The machine gun fire of stiletto heels and staccato slapping of sandals on the runway returns to New York on Wednesday for fashion week. Last season COVID-19 pushed the twice-yearly event into the digital space,causing industry speculation about whether physical shows were still relevant.

With 91 labels competing for attention on this week’s schedule,including Thom Browne,Michael Kors,Gabriela Hearst,Tory Burch,Carolina Herrera and Jason Wu,it’s clear that big brands still believe in filling a front row and their fashion faith may have come from Australia.

Three months ago,Australian Fashion Week was the first event since COVID on the international runway calendar,with a cross-section of local designers forging ahead at Sydney’s Carriageworks,despite an absence of international guests and buyers. Even last-minute border restrictions with Victoria failed to dim the allure of the event which had been cancelled in 2020.

“It was a break from all of the digital shows,” said Natalie Xenita,vice president,managing director of IMG Fashion Asia-Pacific,the owners of Australian Fashion Week,now sponsored by Afterpay. “Just seeing a live runway show was an exciting proposition.”

There were 42 shows with more than 100 designers participating and 18,500 people attending,compared to 24,000 at the most recent event in 2019. Media coverage was 75 per cent higher than in 2019,according to Xenita. “Everyone wanted a good news story.”

Off the back of such numbers it is not surprising that Melbourne Fashion Week,usually held in October,won’t attempt a digital event again and is waiting until physical shows are possible.

“Having 2020 off,we had the luxury to look at what we could do differently,” Xenita said.

We spoke to three designers who returned to the runway for Resort ’22 Australian Fashion Week about what made it different and whether it worked.

Commas

“We were advised against doing a show at 7.30am. It was about offering a glimpse into the brand at a place where we get so much of our inspiration from,” said Richard Jarman,creative director and co-founder of menswear labelCommas with his wife Emma Jarman. “We had 100 per cent attendance.”

Launched in 2016 with an emphasis on upscale resort wear,Commas had already achieved label-to-watch status before its Australian Fashion Week debut,with Richard receiving the prestigious National Designer Award at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in March.

The label is already stocked by e-boutiques MyTheresa,Browns and Matches along with department stores David Jones and Harvey Nicholls in Dubai but the show promoted greater interest.

“We saw a 50 per cent increase compared to our previous collection,” said Jarman of sales.

With international buyers unable to attend,Commas was able to take advantage of existing relationships and streaming through IMG to drive interest.

“We were able to create a portal that immediately connected the shows to IMG’s 120,000 subscribers,” Xenita said. “There were 610,000 minutes viewed on the platform and 60 countries who streamed the content with an average viewing time of 24 minutes.”

Along with the clothes,Jarman credits the show’s success to the spectacular setting,but attracting the right kind of attention isn’t a cheap exercise.

“With the teams needed to bring a show to life I think it would be hard to budget less than $80,000 for a show and from there,there is no limit to what you could spend,” Jarman said.

“I think it’s really something that translates for Commas and after having a taste from the first show,I’m sure we will be back.”

Kirrikin

While sales were a priority for many brands taking part in Australian Fashion Week,Amanda Healy fromKirrikin had other challenges.

“Because I was coming from WA,the cost for me was high,in total close to $20,000 to get everything ready and photographed for the show,” Healy said. “For a small brand that is a lot of money.”

Kirrikin’s vivid prints appeared in the Indigenous Fashion Projects group show,which absorbed many of the event costs associated with production,models and styling. IMG also waived their usual participation fee for the 2021 event but for a social enterprise created by Healy in 2014 to financially support Aboriginal artists,every dollar counts.

“There are options to apply for grants to assist,but the messaging this year from the government was so unclear that it was difficult to attract any support.”

Taking part in this year’s event,where Indigenous Fashion was pushed to the forefront with two dedicated group shows was a priority for Healy,who is a member of the Wonnarua nation from the Hunter Valley.

“For the first time we were taken seriously as fashion products. Despite my complaining about COVID-19,it probably helped us. Without the international participation there was more room for us,it was the perfect storm for our stories to be told.”

As a result of the experience,Healy has been in discussions with David Jones about an upcoming project and the runway collection is currently available for sale online.

“I would definitely do it again,” Healy said. “To be a part of it was so important. It’s like the football. You can stay home and watch it on television but being there is something else. It’s about the atmosphere and the big picture.”

Beare Park

“It’s unusual to have a brand that doesn’t exist,on the schedule at fashion week,” said Gabriella Pereira,co-founder of Beare Park with friend Angela Krantz.

“For us taking part was about the uniqueness of launching a brand with a show. We weren’t a mature label. It was purely about us saying ‘this is our brand and what it stands for.’”

Two months before the label’s debut at the Sydney Opera House,Pereira was working in investment banking,with the Beare Park concept of an Australian-made,capsule collection of elevated basics just bubbling away. It was timing rather than strategy that pushed the brand onto the runway.

“It was about taking the plunge and considering where we are now,in lockdown,we are so glad that we were able to put on a show.”

With only the samples for the polished collection completed,garnering international sales wasn’t part of the plan for the self-funded production. Three months after the enthusiastic applause ended the collection is still not available online.

“We’ve just made the decision to hold off until we feel the appetite of our customers,which is correlated to a loosening of restrictions in Australia. We’re not racing ahead. We will launch when there is a demand.”

Even without a single click of an online checkout,Pereira is adamant that Beare Park will return to the runway.

“If we ever have the opportunity to host a physical event,we will,” she said. “The ability to connect with our guests and models... it’s an amazing symphony of talents. To have that in one room is really powerful.”

“There’s nothing like putting on a show.”

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