As Australian Resort 2026 concluded with Romance Was Born’s 20th anniversary show, any argument against the necessity of Sydney’s annual fashion week seemed futile. For a country defined by its weather extremes and proximity to the rest of the world – nature, and the search for identity, helps to consistently produce unique perspectives and lines of thought in its designer fashion. No banking on quiet luxury or fleeting microtrends, just strong, personal narratives, compelling craft, and world-class resortwear.
Australian Fashion Week (AFW) launched this year under the Australian Fashion Council and CEO Kellie Hush with a new perspective; industry-only attendance, with the outcome focused on wholesale partnerships. AFW, held at Sydney’s Carriageworks, included 30 on-schedule brands, 320 buyers, including Ssense, Moda Operandi, Net-a-Porter, and Harvey Nichols Kuwait, and provided access to 1,300 registered industry delegates.
As reported by Vogue Business, Australia’s fashion and textile sector currently contributes AU$28 billion to the economy, exports over AU$7.2 billion annually, and employs 500,000 people, with women making up 77% of the workforce. Kellie Hush explained to Vogue that AFW can support the sector can grow to AU$38 billion over the next decade. “An industry-focused AFW is a very important part of this projected growth,” she said. Australian fashion is key to the expression of the nation’s identity, and AFW provides the springboard for its experimental and thought-provoking talent to keep the conversation running—and piquing international interest.
While the selection of labels each offered diverse views of their worlds, ubiquitous were themes of strength in soft femininity, as well as thoughtful construction that favoured the textural and handcrafted.
Highlights from the week included the event opener, Carla Zampatti, with the brand inviting 14 designers and labels, including Christopher Esber, Kit Willow, Akira Isogawa, Michael Lo Sordo, Gail Sorronda, Pip Edwards, and Toni Maticevski, to create a look inspired by Zampatti’s legacy and embedded in their own brand DNA. The Zampatti show was a testament to the brand’s legacy of glamour and relaxed sophistication, emphasizing look-at-me colour, bursts of texture, and the allure of tailoring.
Lee Mathews, celebrating 25 years, led with her design signatures and tapped into the purity of dressmaking; the result brought a sensitivity and rawness to silhouettes, a quiet force of femininity. Aje looked to the impressionists to land on watery colour, dramatic silhouettes, and balloon hems, while Alix Higgins rummaged through the dress-up box to produce a cinematic collection, his characters in flowing silk separates, digitally printed nylon pieces, and his signature up-cycled t-shirts. Beare Park, Bianca Spender, and Karla Spetic found allure and elegance in effortless layering, dainty polka dots, clingy slip dresses, sheer blouses, and nonchalant tailoring that revealed just enough skin. Albus Lumen followed suit in its 10th anniversary show, presenting sheer dresses and skirts with polkadots and florets reminiscent of yestertyear’s resort woman.
Inclusivity and diversity were obvious themes throughout the week, with casting consistently spanning body sizes and ages, as well as queer and national identity, particularly at Iordanes Spyridon Gogos’s handcrafted celebration, Nicol & Ford’s moving couture proceedings at The Vanguard and Liandra’s cool-girl rendering of classic Australian beach-to-bar tropes.
Sustainability was at the forefront of the industry’s mind, with Byron Bay’s Nagnata introducing sustainable denim to its array of innovative activewear during the brand’s Return to Earth show. “There’s a quiet sense of release woven through this collection - a recognition that true longevity in design also means accepting impermanence,” designer Laura May told 10 Magazine Australia. “The R2E denim is crafted to last for years, even decades, but when it reaches its end, it can quite literally return to the soil.”
Where last year, evening lace, bermuda shorts and chrome partywear trends held centre stage, this resort season spoke more groundedly to summer dressing as a whole; one day’s cocktail dress as the next’s beach coverup, tailoring that sit as perfectly in the boardroom as it does with athletic bike shorts and a bikini, and classic denim cuts paired with explosive ruffles and 80s frou.
With that said, here are the prevailing trends from Australian Fashion Week Resort 26.
Pastel summer
When less is best for Australia’s December through February heat, it’s wise to let the colour do the talking. The week appeared to take some of its inspiration from international runways’ favoring of saccharine shades of pistachio green, lemon sorbet, sky blue, and fairy floss pink - in sheer and satin silks, liquid-like draping, and fluid yet textural fusions as seen at Bianca Spender, Gary Bigeni, and Aje. “We often look to nature, and we were captivated by how [the impressionists] captured the mood and the light,” said Aje’s Edwinda Forest to Vogue Runway. “So there’s a lot of transparency and opacity in the collection; a kind of fluidity with different shapes and blossoms blooming,” she said.
Seductive suiting
While tight-nipped, conservative suiting dominated the recent FW25 runways, scantily-tailored, undone suiting felt very at home at Sydney’s Carriageworks. Think, model Bambi Northwood-Blythe spotted in Courtney Zheng tailored hot-pants and oversized wool blazer, as well as the bevvy of show attendees sporting tights under micro shorts. The tailoring on the runways upheaved its proportions in myriad ways to echo Saint Laurent-esque sex appeal and 90s minimalism, with a heavy emphasis on just the suit, nothing else (maybe a bikini top).
Wedding season
A white dress, or the white dress? From Macgraw to Albus Lumen, the special day seemed to be on the minds of several designers, who introduced sheer lace, veils, and plenty of drama to dresses in shades of white, ivory, and champagne. And it makes sense for these brands — the Australian wedding market, valued at an estimated $4 billion annually, is experiencing a shift with couples increasingly focusing on more intimate and personal experiences. Where the dress is concerned, this will perhaps mean a turn from more traditional dresses to feminine tailoring and more modern, understated or bespoke wedding designs. If not for the bride, there’s plenty of choice for updating the white summer occasionwear.
Sleight of hand
There was plenty of tactility and handcrafted appeal on the Resort runways with Carla Zampatti, Mariam Seddiq, and Macgraw opting for feathering and fringing for maximum impact. On the Frontier Runway, Amy Lawrence used only raw silk in ivory and white with parts of the fabric concertinaing off the dresses, while Lee Mathews found volume and movement with hooped skirts that were actual toiles. Elsewhere, Karla Spetic emblazoned t-shirts with slogans by ChatGPT, among tie-dyed suiting, velvet, lace, and gauze layers.
Main Image Credit: Vogue
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