SYDNEY — Great weather, Insta-friendly show locations and a slew of recent faces delivered the excitement at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, whose resort 2024 collections showcase wrapped on Friday at Sydney’s Carriageworks venue. 

A complete of 43 shows featured some 54 designers, not including the #WeWearAustralian finale, which showcased 88 brands. The general public purchased tickets for seven shows through organiser IMG’s two-year-old consumer initiative AAFW: The Experience. 

A lot of participating brands are celebrating milestones: midmarket retailer Cue, 55 years in business; Aje, 15 years, and Michael Lo Sordo and Anna Quan, each a decade. Nevertheless, the schedule was heaving with latest names, 10 of them leapfrogging over the event’s traditional entry-level group shows to make their solo runway debuts.

They included Alémais, which was accorded the celebrated opening slot. Launched during lockdown in 2020 by Lesleigh Jermanus, Zimmermann’s former longtime head designer, the brand boasts almost 200 stockists in roughly 30 markets. Noted for her bohemian print day dresses and separates, for resort 2024 Jermanus ventured into colourful eveningwear for the primary time. 

“It was the primary show, and I used to be like ‘Woo-hoo!’” said Nathalie Constanty, a London-based consultant for Le Bon Marché, who scouted Alémais in a London showroom and introduced the brand to the retailer, which currently has a Paris department store exclusive on it. 

“It’s been a magic week to be here and discover more in regards to the feminine ready-to-wear trends and Sydney,” she added. “I’ve been more than happy with the shows on the whole. I feel it’s due to the life-style here, the good weather, the character. Individuals are more relaxed than we’re in northern Europe, so the style goes with that. This understated luxury…also, I’ve noticed all of the tailoring, how they do it in a really informal way. Because we’re more used to formal. That’s really cool. And likewise the brands are louder with prints.” 

Le Bon Marché stocks a half-dozen Australian labels, including Zimmermann, Oroton, Sir the Label and Blanca, the latter a shirting specialist which made its fashion week debut with a set of fluid tailoring and daytime pajama sets. Constanty also liked Bondi Born, which showed maillots, crop tops and voluminous smocks and tent dresses in shiny colours at The Coal Loader at Waverton, a repurposed industrial waterfront location. Moreover, Joslin, which showed at Clovelly Beach at sunset and Latest Zealand’s Maggie Marilyn, who showed a sport luxe capsule down on the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association’s The Navy Bear café overlooking Rushcutters Bay. 

Constanty particularly liked the so-called “beach to bar” aesthetic for which Australian brands are renowned (there are 100 beaches in Sydney alone). “The brands we’ve in Europe are more about dressing across the swimming pool, but not [about making] that transition [from the beach to dinner] — and dressy. It’s a really interesting trend for us.”

Michael Lo Sordo was each the favourite collection and show of Net-a-porter market director Libby Page. To point out his signature minimalist evening looks and unveil his first menswear collection, Lo Sordo staged a presentation paying homage to a supper club. It featured small tables instead of a front row and a photogenic orchestra seated in a single line down the middle of the runway, conducted by Sydney musical director and composer Dan Fontaine.

“I really like that [Lo Sordo] has managed to create such a signature DNA with an easy item — the slipdress is what he is understood for, it’s such an easy wardrobe staple but he has given it an iconic makeover,” said Page, who also liked Bondi Born, Joslin and Maggie Marilyn. “The locations that embrace the Australian features really put the garments into context. The collections feel inspired by nature, enhanced by little details like rope, waist bands and sheer fabrications, along with numerous linens and neutral color palettes that exude a relaxed feeling.” 

She added, “The effortless sensibility is a key element coming through. Now we have also seen numerous layering which Australian designers do thoroughly, whether that’s wide-leg pants over swimwear or long tunics over pants. Designers are really desirous about versatility, so that they can layer up and de-layer because of the climate here and convey swimwear to life by styling it with rtw items to create a full look. It’s about comfort and wearability, much more so than what we’ve been seeing coming through internationally. The material they use is way lighter, airier and breezy. Even the tailoring offers slouchy suiting and wide-leg oversize pants.”

Browns buying manager Holly Tenser liked Alémais, St Agni, Aje, Albus Lumen, Blanca, Michael Lo Sordo and Christian Kimber, a menswear brand from Melbourne which also made its AAFW debut. “We actually enjoyed the range of shows this season,” said Tenser. “There have been numerous latest designers to find from contemporary, to party-focused, ‘NextGen’ emerging, and supporting the Indigenous designers and models. We loved seeing how designers transformed the Carriageworks space and made it their very own through set designs, lighting and music, which was a spotlight for brands akin to Michael Lo Sordo with the incredibly beautiful violinists, through to the live band [Don West] at Christian Kimber. There was also some incredible styling this season, and we actually loved to see each designer tackle layering and accessorizing, with Blanca doing an incredible job of this with their shirting, and Christian Kimber also showing sophisticated cool layering for menswear.” 

She added, ”There was a powerful emphasis on sheer, whether it’s completely sheer dresses at Michael Lo Sordo, embellished sheer dresses at Anna Quan or playful layers of sheer detailing at Mariam Seddiq. We particularly loved the sheer layering at Bondi Born and Albus Lumen. It was chic, fluid and layered in an incredibly wearable way for those not wanting to reveal all of it. Tailoring was in all places and all-white looks dominated nearly every show. On the flip side, the contrast of strong pops of color seen with pinks, citruses and blues at Bondi Born, Yousef Akbar, Asiyam and Alemais.” 

Moda Operandi buyer for rtw Kelsey Lyle liked Alémais, St Agni, Albus Lumen, Bondi Born and Joslin. “Sydney Fashion Week showcased a continued emphasis on elevated draping, strapless columns gowns, sheer fabrications and gender-fluid fashion,” she said. “The usage of earthy tones, clean lines and refreshed styling at St. Agni created a cohesive and harmonious collection that epitomized contemporary elegance. Albus Lumen’s collection exuded a way of relaxed sophistication and refined simplicity with a mix of natural textures and fluid silhouettes. It felt like a relaxing breath of fresh air through the busy week.” 

Other AAFW debutantes included the avant-garde labels Youkhana, Wackie Ju and Nicol & Ford. All couture specialists, they created fashion moments with their beautifully curated theatrical productions. The much buzzed-about Caroline Reznik, meanwhile, a former skilled ballerina who graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 2020, presented her third collection inside one among AAFW’s biggest venues. Reznik’s signature embellished body-con looks have attracted the eye of the stylists of Dua Lipa, Cardi B, Rosalía and Kendall Jenner, who she has dressed for music videos and festivals. The resort 2024 collection is her first time offering wholesale. 

Roughly one dozen Australian Indigenous brands were featured — fewer than lately, because of the absence of the First Nations Fashion & Design collective, which is specializing in a latest incubator program with Australia’s largest fashion e-commerce player The Iconic. Nevertheless, Northern Territory-based Aboriginal arts collective Ikuntji Artists and Melbourne-based Ngali, which previously showed in group shows staged by FNFD and Indigenous Fashion Projects, respectively, graduated to their very own solo shows this 12 months. IFP is an Indigenous business accelerator program conducted in collaboration with the David Jones department store chain.

David Jones general manager for womenswear, footwear and accessories Bridget Veals singled out Alémais, Michael Lo Sordo, Ngali, IFP alumnus Liandra Swim and Haulier. Haulier was launched in Sydney in November 2020 by Jeremy Hershan, the previous creative director of R.M. Williams and previously a designer at Aquascutum, Alfred Dunhill and Gieves & Hawkes in London. Launching the brand as a set of utility totes in canvas and suede, Hershan recently expanded into unisex rtw with a preppy edge.

“It’s good to see some creativity for the week,” said Veals of all the brand new names on the schedule. “Some people were possibly upset in regards to the undeniable fact that a number of the more established names weren’t on there. But overall we thought it was a superb fashion week, a superb atmosphere, almost celebratory. And, rightly or wrongly, I felt there have been less influencers and more people just getting on with the job of doing fashion week.”