Australian Fashion Week 2025: Best and worst

The worst manners

Last year, designer and stylist Marina Afonina was celebrated and supported with the opening slot at Australian Fashion Week. Her decision to stage a rogue show for her label Albus Lumen this year, at the same time as fellow designer Mariam Seddiq’s 10th anniversary show, was interpreted by many as a raised manicured middle finger to her peers.

Her show clashing with Seddiq’s slot forced visiting international buyers and media to make an uncomfortable choice.

Seddiq did not let the clash get in the way of presenting drama on the runway, winning the battle with perfectly executed blazers and romantically draped dresses, among some gowns that could have been kept backstage.

In Seddiq’s front row, the sight of stylist and designer Pip Edwards, Sydney’s litmus test of being in the right place at the right time, was reassuring. – DW

The best cut

Esse is Australian luxury writ large in cursive script with a Montblanc pen. Satin, supple leather and silk georgette collide in an exquisitely crafted and elegant collection.

Designer Charlotte Hicks isn’t interested in trends, she’s too busy crafting the sort of unicorn pieces that most women dream of, that will hang in wardrobes for decades and never look dated. And, more importantly, will make them look and feel serenely invincible.

Longline fringed skirts swishing with sensuality, black trousers cut to perfection, and bomber jackets adding a hint of grit. A shift dress in black sequins simply skims the form from the front, but on the turn reveals a deep cowl back that hangs in delicious tension. Perfect for the woman who likes to make a dramatic and memorable exit. – GTN

The best haircut

Supermodel Linda Evangelista might not have made it back to Australian Fashion Week since 1997 when she modelled for Alex Perry (someone we would love to see return to the event), but her hair spirit was present.

The short, dark style with varying fringe lengths that added the super to Evangelista’s model status was the cut of the season, suiting Bianca Spender’s architectural rigour and Gary Bigeni’s colourful ode to joy.

“It’s the ultimate flex,” says hairdresser Chris Hunter, who worked with AFW sponsor Shark Beauty on Spender’s show. “It reveals all the bone structure, with nowhere to hide.”

“Some have a gentle mullet at the back, while others are tightly cropped. It can be intimidating but the pay-off makes it worthwhile.” – DW

The philosopher

Arriving at their seats inside the Modernist St Barnabas church in Sydney’s Ultimo, Bianca Spender’s guests were faced with a pencil and a card, asking: What are you holding on to that you need to let go of?

That’s an uncomfortable question for a room full of fashion devotees. In more philosophical terms, Spender was looking for a sense of release with her Deliquesce collection, drawing on the concept of surrendering to the water.

In fashion terms, that meant fluid silhouettes in sheer fabrications, her signature soft suiting (updated here with a sling-style open sleeve), the introduction of swimwear and a suite of draped pieces.

But what flows must also ebb, and luckily Spender’s understanding of structural integrity was apparent in buoyant bodices and strapless dresses set free from their underpinnings. Rest assured, if you accidentally fall into the pool at that party, your dignity will remain intact. – GTN

Full immersion

In the (not quite) midnight hours, a girl in a hooded red coat sweeps in front of a flash of photographers outside a terrace house in Paddington, Sydney. Behind her, a film is projected on the wall, in which a sorority of models is wearing that same shade of red. It all feels a little meta, but also very Macgraw, the label from sisters Beth and Tessa Macgraw.

Stepping inside, two blood-red shift dresses on mannequins act as a headless welcoming party; in the back courtyard, a Champagne tower shimmers in the moonlight while a sickly pink cake slowly melts like a clown’s makeup in the sun. Upstairs, an altar of red roses and candles lures guests into a gothic mise en scène for an Instagram moment. Once you cross that threshold, you’re in Macgraw’s world. – GTN

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