I arrived in Sydney a little shaken, sitting with the realisation that it had been an entire decade since I had last been at an Australian fashion week. Back then in 2013, New Zealand fashion stalwarts Kate Sylvester and Zambesi both showed on the AFW schedule. Today, there were two Kiwi superstars, Wynn Hamlyn and Maggie Marilyn, waving the flag for Aotearoa.
It’s become harder, I think, to pinpoint a ‘New Zealand brand’ on the Afterpay Australian Fashion Week schedule, when it comes to aesthetics anyway. That’s not a criticism, just an observation that reflects the small market back here at home, and the shift in how ‘middle’ generation NZ brands - that are no longer new but not 'the establishment' - look outward to global markets (the US, Europe via selling in Paris, Australia).
Think of Wynn, Maggie (the designer herself is now Sydney-based), Paris Georgia, Yu Mei, Harris Tapper: all proud to be New Zealand brands, and utilising it in their branding and press, but with ambitions beyond opening a store in Ponsonby to build a loyal local customer base.
Both strategies are valuable and important to our local industry – and it was a dichotomy that I also saw playing out at AAFW with Australian brands too, from the likes of Aje, Bondi Born and Joslin showing at iconic Sydney venues or Gary Bigeni celebrating 20 years of working within the Sydney community, to a brand like Christopher Esber choosing to focus its energies on showing at Paris Fashion Week later in the year.
Herewith, a few other observations from the week of fashion.
Money
The sponsor activations at the AAFW venue at Carriageworks were over-the-top: a holographic Porsche on display, Hendricks gin handed out to those in the front row, an eBay 'store' where you could have a Beyonce moment on a tiny elevator ‘runway’ complete with a small fan (wearing vintage from eBay, I think was the connection). But remove the capitalist cynicism and I saw legitimate investment in a creative and public-facing event.
It does help that AAFW has IMG as its owner (they also own New York Fashion Week, and many, many other high-profile events), Afterpay as a long-term (so far three-years) naming rights sponsor, and a much larger consumer market that’s clearly spending on all levels of fashion. But I hope we see the same, or similar attitude, investment and support to help make our own NZ Fashion Week in August a success (new general manager Yasmin Farry was at AAFW taking in shows and the event).
Though I did note a hint of frustration in a Vogue Business story by Luke Leitch, with Natalie Xenita, VP and managing director of organiser IMG, saying that while Australian fashion is ripe for export, they “100 per cent we need more investment from corporate Australia”. Trade agreements recently signed with the UK and EU (NZ recently fast-tracked its own with the UK) will, according to Xenita, make export easier for brands by removing some tariffs.
Pride
It is wild to me that 2023 saw the first standalone show at AAFW by an Indigenous Australian designer – but small steps are still steps forward. Ngali showed on Wednesday morning, and I was disappointed to miss it (aka I wasn’t invited) – Wiradjuri designer Denni Francisco told Vogue that the brand’s name “translates in a number of Aboriginal languages to ‘we’ or ‘us’. That’s because what we do as a brand is about the collective: our ethos is together”. So Ensemble!
Aotearoa is far from perfect, but I think it’s pretty obvious that Australia is behind us when it comes to cultural identity and competency, and amplification of indigenous voices (I’m interested to see how NZFW’s plan to build a long-term association with mana whenua, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei will work). In Australia, it was fascinating to see most shows open by acknowledging Gadigal country and formally recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as traditional owners of the land – I’m pretty sure this didn’t happen when I was last at AAFW in 2013.
I also picked up on a swelling sense of pride in Australian-ness (or perhaps, Sydney-ness) in other, more superficial ways: the simple use of an iconic venue that reflected the city, like Joslin’s literal swept-away-by-the-tide show at Clovelly, or the dramatic landscape backdrops and Outback set at the closing WeWearAustralia x Afterpay show on Friday night.
Pride was on display in other wonderful ways throughout the week too: like pride in community spirit at Youkhana's Monday night show, with the creatively dressed rowdy crowd cheering on models as they walked the runway in beautifully braided one-off creations.
And pride in what came before at the joyful, artful show from Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, which featured a collaboration between designer and artist Jordan Gogos and Australian icon Akira Isogawa (Gogos has obvious reverence for his ‘elders’, having worked with Jenny Kee, another icon, last year).
People
There were some comments, mostly from traditional media or those who had attended AAFW back in the day, about the apparent lack of celebrities, heavy hitters and ‘big names’. I admit that I hadn’t heard of many of the brands who were showing, but that’s simply a reflection of my lack of research in the Australian fashion market – and I was pleased to be introduced to some exciting new (to me) names like Caroline Reznik, Nicol & Ford, Alix Higgins and Haulier.
I was excited to see such a flourishing creative emerging scene, beyond the typical Sydney glamour and celebrity. I was also curious about this attitude around a ‘lack of exclusivity’ to the event. Isn’t this what the shifts in fashion, the arts and politics over the past three Covid years have advocated for: accessibility, inclusivity, democratisation, a welcoming of new voices and faces?
That extends to street style outside the shows which, as a deep introvert, was a little overwhelming but fascinating to watch. I saw some criticism on TikTok about the focus on content over genuine personal style, but I witnessed plenty of interesting dressing all week – from traditional magazine girls (I loved the ensembles of Mahalia Chang and Gladys Lai from Vogue Australia), as well as content creators, artists, club kids and more.
The chicest of them all though? New Zealand’s own Manahou Mackay, who was like a cool, calm, and collected glamazon on and off the runway throughout the week.
Public transport
A small acknowledgement for my favourite people of the week: the busy traffic wardens outside the venue at Carriageworks, herding guests into waiting Ubers and taxis with an almost choreographed-like movement and stern but polite attitude.
A well-used cycle path directly outside the venue’s entrance made the process almost comical, with several near misses between cyclists and very stylish people. Also: Sydney’s train system is fantastic, and I can’t wait for Auckland to have its own underground version. Yay public transport, let’s see this used at NZFW too!
Food
“Clam Bar,” clamoured the replies in my DMs to a request about what was cool and worth booking while in town. We went twice, and it was worth it: the service, the cocktails, the fitout, the lighting, the vibe, the roast potatoes, all exceptional. We realised towards the end of our first meal that it had only been open for a couple of weeks, hence the buzz surrounding it. Other memorable meals at spots I’d highly recommend: lunch at Lucky Kwong (Kylie Kwong’s casual spot), and Bar Copains in Surry Hills.
Clothes
Oh yes: The clothes! The apparent reason why we were all gathered. I do think that a lot of the collections shown on the runway were a little overshadowed by all of the street style coverage, but I saw plenty of lovely, interesting, challenging, beautifully made things. The range was varied, from the artistic and creative to the very commercial and wearable. Just like the different approaches global vs. hyper local markets, both have intrinsic value – and that sometimes odd mix is really the thrill of what makes any fashion week interesting.
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Zoe travelled to Sydney with the support of Afterpay
