Adelaide Fashion week is back again!
It was exciting for us to be involved in only our second runway since Austin, Texas. which truth be told I’m not sureI believed if anything would live up to the excitement of heading over to the USA in only the first few years of business. But hey, Adelaide Fashion Week was beautiful and special and quite different.
The week spanned 4 days with multiple events hosted by the week, as well as a smattering of events run by local brands. Adelaide Fashion week has had multiple iterations over the past 10 years. What was different about this one, is that it was backed by the newly established SAFIA (South Australian Fashion Industry Association), which gives a voice to and advocates for our local fashion industry, including designers. SAFIA have already made such a difference in the local fashion industry and we are so excited to have a shared voice that will bring everyone in the industry together.
Solomon Street was privileged to be involved in the Art of Fashion’ runway event which was very fitting given the hand-drawn nature of all our prints. The location was truly incredible, with the runway show happening between two outdoor buildings at The Art Gallery of South Australia. (though a bit chilly in the early days of spring!). The organizing team selected to have designers front of the runway, which meant I got to relax and sit back as the team took care of everything (but also meant that we missed out on all of that fun backstage energy!). I had my mum come along, and of course Toby, and I had some beautiful friends surprise me by turning up to support Solomon Street!
We were second up on the runway as it was co-ordinated from daywear, to resort, to evening wear. Our pieces looked so fun styled with Yeo Haus hemp tees and sweaters and socks (check out their new spring range here), and local handbag designer Stuff by Glad. We were so privileged to see a little diversity on the runway, but this is something we are looking forward to seeing ADL fashion week really grow with over the next few years.
As a local designer it was a great opportunity to see all the amazing other local brands here in SA, as we don’t really have a directory as such to be able to find them otherwise, I definitely found some that I will be investing in, in the future!
All in all, this first ‘new’ type of fashion week was a great canvas that establish some really important values that I hope will help the festival grow in the right direction and support our local designers to put them on the world stage.
What we’re looking forward to seeing more of in coming years:
- More diversity on the runway
- An inclusion and emphasis on first nations designers
- A platform for vintage, re-use and circular fashion
- More financially accessible events so more people can get involved!
Images by Meaghan Coles
