Melbourne Fashion Week 2025 Recap
This year’s Melbourne Fashion Week (M/FW) campaign theme ‘Come as you are’ was embodied across the Melbourne CBD and program-specific events.
From fashion runways, to circular fashion and local markets and pop-ups, industry workshops, musical performances, and more, the program was jam-packed with something for every fashion lover between 20 to 26 October.
Diversity was at the forefront of this year’s M/FW, made apparent by the usage of models of different cultural backgrounds, genders, and abilities.
This was also led by the continuation of the week’s opening night ganbu marra (‘one mob’ in Woi Wurrung) runway, which celebrated Blak fashion designers, makers, and models.
To first time attendees, a fashion week can seem intimidating, but the ethos was that all are welcome, where there were no limits to how you express yourself through your personal style.
This was my first M/FW, and I felt right at home. No event seemed too intimidating, and there was no expectation to dress or style myself in a certain way.
I attended five events across the week, which included three runways, an industry conversation and workshop, and a preloved fashion market.
REVAMPED Sustainable Fashion Market at Spring Place
An element of fashion week festivities usually consist of a shopping element. The REVAMPED market brought a sustainable fashion avenue for consumers to shop from local vintage clothing resellers, consignment, and charities.
Vintage streetwear, international clothing pieces, contemporary wear, and reworked leather jackets were the main items to be found across the racks.
It was intriguing for the market to be situated within Spring Place, 50 Lonsdale Street. During the day, it’s the lobby of a corporate building where office workers coming in and out from their offices, which contrasts against the fashion lovers who made a conscious effort to browse the market.
Perhaps an objective of this was to engage more everyday people in the festival and sustainable fashion, which appeared to do so. Workers on their lunch breaks browsed the racks, alongside stylish fashion week-goers.
Many of the events in this year’s M/FW were situated in corporate buildings and offices, noting the festival partnerships with several Melbourne CBD property management and development companies.
Kahe Presents: WALK
The first runway I attended was by local Melbourne fashion label, Kahe. Held at Curtain House, where their design studio is located in the same building, the city’s skyscrapers formed the backdrop of this rooftop runway show.
In typical Melbourne weather fashion, the heavens opened up and the rain came down swiftly. If there’s anything to take from the week, it is that the show must go on, no matter what.
Out came the models in upcycled button-up shirts, elevated staple pieces, and goth-core styles. The colours blue and black made up the main colours on the runway, and the dampened hair of the models from the rain complimented the every day edginess of the fits on show.
The ready-to-wear pieces showcased the label's ethos, designing for the every day using structured tailoring that suits a wide range of bodies, whilst showcasing alternative design cues.
M/FW Conversations: Fashion for Every Body
On Thursday the 23rd, I was eager to attend the conversation about what it means for fashion to be for every body.
Moderated by Kathy Pietrobon, co-founder of the size-inclusive label Harlow Australia and fashion consultant, we heard from Fatuma Ndenzako, co-founder of Collective Closets, a slow fashion label made in Melbourne dedicated to telling stories of African culture though their pieces, and Gabriel Cole, a multidisciplinary artist and design and founder of ASAU and sub-division 6DS.
Both Ndenzako and Cole shared valuable insights on the discussion topic. Such insights as having to like to wear your own designs, sourcing fabrics directly from the countries and cultures you want to tell stories about, and sampling garments using a diverse range of bodies and genders were the top lessons I took away.
Also, putting community at the forefront of your designs and label’s ethos is core to creating a long-lasting slow fashion label.
After the conversation, I participated in a roundtable topic about Designing for Body Diversity & Inclusive Fit. With other conversation attendees, we discussed the aspects to consider when fashion designers and labels want to design for diverse bodies.
We talked about the financial accessibility of consuming fashion, how easy it is to put on and take off garments, detailed garment information, inclusive marketing material, and how garments look sitting down as some of the key things to consider.
Insights from the roundtable will inform a white paper being created for the allocation of funding for next year’s M/FW, which was refreshing to hear that attendee perspectives influence the future direction of the festival.
Little Bourke Street Runway
A yearly tradition on the M/FW calendar, the Little Bourke Street Runway, presented by Emporium Melbourne featured contemporary fashion labels and higher-end international luxury labels such as Oroton, Sandro, Maje, Calibre, and Aje.
This was a fun runway to witness and capture, as each of the models injected their own personalities whilst walking down the runway, creating candid moments.
From sports and utility-luxe, occasion-wear, summery fits, and preppy suiting, the boldness of each gave attendees some outfit inspo leading into the holiday season.
Continuing the excitement amongst the runway was the street style surrounding the area, both pre and post runway. Dresses and skirts layered over jeans, bandanas, fur, funky stockings, streetwear, bright colours, and patterns were some of the trends seen.
Well Made, Well Worn
What better way to spend a Friday night than with a runway with hand-picked vintage, designer second-hand fashion, and thought-provoking panels?!
Sacred Heart Mission, in collaboration with M/FW, presented their first runway on garments which have been made well, and worn well.
Held at Showtime Events Centre, the evening consisted of three runways inspired by iconic Melbourne fashion streets; Collins Street, Brunswick Street, and Chapel Street.
There was also a panel discussion hosted by Olga Pokrovskaya (What people wear), Andy Paltos, founder and head designer of Rollas and A-Brand jeans, and Kirsty Barber, founder and designer of Kuwaii.
One of my favourite podcasters and sustainability communicator, Clare Press, also gave a guest talk on the current state of the fashion economy and the continued importance of slow, local, and circular fashion.
Melbourne iconic duo Ginger and Carman emcee’d the evening, who are passionate op-shoppers and eccentric dressers.
This was a community-driven event, with staff and volunteers from Sacred Heart Mission featuring as the models on each of the runways. It was joyful to see the diversity of every day people strutting their stuff on the runway.
The Collins Street runway, synonymous with office workers, featured looks inspired by preppy fits and edgy takes on typical corporate wear.
On the other hand, the Brunswick Street runway showcased grungy Australiana streetwear looks, with kits, bold prints, and crushed velvet.
Finally, the Chapel Street runway brought out all the glitz and glam reminiscent of the strip, consisting of various pieces from Carla Zampatti, pearls and gold accessories galore, sequins, and a stunning Studibaker strapless dress with a petal-esque tiered skirt.
At the end of the night, event staff wheeled out a heap of curated racks from their 14 op shops across Melbourne. Attendees had an opportunity to shop from these racks, as well as all the pieces seen on each of the runways too. It was like a scene out of the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, as everyone rushed towards the racks!
Closing Night Runway
A regal fashion show wrapped up M/FW for 2025, as attendees waltzed into 101 Collins Street.
We saw archival works and pieces from Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, and Vivienne Westwood during the pre-show and at the beginning of the runway.
A powerful vocal performance by Odette and orchestral sounds by Vivid Strings added a touch of class to the looks which emerged onto the runway.
Local fashion labels such as Cakey Sportsman by Matea Gluščević (who I’ve admired their custom footwear designed during their time in Adelaide), Queer icon Erik Yvon, Gotham Studio, Niamh Galea, Karlaidlaw, and Amy Cottrell showcased their independent designs.
From reworked looks, such as a dress made entirely from thrifted ties, upcycled pleats and frills, tartan, peplum, and Victorian-esque ball gowns, it had it all.
Diversity and inclusion was again at the forefront of the runway, with models of colour, a pregnant person, and a person with low vision and/or blindness.
It was a beautiful way to round out an inspiring, diverse, and inclusive week of fashion.
