This year Australian Fashion Week returned to its roots in Circular Quay, finding a new home at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The 2026 schedule was a considered list of some of the most important names in Australian fashion design. Toni Maticevski made his return to the runway after 10 years. Bianca Spender showcased a moving and artistic collection through the lens of modern fashion. Beare Park held an intimate show to celebrate its pre-fall. Courtney Zheng made her solo runway debut.
It’s arguably one of the busiest weeks in the entire Australian fashion calendar – especially for the RUSSH team, who this year spent their time dashing between backstage interviews, shoots and everything in between. This is your insider look into how our team of editors, stylists and coordinators moved through the week.
Monday day one opened with a welcome to country and two exciting Create NSW showcases, both First Nations designers. Arts-led Buluuy Mirrii and considered resortwear label Van Ermel Scherer. Most of our team then headed off to the Maticevski show. This was the first Australian fashion week show in more than 10 years for designer Toni Maticevski, a sartorial auteur who treats fashion as moving art. It was a sensual and darkly romantic collection that had audible “oohs” coming from the audience. We then headed back to the office and grabbed a coffee pick-me-up from the new September Studio cafe. The day rounded out with the architectural tailoring and fluid draping at Beare Park followed by the rainy by spectacular Carla Zampatti show.
Day two of fashion week was arguable our most busy with a number of off-site and late night shows. Our mobile work station for the week was a Volvo EX30. The Commas show took place in the early morning partially cloudy sun of the Eastern Suburbs beaches. It was a relaxing and refreshing shoes off moment and a chance for Editor-in-Chief Jess Blanch to sink her feet into the sand. As it approached lunch time, we piled into the Volvo with laptops en tow and drove out to Lilyfield for Bianca Spender’s fluidly feminine resort showcase, where glistening chiffon and blooming silk silhouettes reigned supreme.
It was then back into the car for an email check and content review. We drove back to the Museum of Contemporary Art where we drafted our next batch of content at the cafe next door.
Courtney Zheng was next on our roster. It was the first solo show for this tailored-yet-edgy designer, and the runway was filled with more than a few familiar faces. We stopped for a few photos before taking the Volvo back to office and camping out before Hansen & Gretel. This was a resort collection all about chasing the sun, it was wholly effervescent – and with some very cool shoes by Charles & Keith. The evening ending with Alix Higgins and his signature subversive approach to fashion shows.
Day three of fashion week was a big day of outfit changes. Four of us were able to pile our three bags each into the boot of the EX30 which became our mobile wardrobe for the day. Most of our team caught the Essé Studios show in the morning. Afterwards, we split up. Some of us headed to Farage and the rest went back to the office to hang out with Betty (Marketing Specialist Jaime’s dog) before heading out later in the afternoon to Karla Špetić and Mariam Seddiq. It was a rather cold and gloomy day so we were very thankful for the car’s heated seats.
We made it to day four and it was lightly drizzling for most of the day, Content Director Elyssa (our designated driver) was particularly happy about her steering wheel heater. It was a big day for off-site shows: Jordan Gogos, Lee Mathews, Nicol & Ford and L’Ideé were all in different locations around Sydney, so we relied heavily on the voice-operated GPS to get us around.
Our final show of the day, L’Ideé was a big one as we were shooting and posting a digital cover with model Taylor Hill during rehearsal. Laptops, cameras, umbrellas and the fashion team piled into the EX30 and parked easily around the Hickson Road area. The parking-assistance feature was a big help with the tight city spaces.
Making it to day five, our team commenced the final day at Gary Bigeni who styled his whimsical pieces with Crocs. Our final show was Ngali, undeniably one of the highlights of the week for Executive Fashion Director Hannah Cooper.
That’s a wrap, until next year.
