Our favourite fashion moments from Australian Fashion Week were pre-loved

A first for our editors at Australian Fashion Week. 

Joining the wider Fashion Journal team, I attended back-to-back runway shows last week for Australian Fashion Week (AFW). It was a circus and I don’t know about you, but my brain has been madly playing catch up, trying to digest everything I saw to report back to you in my role as FJ’s Circular Fashion Guest Editor supported by eBay. 

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As a team, we’ve been reflecting on the shows we saw (well into the dozens) and trying to pinpoint our standout moments. There are almost too many to count, with each of us having our personal faves. For example, I loved Albus Lumen’s earthy offering and almost every silhouette at Michael Lo Sordo. Meanwhile, FJ’s Managing Editor hasn’t shut up about the budding design talent at The Innovators or the genius mind of Alix Higgins.  

We have agreed on one thing, however. Our collective highlight of this year’s Australian Fashion Week has to be the pre-loved fashion. It was everywhere, and it was impossible to ignore. In every street-style interview I ran last week, someone was most proud of their pre-loved fashion piece that no one else could buy. Attendees were discussing it at length (I can’t count the number of times I heard the word eBay) and yup, pre-loved fashion even made it onto the runway (stunning). 

Also, consider my role. This was the first year Fashion Journal appointed a guest editor to report exclusively on pre-loved fashion. It’s a role that couldn’t have possibly existed a few years ago because back then, pre-loved fashion was barely present at Fashion Week. How times have changed.  

Me at AFW as Fashion Journal’s Circular Fashion Guest Editor wearing a Paris Georgia dress, Camilla and Marc pants, vintage blazer, YSL sunglasses and Margiela Tabi flats, all pre-loved 

It would be easy to assume pre-loved fashion is having its moment in the sun, but when I speak to other editors, writers, stylists and even designers, everyone is convinced it’s much more than that. Without a doubt, this is where the whole fashion industry is heading.

So joining heads with friends and colleagues across the industry, I’ve collected the favourite fashion moments we can all agree on from this year’s Australian Fashion Week.

One-of-a-kind accessories at Liandra

Each member of the Fashion Journal team has a piece they fell in love with during AFW and has now been burned into their brain. Amazingly for a group of women with starkly different personal styles, several of these pieces all came from the same runway. 

The runway looks at Liandra were styled with pre-loved accessories sourced from eBay

Liandra Gaykamangu’s showcase saw the designer’s collection styled with pre-loved accessories from eBay. They included unique accessories crafted from pre-loved jewellery on eBay. Each added a deeper, joyful layer to the collection and as Liandra notes, it moved her outside of her comfort zone.  

“Incorporating the pre-loved pieces from eBay really pushed me creatively and I loved it! I usually play it quite safe and conservative with accessories, but I enjoyed repurposing the pieces and allowing them to evolve into something new,” she explains. “The pre-loved pieces were the cherry on top for each look.”  

Many people I spoke with agreed this is just the beginning of pre-loved fashion on AFW runways. “I expect more brands will try to incorporate pre-loved materials into their collections, revisit archived pieces for inspiration and work in tandem with their clients’ shopping behaviour,” notes Maggie.  

“Designers have so many things to think about when they look at how sustainability is showing up in their business,” adds Fashion Lead at eBay Australia, Anne-Marie Cheney. “I’ve seen the shift from designers just thinking about one element of sustainability – for example, sustainable fabric choices – to now thinking about designing pieces that have longevity and can be either passed on to a second owner or disassembled to recycle the fabric and become a new item in the future. I think it’s a real opportunity for designers to reimagine their whole supply chain and think about a garment’s second, third or fourth life!” 

Accessories at Liandra included upcycled accessories crafted from pre-loved jewellery

Archival fashion on the runway

In a standout moment from this week (I told you, there are many), designer Anna Hoang partnered with eBay to show a series of pre-loved pieces from the ANNA QUAN archives, alongside her upcoming Resort 2025 collection.

It’s admittedly a bold move and one that’s been discussed at length since. What incentive is there for a designer to promote past-season clothing? 

“I think that sort of thinking is really short-sighted,” Anna explains when quizzed. “Evergreen and signature silhouettes have always been part of my design philosophy. This year, instead of reimagining these in new fabrications, we took a more direct approach and picked directly from the archives. We’ve chosen to embrace circular fashion because, apart from the environmental implications, we’ve always been about serving our customers.”

For Anna’s brand in particular, it makes sense. She started her namesake label with a single, essential item (a white shirt with extended cuffs) and she’s since been building out her brand with a focus on timeless design. Personally, I’ve worn my ANNA QUAN pieces to death over the years.

So, for her to showcase past season styles is a pretty clever move. It shows how consistent she is in her design aesthetic and sends a message that ANNA QUAN pieces won’t date. Each piece that made its way down the runway was just as wearable now as it was on its release and with pieces integrated into the middle of the runway, no one would have guessed the pre-loved looks were from past collections.

There were timeless pieces, of course, like a trench coat, buttonless and white, stamped with Anna’s design identity through a feminine silhouette that lined the body, rather than swallowed it. But there were also clear showpieces. A personal favourite was an off-shoulder variation of Anna’s signature white shirting, complete with the oversized cuff the designer is known for.  

ANNA QUAN worked with eBay to feature archival looks on the runway. MCMPR, photography by Lucas Dawson

“I think the runway helps customers reimagine, visualise and contextualise pre-loved fashion and a brand’s signature silhouettes,” she adds. “Success isn’t about always pumping out newness every week or month, but really having a thoughtful look at how people can wear and re-wear clothes.” 

We saw this again at The Innovators, a show by the Fashion Design Studio (FDS) at TAFE NSW. For 25 years FDS has supported emerging talent to establish their design identity and build their brand, and it’s been an incubator and supporter of some huge Australian names like Zimmermann, Christopher Esber, Dion Lee, Romance Was Born and Michael Lo Sordo.

For the studio’s quarter-century runway, lucky attendees were presented with two archival pieces from the early collections of FDS alumni. It was fascinating to compare how each designer had developed their vision over many years but also, how each had stayed close to their initial brand identity. It was proof yet again that past-season pieces can be just as exciting as the new collections – if not even more, because they’re much harder to source.

The ANNA QUAN archive pieces seamlessly blended in with the label’s Resort 2024 collection. MCMPR, photography by Lucas Dawson

More and more designers are beginning to recognise opportunities in this space. Albus Lumen and Alix Higgins both sent archival and upcycled pieces down the catwalk, and Sustainability Award winner at 2023’s National Designer Awards, Madre Natura, made the daring choice to send last year’s collection onto the runway, not designing any new pieces until the entirety of past season stock is sold. When speaking with Fashion Writer and Content Creator Maggie Zhou about Anna’s show, she’s quick to point to other examples.

“There are so many great circular initiatives that labels and designers are taking on. I think of Courtney Holm, the Founder of A.BCH, who created Circular Sourcing, a marketplace for buying and selling designer deadstock fabrics. I think of Melbourne social enterprise HoMie and its Reborn collection, where upcycled existing garments have fresh life breathed into them. You only need to take a quick look at the next generation of fashion design students to see how creative they’re getting,” she says. 

Outfit repeating (and repeating again)

Speaking of re-wear, this was another standout fashion moment as agreed on by the whole team. For the first time (maybe ever), it felt like people were happy to outfit repeat. Maybe we’re seeing a fashion cultural shift, but something was in the air!

We saw this firsthand within the Fashion Journal team, as our Managing Editor decided to re-wear a number of pieces she’d packed for the week, including outfit repeating a head-to-toe look. With Australian Fashion Week extending across five days, it was a practical move. 

“I love fashion, but hate the pressure to wear something new that comes with big industry events like Australian Fashion Week,” explains Giulia. “I realised I was planning my outfits around impressing other people, rather than simply wearing what I love from my wardrobe and would help me focus and feel comfortable on site. I am here to work, after all.” 

She wasn’t the only one. Several attendees I interviewed throughout the week said outfit repeating is a practice they want to promote. “Re-wearing an item in your wardrobe should be normalised, outfit repeating should not be taboo,” notes Anna Hoang.  “I am someone that will wear or use something to death. When buying pre-loved fashion, I always think about how I would incorporate that item into my life. How many times I would wear or use it? It needs to complement my existing lifestyle. ” 

“It’s vintage”

This was one of the most frustrating yet equally encouraging responses I received during my compilation of street-style interviews. It seemed almost everyone was wearing at least one pre-loved piece to Fashion Week, with a handful dressed head to toe in pre-loved pieces, just like myself. 

I think one of the key reasons we saw so much pre-loved fashion this year (aside from environmental reasons, obviously) is because the industry is so tired of the trend cycle. It’s moving insanely quickly these days, and none of us has the stamina to keep up nor the desire to look like everyone else. When I spoke with Fashion Writer Michael Sun, he called it the “hegemonic death trap of the trend cycle”. 

“If I hear the words ‘office siren’ one more time I am going to move to a remote cabin in the middle of Iceland with no reception and two lambs and then you can explain to my parents – while wearing Bayonetta glasses and a pencil skirt – why their child has disappeared forever,” he said. 

Michael Sun attends AFW wearing a vintage blazer, borrowed Alix Higgins top, pre-loved Cop Copine skort, vintage leg warmers, vintage hat and pre-loved Marsèll boots from eBay

Another reason that emerged when talking to people at Fashion Week is that quite simply, people want to stand out. “I love the individuality and personality of pre-loved fashion compared to new season,” said stylist Jess Pecoraro. “Never-before-seen pieces or vintage looks you’ve been searching for are so exciting to find.” 

It was quite refreshing, really. As usual, I found myself a little jealous at the parade of designer clothes and accessories before me. But for the first time, I was also acutely aware that most of these designer items were sourced from platforms like eBay – often with money earned from selling other items beforehand – and that many would end up back online for resale at some point in the future. It’s not that everyone in the industry is inexplicably wealthy, it’s that they know how to shop smart. 

As eBay’s Anne-Marie Cheney said, “They are more likely now to invest in a quality item and increase their basket size, knowing they can resell or rent the item out in the future.” 

As for me, I wore pre-loved fashion across the five days of Australian Fashion Week, including a number of designer pieces that I have borrowed or have plans to resell. I know eBay is a place where I can make money from my wardrobe, but also invest in pieces that are new (to me) at a fraction of the price. It’s been such a fun, creative and exciting challenge, and I’d recommend everyone to take notes from Australian Fashion Week and look to buy and sell pre-loved on eBay first. 

Have your eye on something new? Buy it, love it, list it on eBay here. 

eBay is not endorsed by or affiliated with any of the brands referenced in this article.