CULTURE, SUSTAINABILITY, INNOVATION: A HIGHLIGHT OF INDEPENDENT RUNWAYS
8 April 2024 | Words by PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival
The Festival is not only about celebrating Australia’s well-known and loved designers, but also creating space for the up and coming in the fashion industry.
We host a wide range of independent events, from workshops, to talks, exhibitions and runways every year. Earlier last month, a few runways caught our eye - the Global Indigenous Runway represented First Nations designers creating a visual performance, blending textiles and culture. The RMIT cohort held their runway ‘Revive and Thrive’, which combined elegance and sustainability, exploring the beauty of the natural world. Plus, we saw the LCI graduates put forward a contemporary and experimental design runway with new and exciting ideas, pushing the barriers of fashion.
GLOBAL INDIGENOUS RUNWAY
Global Indigenous Runway, hosted at the Melbourne Museum, presented a show-stopping selection of First Nations artistry on the runway, telling the stories and leaving a lasting impact on the Melbourne community and beyond. The Global Indigenous Runway put forward the a powerful vision of cultural and contemporary design. Featuring traditional print work, beautifully crafted accessories and weaving techniques, this runway was a visual feast celebrating histories and cultural traditions in a modern way.
REVIVE AND THRIVE RUNWAY
RMIT took a special interest in all things nature and sustainable, at their ‘Revive and Thrive’ runway. The combination of fashion while remaining environmentally conscious paves the way for a better future. This runway showed variations of cutting and blending materials together to fuse a carefully curated and conscious design. Painting a picture of what the fashion industry could look like, these students are fashion leaders and cleaning up their eco-footprint as they go.
LCI MELBOURNE
LCI Melbourne’s Fashion and Costume Design Graduates are one of a kind and the runway show was a sight to behold. With unique and cutting edge ideas, LCI pushed the boundaries of fashion and showed that they know what cool is. Using texture, shape, and colour to achieve a non-conformist policy, the designs serve as a form of Pinterest board inspiration, but also a sneak peek into the styles of tomorrow.
