Australian Fashion Week is right around the corner, and at last we know which designers are on the schedule. The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) revealed the first crop of names today, chosen from more than 200 designers who applied to present.
Aje, Carla Zampatti, Bianca Spender, Hansen & Gretel, Mariam Seddiq and Nagnata are among the commercial heavy-hitters of AFW 2026, with Maticevski returning to the schedule after more than a decade. Also presenting will be Alix Higgins, Buluuy Mirrii, Christian Kimber, Commas, Common Hours, Courtney Zheng, ESSE, Farage, Gary Bigeni, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, L’IDÉE, Ngali, Nicol & Ford, van Ermel Schere and FDS: The Innovators, with more names to come.
It’s the second Australian Fashion Week under the direction of the AFC, after former long-time manager IMG pulled out of the market in late 2024. Shark Beauty will return as the presenting partner. The secret sauce the AFC brought to the event last year made fashion markets around the world sit up and take notice, according to AFW Fashion Director Kellie Hush.
“I’ve had the British Fashion Council on the phone to me, they want to know what our secret is,” she said at an event launching the line-up in Sydney on Monday. “They were super impressed. They could not get enough of the images coming out of Australia last year.”
Hush said it was the mix of commercial design and diverse design that is Australia’s unique selling proposition; in other words, Australian designers creating clothes people actually want to wear (and can afford to do so).
“We have incredible brands that fashion consumers want to wear, and that doesn’t always happen with fashion week as we all know,” Hush continued. “And we have so many of them. Brands that are diverse in design, coverable to diverse consumers, and accessible to fashion lovers everywhere. It’s what we do better than anyone else in the world. For that reason I’ve been inundated by buyers this year, which makes my job so much easier.”
For more than a decade, AFW has played out at Carriageworks in Sydney’s Redfern. This year, it will return to the harbour foreshore, showcasing the best of Australian fashion against iconography like the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
The next generation of home grown talent will also be on show, with emerging designers Alberta Bucciarelli, EDITION Alice Van Meurs x Sarrita King, Gloria Chol and KingKing Creative making their debut at the AFW’s emerging designer showcase New Gen.
“As Australia’s only international trade event, Australian Fashion Week attracts more than 33,000 attendees and participants across five days, including international media and buyers, industry representatives, consumers, talent, and the all-important crew,” AFC Executive Chair Marianne Perkovic said on Monday. “That’s not small. That is a serious platform. It is a global platform for local designers to be seen around the world, creating important pathways to new markets.”
AFW will run from May 11 to 15. Consumers wishing to attend a show or two will soon be able to buy tickets here.
Lead photo: Getty.
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