats star Patrick Dangerfield and Chad Warner, of the Sydney Swans, respectively.
With a healthy balance of the adventurous and the classic, the 2023 Brownlow awards was one of the more stylish evenings in recent memory.
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