the Innovators show at 2024 Australian fashion week on Tuesday evening. Four students from NSW Tafe’s Fashion Design Studio were selected to show their pieces. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian
A crowd of eager watchers came to see the future of Australian fashion on Tuesday evening. An audience of editors, stylists and influencers at New South Wales Tafe’s Fashion Design Studio (FDS) graduate runway show – a regular event at Australian fashion week – were joined by parents, friends and some of the school’s most notable alumni, including Akira Isogawa, Bianca Spender and Nicky Zimmermann.
The event, dubbed “the Innovators”, has been staged at Australian fashion week since 1998 and has heralded some of Australia’s most successful designers. On this occasion, four graduates from the 2023 class – Samara Darling, Sara Marta, Renee Henderson and Isabella Hoyle Davies – each presented 12 looks: a mix of voluminous sleeves, breathtakingly sheer dresses, bubble skirts, tassels, embellished denim and layers upon layers of tulle.
