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The brutalist runways of Eveleigh’s Carriagework precinct may be quiet come May as IMG announces its exit from Australian Fashion Week. The future of the premiere industry event is at risk with the New York-based company withdrawing from the annual affair and subsequent industry awards ceremony, the Australian Fashion Laureate.
The 2025 iteration of AFW was set to showcase local designers’ upcoming Resort ‘26 collections. Now, the runway shows, talks and panels that typically take place over the five-day week are in jeopardy as IMG confirmed it won’t be involved with next year’s proceedings.
AFW began in 1996 as a stage for emerging and established designers to showcase their creativity and talent to international buyers, editors and tastemakers alike. Throughout its two-decade history, notable talents like Zimmermann, Christopher Esber—both who now show at Paris Fashion Week—Camilla And Marc and St. Agni leveraged the shows to catapult their labels and capture global interest.
However, a dwindling schedule and the departure of the lead sponsor, Afterpay, in 2023 prompted concern from insiders. Earlier this year, Dion Lee, who was positioned as an Australian success story, shut his business after failing to find a buyer following a three-month voluntary administration process. The brand entered liquidation after 15 years in the business, with some cynics conflating the failure with spelling the end for the formally thriving market.
Danish jewellery brand Pandora offered a lifeline for AFW in 2024 after coming on board as the official sponsor. The Copenhagen-based label announced its intentions to return for another year back in August. “We are incredibly proud of IMG’s many accomplishments leading Australian Fashion Week for the last 20 years,” IMG Fashion Events Asia Pacific vice president and managing director Natalie Xenita said in a press release. “The event has played a key role in ushering the industry forward,” she added.
The statement ended with the following: “As part of this shift, the company will further focus its resources and expertise on its talent representation business. IMG Models in Sydney will not be impacted by this change and will continue to conduct business as usual.”
Will Australian Fashion Week Take Place In 2025?
Following the news, Australian designers, members of the media and fashion dignitaries gathered at the Sydney Opera House to listen to the Australian Fashion Council unveil their plans for a “not-for-profit model”.
“While there is uncertainty, with change comes opportunity,” the AFC’s chief executive officer, Jaana Quaintance-James, said. “The AFC sees this as a chance to evolve the value fashion week delivers for our industry and how it positions Australian fashion both at home and overseas.”
“The AFC brings to this a not-for-profit model, and a chance to reinvent fashion week to be one created by the industry, for the industry. Within a few days, we will announce an Industry Working Group [which] will include AFW Founder Simon Lock, AFC members and fashion week stakeholders, who will be asked to work with us on planning the event for 2025.”
The more we come together, and rally behind the AFC to collectively drive a new fashion week in Australia, the more cultural discourse will be available for fashion, and with that will come more value delivered to the Australian economy, more export dollars, and more—mostly female—jobs.”
Marianne Perkovic, chair of the Australian Fashion Council, told the Australian Financial Review that “so much work has already gone into the 2025 event”, meaning that the priority is for the show to go on despite it looking a little different to previous iterations.
“We can’t stage fashion week as it was by next May, we don’t have time for that. But we can create an event to showcase our industry,” she added. Logistics are underway, with a promise for consumer events to still play a role in the running of the week. (Details for which are yet to be finalised.)
More to come
