Our Picks from the Melbourne Fashion Week Program

The faces of MFW 17: Kristy Wu, Ajak Deng, Stefania Ferrario and Thomas Davenport

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week has been rebranded as Melbourne Fashion Week, making it the city’s premier consumer fashion event of the year.

But even those who don’t live in the stylish city of Melbourne have reason to attend fash week this year. The recently-released program is full of amazing events and exhibitions that are worth pulling a couple of sick days, booking a ‘Cheap Tuesday’ airfare and heading over to join in on the fun.

For the third year running, Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out will take over the city on opening night. The festival will be officially launched on Bourke St Mall at 5pm, followed by a free runway on Little Bourke St featuring some of the coolest pieces of the season which you can purchase at retailers after. Special deals and experiences at shops across the city will have you setting up numerous AfterPay transactions, and activations on Bourke St Mall and Collins Place will keep you entertained once you’ve reached your limit.

Polaroids at the American Express lounge

On the exhibition side of things, The National Gallery of Victoria has collaborated with Dior to present The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Couture, in what we can only imagine will be a spectacular tribute to the iconic couture house. Featuring more than 140 pieces from between 1947 and 2017, the collection explores the influence each of the 7 designers of the house have had on the creation of the pieces, from the original Christian Dior to the current matriarch Maria Grazia Chiuri.

For those who like to be a little more hands on, a millinery workshop is being held at A Tribute to Schiaparelli, an exhibition of vintage Schiaparelli hats and jewellery. Surrealist milliner The Human Chameleon is leading the workshop, with all materials provided on the day.

One of our favourite shows from last year was Rags to Runway, showcasing op shop clothing that’s been upcycled by Kangan Institute fashion students. We loved seeing all the creative ways students redesigned old clothing last year, and can’t wait to see how they inspire us this year!

Image Credit: Patrik Nemes

Movie bugs can get cosy at the State Library of Victoria and watch the Australian Fashion Film awards, featuring the best Australian and international fashion films of 2017. At the screening you’ll have the opportunity to vote for your favourite one, with loads of fun prizes up for grabs for those who participate.

A range of Premium Runways will showcase national and international Melbourne-based designers, held at the festival’s hub at Melbourne Town Hall. Our pick of the bunch is Premium Runway 4, featuring luxe designs from Carla ZampattiCRISTAHLEA, Megan ParkRachel Gilbert, Rebecca Vallance, Thurley and Yeojin Bae.

Garage Runways are taking things away from the sleek, sophisticated interior of the Town Hall and instead hosting shows in an industrial carpark. This year’s menswear runway – featuring AMXANDER, Aquila, Autonomy, Calibre, Chris Ran Lin, Dom Bagnato and Jack London – will be held here, with pre-and-post show live music and DJ sets, as well as a pop-up bar.

MFW runs from the 1st to the 8th of September, and there are loads more free events, runways, seminars and activations that are part of the program. To view the full list of events and purchase tickets, click here.

Images: Melbourne Fashion Week, Patrik Nemes, Lucas Dawson Photography

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