Australia fashion week: a launchpad for new talent, but it needs established local labels to show too

Sydney event showcased successful home-grown brands such as Aje and Double Rainbouu, whose resort wear and swimwear have a relaxed, effortless vibe

However, if it is to claim a regular place on the crowded global fashion calendar, it needs to attract household names of Australian fashion that show elsewhere

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Models walk the runway during the Aje show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia in Sydney. Rising labels made a splash, but the big domestic labels stayed away. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 4:00pm, 17 May 2019Updated: 4:00pm, 17 May 2019

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (MBFWA), which ended on Thursday in Sydney, is one of a handful of international fashion weeks to attract a fair number of the world’s fashion buyers and journalists.

Although the schedule does not include well-known Australian brands such as Zimmermann or Ellery, which made their debuts in Sydney years ago before moving on to global stages such as New York or Paris, it always offers a good line-up of new labels from down under.

Talent drain is not unique to MBFWA; fashion weeks such as those in Shanghai and Tokyo often act as launch pads for designers before they make their international debuts in one of the world’s fashion capitals.

Tokyo Fashion Week’s Akiko Shinoda recently told the Post that she does not mind when Japanese labels leave Tokyo, explaining “our vision at Tokyo Fashion Week is to incubate young designers so once they reach a certain level they can go to Paris or Italy”.

Models backstage ahead of the Bec + Bridge show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. Photo: Getty Images

This sentiment is echoed by Ivan Bart, president of IMG Models & IMG Fashion Properties, the company behind events such as MBFWA and New York Fashion Week.