On Tuesday, Bianca Spender presented her 15th anniversary show at Australian fashion week in Sydney where models walked on a cream carpet beneath an enormous oval-shaped light installation. Earlier that day at Aje’s presentation, guests sat on a 195m-long bench made from accordion-pleated paper.
Previously, the backdrops and props used during fashion week may have been discarded after a single use. But for Spender and Aje, these set pieces will be repurposed and reused. Spender’s lighting will be reinstalled in the brand’s design space. Aje’s bench will be used for in-store visual merchandising and future events. These were two of numerous small changes and gestures at Australian fashion week – which wrapped on Friday – that indicate a shift in designers’ understanding about the environmental impact of runway shows.
