UTS fashion showcase overhauled to launch Australia's next design generation
A new cohort of emerging designers are shaping the future of fashion amid big changes for the industry.
Australia’s next generation of designers are preparing to make their mark at tonight’s UTS Honours Fashion Showcase. The annual event has long been a launch pad for emerging talent but has undergone a significant overhaul under the university’s newly formed Faculty of Design and Society.
Acclaimed fashion designer Alix Higgins, who has been appointed as the show’s inaugural creative director, says that this year’s showcase represents a significant evolution for the university’s highly regarded program. For the first time, the role of creative director has been created to shape the presentation of the 17 graduating collections, marking a shift toward an industry-level production model.
The program has launched the careers of some of Australia’s biggest designers including Higgins himself, Caroline Reznik, and Bec+Bridge co-founders Bec Cooper and Bridget Yorston.
Higgins, who graduated from UTS in 2015 and was awarded Emerging Designer of the Year at the 2023 Australian Fashion Laureate, says that the new structure allows graduates to cohesively present their the collections to industry experts in a way that is “powerful and impactful”.
“Being able to have an overview of these things and try and frame [the collections] in the most interesting way to tell a story, but also make them all still really unique … it’s really a special thing,” says Higgins.
His position also provides an important form of mentorship for emerging designers. “Having taught there (as a lecturer) for the last few years, I know what they’re like and I know what they want and how they want their work to be framed,” he says, “I really empathise with them and understand how emotionally taxing it is.”
According to Higgins, this year’s cohort graduates are entering the industry at a moment of transformation for Australian fashion, which is increasingly being defined by trends of independence, experimentation, and local craftsmanship.
“There’s so much room to explore,” says Higgins, “We don’t have the huge cloud of heritage brands over us … the designers also don’t necessarily want to go and work at a giant house in Paris or a global brand. They’re really interested in creativity and maintaining it at whatever scale.”
At this showcase, the graduate collections work across a variety of textiles and reflect on themes of heritage, identity, memory and nostalgia.
Honours student Alberta Bucciarelli, who will present at tonight’s showcase, says that the program is significant because of the “industry connections” she has gained. “I want to take this moment to celebrate creativity and innovation in Australian fashion for both my collection and everyone’s collections … (we’ve) come such a long way,” she says.
Her industry experience extends beyond the classroom, too. Through UTS-facilitated work experiences at leading labels Romance Was Born and Carla Zampatti, Bucciarelli has gained hands-on skills within the industry, honing her talent for knitwear. “As soon as you start bringing in industry connections through internships and work experience, you get a real insight into how the industry works. I got to see the behind the scenes of how they came up with ideas – it’s just such a spontaneous process with how designs emerge.”
Australian Fashion Week 2025 chief executive Kellie Hush says that tertiary institutions, like the fashion program at UTS, play an integral role in keeping the local fashion industry afloat.
“The industry is only as strong as its emerging designers,” she says, underscoring the role of tertiary institutions in shaping the next wave of fashion leadership. “For there to be depth of talent in the Australian fashion industry, we need to support our young designers coming through.”
In recent times, funding for the fashion industry has been scant, with the most recent iteration of Fashion Week being facilitated for the first time by the Australian Fashion Council after the shock exit of long-time sponsor IMG.
Hush says that this year’s event was, nonetheless, successful, seeing 10,000 attendees and 40 participating fashion designers. “We have to show that our industry is worth investing in …. We’re a huge employer of Australians, especially women. To get government support, we have to keep building our industry and show its strength.”
Soon after, the NSW government announced its Fashion Sector Strategy, which proposes to expand the Australian fashion industry’s capacity to engage with international buyers. The proposal plans to expand the industry’s $7.2 bn export revenue output by providing $750,000 in funding, supporting skills and training, developing smart factories and an incubator to grow the pool of local designers.
Alongside this boost for the industry, Hush encourages up-and-coming designers to not only focus on their creativity, but also to learn the business ecosystem. “Go out and learn about the industry … you might go into the industry and see that there’s another pathway you want to follow. There are so many career opportunities in the fashion industry.”
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