Will Adelaide Fashion Week return for 2025? We investigate the current landscape

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 within our state - fashion.

If you have kept up with South Australia's fashion events over the years, you'll know that there have been quite a few iterations of the event, led by different (mainly government) agencies.

Currently, the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) supported by the City of Adelaide, has been behind the current iteration of the festival, yet with no official media announcement having been made for the recurring October event of fashion fun, we're left to ask the question... will Adelaide Fashion Week be returning for 2025?

To get up to speed, come catwalk down memory lane with me and read the The history of Adelaide's fashion festivals (2008 to 2024) to get yourself acquainted on fashionable years past.

Media

Earlier this year in March, InDaily produced an article that highlighted again the potential that the event might not move ahead, stating that AEDA Chair Steve Maras warned the City of Adelaide that the October Fashion Week event will be discontinued if AEDA funding isn’t increased this financial year.

At the council’s City Finance and Governance Committee in March 2025, Maras told elected members the current budget earmarked for AEDA - about $8.9 million, or 6.2 per cent of rate revenue - is not enough.

Side note: InDaily (along with CityMag) are by far my favourite local news publishers. If you aren't already, sign up for their mailing list here now.

Social Media Activity

Adelaide Fashion Week owns their own social media accounts, including Facebook and Instagram.

Last year, the week was confirmed to return through an Instagram post made on Friday 5 July 2025 (the first Friday in July). At the end of the week last year, they did post "SEE YOU IN 2025", a statement seemingly not aligned to the comments made by the AEDA Chair in the previously mentioned InDaily article. Looking more recently, the last post on the account came through at the end of January.

CoA Economic Development Strategy 2024-2028

The City of Adelaide's Economic Development Strategy sets out how the City of Adelaide will achieve its vision of a thriving economy for all. It is guided by the long-term aspirations established in the City of Adelaide Strategic Plan 2024–2028; where for each of the goals, is a 'lead' of either the City of Adelaide or AEDA.

Within this strategy listed under, Priority: Leverage and grow the green economy and green brand, includes: Fashion: Boost the local economy through innovation in the textile/fashion industries leading to high quality resources remaining in circulation and reducing impacts of fast fashion.

And that is actually the only mention of 'fashion' within the entire document.

There are many other mentions of their goal to be Australia's festival and creative capital, Adelaide being known as a year-round event calendar, and AEDA partnering with Rundle Mall to expand its entertainment and hospitality offerings, providing people with new reasons to visit the city.

The one thing with documents like these is that they can, in some areas, be vague - and for good reason. Sometimes specific events aren't spelled out, usually opting for a goal-setting and overarching direction of the work to ensure that these initiatives can be delivered, factoring in any extenuating circumstances. They have the ability to be fluid with how to achieve those goals if something outside of their control impacts the events delivery. Having worked in local government and in reviewing these documents, I do believe it is a solid foundation for the strategy; even without the Adelaide Fashion Festival specifically included - it means that they can still hold the festival to achieve the goals listed.

City of Adelaide Budget 

Now, here's where things get juicy.

The City of Adelaide went out for public consultation on their Draft 2025/2026 Business Plan and Budget back in May 2025, which included a key highlight of: Growing Adelaide’s Economy - We’re supporting business and economic growth through our Economic Development Strategy and the Adelaide Economic Development Agency’s Strategic Plan.

Within the same InDaily article mentioned above, it states that Maras told elected members that to deliver on AEDA’s strategic plan, they require 9.5 per cent of rate revenue or about $13,598,000. This doesn’t include what they receive from the Rundle Mall levy.

Community consultation closed later in the month it launch, and the City of Adelaide’s 2025-26 Business Plan and Budget (BP&B) was officially adopted as of 25 June 2025.

The City of Adelaide Budget brochure doesn't give a huge amount of insight into the breakdown of events or expenditure for AEDA, but I have done the digging for you in the full 2025/26 Business Plan and Budget.

Within this document, a variety of inclusions are listed under the AEDA budget. 

There is only one mention of "fashion" in the entire document, but I am pleased to let you know that I have found some pretty concrete evidence showing that the Adelaide Fashion Festival will return in 2025 - and that return is possibly even better than ever.

The AEDA budget is aligned with the City of Adelaide's vision of 'Our Economy', and within their 'Operating Activities that this Program delivers' table located on page 69, shows an increase for Adelaide Fashion Week from last financial year’s budget of $310,000 to this financial year’s budget of $489,000.

This shows that not only will Adelaide Fashion Week be back for 2025 - but it might just be better than ever - with an increased budget of $179,000 to deliver the 'festival' to the City of Adelaide, its residents, visitors, and businesses. 

This is confirmed by an understated "Returning in 2025" displayed on the main landing page of their website.

This increased budget might be used for more activations, larger runways or fancier setups (think AV, lighting, etc.), or simply could be used to engage with media / creative agencies on a larger campaign, or even on internal resourcing. Either way, this extra budget is a win for the local fashion fiend. 

Outputs aligned to the AEDA budget that might relate to Adelaide Fashion Week include:

• Rundle Mall management, marketing, attraction of new brands, activation and implementation of the Rundle Mall Events and Marketing Strategy
• Provision of sponsorship to event organisers and strategic partner organisations
• Events and data that stimulate thinking about the City’s economy and investment into the economy
• Initiatives that increase the number of workers in the City by supporting businesses to grow or locate in the City
• Marketing campaigns that position the City as a place to work, invest and visit.

I wasn't able to find the Rundle Mall Events and Marketing Strategy online. This isn't totally bizarre; not all of these documents need to be externally accessible, but they do give the business unit in council the direction and timelines to deliver the outlined work.

So, what might be different this year?

Based solely on the information available to me and my opinion based of previous years, Adelaide Fashion Week will likely continue to be hosted in and around Rundle Mall, like last year with their HQ in The Loft in the Hotel Richmond - which would easily achieve a few objectives as listed in a variety of plans. 

Building on some groundwork that we saw last year, sustainability in line with the "Priority: Leverage and grow the green economy and green brand" might see even more of a balance between promoting Rundle Mall traders and the ways that fashion can be enjoyed in an environmentally responsible way. Think Rundle Mall brands, maybe a sprinkling of thrift stores / brands hosting their own runways or collaborating for a larger event? 

I would love to see My Dead Grandpa and the plethora of vintage stores around Rundle Mall to do something big and bold.

Get ready for ADL FASHION WEEK 2025!

Stay in the know with the official announcement and hopefully the AFW2025 editorial campaign by subscribing to their mailing list here.

Based on launch timings from previous years (including from the Fashion Festival, not just Fashion Week), the announcement is likely to come anytime between now to the middle of August. I have my bet on Friday 11 July or Friday 18 July.

It's exciting to know that the plans and activations are already underway, with launch assets like photoshoots and branding having already been finalised and launch materials are probably already prepared, approved, and ready to press go.

In 2025, if Adelaide Fashion week follows its regular timeline of being hosted in the first few weeks of October, you can expect to block your calendar out around 1-5 October or 8-12 October, with the latter leaning toward being more likely. 

Wanting to get ahead on your outfit planning while supporting Adelaide fashion brands? Check out my list of Every local Adelaide-based fashion brand (and their links), and DM me on Instagram if there are new ones to add!

The information in this article draws from credible, publicly available sources. This information has been analysed and interpreted by an educated source (ahem, me). If any information or interpretations are incorrect, please do not hesitate to contact me directly to ensure the factual accuracy of this piece.