By
 |
| Meghan Coles Photography. AFF 2019, me, pictured left. |
Adelaide Fashion Week is upon us, and for the locals who like myself, craved an SA-based fashion event in the early tens after watching many, many fashion-week-featured episodes of The Hills, The City, and my personal favourite, Kell on Earth (which is a great rewatch if you're looking for something to binge leading up to the weekend); you know that there have been quite a few iterations of the event, led by different (mainly government) agencies.
Adelaide Fashion Festival (AFF), Vogue Festival, South Australian Fashion Weekend, and Adelaide Fashion Week (AFW) are all names built off the lust and longing for a celebration for one of our most lucrative and beloved industries in our state.
So, let's take a lesson in modern Adelaide fashion history.
2008
Firstly, there was the Adelaide Fashion Festival, which started in 2008 by the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters, which was spearheaded by the council’s Norwood Parade Precinct Committee (NPPC) namely Cristina Tridente, the well-known and successful designer behind Couture+Love+Madness and Creative Director of the festival. At this first four-day festival, Paul Vasileff, designer and founder of Paolo Sebastian, premiered his first-ever collection and has since gone on to worldwide fame and recognition for his couture gowns and wedding dresses. The festival then grew to a ten-day schedule and events expanded all around the city, including Rundle Mall and Light Square.
The TAFE SA Graduate Parade also began at the council-owned event, with what looks like their first one ever hosted in 2010 from this GlamAdelaide coverage, and this great blog from Ally (who's Ally? No idea).
Fashion history to note: Australian Fashion Labels, the parent group of Fashion Bunker (BNKR), Cameo (C/meo), Jaggar and more, was founded in 2007. I don't think any early 20s girl was untouched by the Bunker $10 fashion sales in random halls across the state in the mid-10s.
Fashion history to note: Jaimie Sortino and his designs came onto the scene, winning the SA Emerging Designer of the Year Award at the eastern suburbs AFF in 2010.
Fashion history to note: the 2010 Adelaide Fashion Festival Opening Night Garden Party blog by Alice. Read here.
 |
| The Adelaide Fashion Festival in 2010. Imagery by Tony Macrellis. |
 |
| The AFF website circa 2021 |
 |
| Imagery from the 2014 Adelaide Fashion Festival |
2015
After a few growing years in the east of the city, the ownership and management of the festival was transferred over to the State Government, with terms set in place for the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters to withhold rights to host satellite events like Parades on Norwood Parade.
Local fashion upstart Paul Vasileff, brought his brand, Paolo Sebastian, which by this time had years of growth and expansion behind it, and his sold-out 2016 collection, closed the fashion festival with two shows, the second added due to unprecedented demand.
 |
| Photo by Jackson Fenby from Feud Magazine. |
Fashion history to note: I miss when they used to do fun backstage photography like the images in this article.
Fashion history to note: AFF expanded further into the suburbs with a fashion event held on King William Road to raise money for Variety, spearheaded by event director Gabriella Leonello of Little Lion PR.
Fashion history to note: A few years prior, in 2013, Kate Anderson was appointed Head Designer of Finders Keepers The Label and it was around this time, that I dare say, @kateandy became one of the first Adelaide Instagram influencers in the space. I wanted to be her, and so did every other girl on my feed. Those were the days.
2016
The Adelaide Fashion Festival was held in Victoria Square in 2016, and thanks to my newfound passion for PR and fashion, this was the first Fashion Festival that I attended! Let me tell you now how Serena van der Woodsen I felt in my op shop blazer and Lovisa jewellery. Oh, how far we have come. So sweet seeing some of my friends in Vogue's best dressed.
Throwback and read the full 2016 program here.
Meghan Coles has been a celebrated photographer for a long time now, I think this link is to AFF13 come and scroll for your pleasure. Kind of sad seeing the coolest venue ever, Published ArtHouse, hosting fashion shows back in 2016. Obviously, it's closed now and I have no idea what it's doing, likely vacant - I'm hoping not turned into student housing.
 |
| Published ArtHouse by Meghan Coles. |
Fashion started to become an all-year affair, with even more fashion shows popping up around town outside of the dedicated week of October. Astor + Tyne hosted a variety of runway shows from 2017 (including myself as a model), the Hotel Richmond turned into a fashion hub by hosting Fashion First, and the Labels Style Markets hosted in Bowden drew fashion-lovers, bloggers, photographers, models, and more to the inner-city suburb to appreciate fashion.
In 2017, the Adelaide Fashion Festival, coming under the umbrella of the Rundle Mall Management Authority and Adelaide Economic Development Agency, announced its inaugural Vogue Festival presented by Mercedes-Benz Adelaide. The festival covered multiple events across the handful of days, including fashion shows, live art installations, long lunches, markets, and more.
This was also the first year of the newly established 'Slow Fashion Festival', which focused on sustainability and mindful consumption. This festival ran until 2020.
Hilarious that my blog posts are some of the top Google results for Adelaide Fashion Festival 2017. Big slay, younger Emma. Read my posts on the Official Launch Event for the Adelaide Fashion Festival 2017.
Fashion history to note: Liza Emanuele closed her King William Road Boutique.
 |
| Imagery from the 2017 Adelaide Fashion Festival. Photography by Calum Robertson. |
2018
From what I can remember, in 2017 and 2018 the Vogue Festival ran parallel to the Adelaide Fashion Festival, with Vogue events taking place in Rundle Mall, and Fashion Festival events taking place in its home base at Torrens Parade Grounds in both years.
I have to say, the 2017 and 2018 AFFs were some of the best held events we've ever had. Having Torrens Parade Grounds as a fashion destination gave the event a fun and flair I haven't experienced anywhere else. Being surrounded by other die-hard fashion fans who were all dressed to the nines, fluttering between Rundle and TPG was a fantastic way to bring the festival to our city.
There were plenty of activations at this festival, notably with the Spendless Shoes Sneaker Lab activation that took over Rundle Mall and social media, where attendees could pick up a pair of sneakers that could be personalised from selected artists in their styles. The fashion illustration of myself drawn by Peter Prodanovic, with matching sneakers, are both things I still hold dear and display in my home. The Spendless Shoes team, along with Be Young PR and Party With Lenzo pulled this fantastic activation together, which is still talked about years later.
Fashion history to note: House of Campbell hosted a runway at New York Fashion Week.
2019
However, in May 2019, the fashion fest was no longer held as the state government cut the event, and the Vogue Festival moved forward as the option for fashionistas as a more retail-based alternative. Although the Fashion Festival had received less than favourable feedback throughout the years (including some from myself around lack of accessibility and celebration of up-and-coming designers - which had me banned from select events run by specific personalities for years to come - damn my big mouth which has only gotten exceedingly bigger), it seemed the change to the Vogue Festival as the leader fashion event meant bang for buck. The event focused predominately on activations to push in-store purchases in Rundle Mall and strip brands like Witchery and Myer, without a local designer in sight.
2019 also saw the introduction of Finesse Models' May I Be Seen series of fashion events held in May, and saw a return to the events in 2021.
In 2019, my friend at the time and I ran a weekend of events under the banner of South Australian Fashion Focus Weekend, intending to bring the local angle back to fashion festivals. We hosted panel discussions with industry leaders, markets for locals to present their wares, and, a huge fashion show featuring all Adelaide designers, all Adelaide businesses and all Adelaide workers and volunteers. This festival did not continue due to COVID, and as places, people, and things changed in that period some for the better, some not so much - strong connections also dwindled, loosening the threads of fashion opportunities during this time.
Fashion history to note: Adut Akech won models.com 'Model of the Year' award in 2018 and 2019.
 |
| BTS of the SAFFW photoshoot |
2020
Then, of course, COVID came, and the world of fashion quite literally went quiet as we made our whipped coffees and scrolled Instagram for a morsel of fashion in a matching lounge set world. It would be remiss, to not mention many of the local designer brands did not make it through this period of uncertainty.
In 2020, the South Australian Fashion Industries Association (SAFIA) was born, initiated by a name already written a few times in this article, Cristina Tridente. SAFIA is a not-for-profit collective industry body bringing all aspects of the South Australian fashion industry together.
In 2021, the Vogue Festival returned, taking more feedback on board and moving away from traditional VIP and ticketed events. The 2021 Festival repositioned its offering to align with the new retail climate, with in-store events and on-mall activations designed to be accessible and enjoyed by everyone, fostering a sentiment of inclusivity and encouraging shoppers to actively engage with a mix of fashion, food, car parks and service providers. Can you tell I copy and pasted that segment from their website? Either way, The 2021 Vogue Festival was by far one of my favourites, leaning substantially toward pink and red as the colourway of the event and launch, producing stunning spectacles for all in attendance, and leading to one of my favourite reels I've ever made.
2022
Adelaide Fashion Week officially launched in 2022 after so many iterations before it. This continued Rundle Mall-centric fashion focus continued, with 2022 seeing the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) hosting a four-day festival, including 'Adelaide’s biggest shopping weekend in Rundle Mall' and other precincts across the city. The AEDA states that more than 800 people attended 15 events across four days as part of the inaugural festival. This is lower attendance than I expected, in my opinion. I understand these are likely ticketed events, ranging anywhere from $50 to probably $250 or more, but thousands usually turn out for other (and admittedly, non-comparable) events that are hosted across the state and year.
2023
In 2023, things finally started to evolve, as independent South Australian Fashion Industries Association, involving Cristina Tridente, Catherine Hunter, Julia Sumner, Scott Foulder, Emily Riggs, Stacey Pallaras, and Helen Jansson, launched the South Australia Fashion Weekend which kicked off in March of 2023.
The new fashion event was a welcome addition to the Adelaide scene and featured an array of local brands such as C/MEO Collective, Keepsake The Label, Acler, Brave+True, Nowa The Label, Sunset Lover, Kinney and Daisy Says – The Label.
Adelaide Fashion Week 2023... was likely the least memorable? I'm not sure if it's because I myself was disengaged with the scene for that year after just starting to date my now lovely boyfriend, but in comparison to other years, 2023 barely makes a mark in terms of notable events or happenings.
2024
And with 2024, after a variety of iterations of fashion events in our humble city, Adelaide Fashion Week returns of its third year and god knows how many of fashion-centric events held in Adelaide.
The announcement came as an unexpected surprise to fashion natives, who hold their breath each mid-winter to find out if any fashion event will move forward - with a slew of past festivals usually taking place in the month of October.
Adelaide Fashion Week starts Friday 11 October and will be a three-day curated event to support the fashion industry and provide a platform for the diverse scope of arts and creative industries in Adelaide.
For the full Adelaide Fashion Week spiel, have a read of my article covering the announcement back in August here.
What a trip down memory lane. I'm seriously considering bringing out my DSLR for the weekend to bring back more of the BTS insights and street style that I have appreciated for so many years previous.
Are you planning to attend an Adelaide Fashion Week event but not sure which one? I particularly liked this article from CityMag on the top picks worth dressing up for.
Are you planning to attend an Adelaide Fashion Week event but not sure which one? I particularly liked this article from CityMag on the top picks worth dressing up for.
I endeavour to make my writing as factually accurate as possible, including information from various sources. That being said, anything that is my personal opinion is that of my own. For any clarifications or to provide information that might change the way the information in this article has been presented, please contact me directly.