Adelaide Fashion Week 2025 unfolded with an unexpected kind of calm, the quiet assurance of a city that knows it’s worth. Adelaide’s fashion scene no longer feels like it’s trying to prove itself. It’s arrived. At The Loft at The Richmond, white tulips bloomed across entrances, pure white fur bar stools framed the room, and a wash of soft light turned every angle cinematic. Sheer white draping cascaded from the high ceilings, softening the heritage lines of the space. With its architecture, height and intimacy, Adelaide showed what it’s made of. A city where new names and established houses walk the same runway, equally certain of their place in the conversation.
Nestled above Rundle Mall’s hum, The Loft became the centre of Adelaide’s fashion, though it wasn’t the only stage the city had to offer over the five nights. Intimate, minimal, almost dreamlike, it was less about spectacle and more about presence. Each show felt like a quiet statement that Adelaide can hold its own against the global fashion map, not by copying, but by evolving. Between shows, crowds moved through activations that blurred the line between shopping and festivity. These activations made Adelaide Fashion Week feel immersive, not just relegated to “on the runway”. Spreading energy into the streets, stores, and skin, discounts followed at leading stores, a Summer Skin Glow Cabana offering samples to lucky winners, and the Rundle Mall Social Club rewarding shoppers with gift cards worth up to $1,000 from your favourite names like MECCA, David Jones, and Bottega Bandito. Fashion Week moved past the runways and came alive in the streets.
The Established
Leading Adelaide’s design conversation, Acler’s solo Resort ’26 collection, The Art of Becoming, explored transformation in motion. The show was deliberate, a huge focus and study to womanhood in motion, design in evolution, and a life lived in constant reinvention. Wet-look ponytails hit the runway as models moved with poise, the palette unfolding like a quiet exhale of luxury. There’s something profound about an established brand like Acler. Their collection proved that true mastery lies not within reinvention, but in refining what already works, delivered with the confidence of a house that knows the market and media will follow. Their drapery and tailoring spoke to experience. Proof that design maturity can still surprise its audience. From start to finish, it balanced heritage with a taste for what’s next.
The Emerging
I’ve noticed emerging designers pushing boundaries in all the right ways. Their vision isn’t about following trends or leaning on brand histories, it’s about crafting pieces with depth, purpose, and a quiet sophistication that Adelaide will embrace. If Acler represents evolution, the Adelaide Designer Showcase represents emergence, that thrilling point where creativity hasn’t yet been tamed by expectation. Crestwell Australia and Willow Bay opened with an air of country club sophistication, relaxed yet polished, where textures and tones translated daywear into quiet luxury. Think country club afternoon, but with all the polish of high fashion.
Crestwell and Willow Bay country club sophistication on the runway.
Frock Me Out injected a wave of nostalgia through coordinated sets, prints, and silhouettes that slightly nodded to the ’70s. Free-spirited femininity met with a modern edge with a reminder that chic still belongs on the runway. Kinney captivated with fluid silhouettes and sunlit tones, the Rou Cami and Gia Skirt in Gold Lustre stood out, striking the perfect balance between ease and elegance.
Kinney Rou Cami and Gia Skirt in Gold Lustre.
Both brands were often styled with Byrd Studios’ handcrafted vegan leather bags, each piece designed with intention that were nothing short of stunning. Serafina shifted the mood with dusty olives, deep denim, and that unmistakable European summer energy. Iris & Wool then brought the softest kind of power, working 100% certified Australian merino into knits that felt as tactile as they looked. It was nature meeting fashion, their knit dresses being a standout. An effortless preview of next winter’s understated luxury. Closing the emerging lineup, Catherine Ferraro delivered gowns that reminded the audience why craftsmanship still matters.
Adelaide, in Full Bloom
What makes Adelaide Fashion Week different is that it doesn’t set the emerging against the established, it celebrates the connection between them. The newcomers had that daring energy and unfiltered voice, while the veterans offered structure, refinement, and a mastery of identity. This year, Adelaide didn’t try to mimic New York or Sydney. It didn’t need to. Rising designers shaped new narratives, while industry heavyweights reminded us why their craft endures. Together, they proved Adelaide is a breeding ground for fashion in motion. In a city often underestimated, fashion is finding its rhythm and it’s only getting louder.
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