Attention graduate designers, applications are now open for PayPal Australian Fashion Festival

How to apply for the National Graduate Showcase.

Melbourne Fashion Festival has officially been renamed PayPal Australian Fashion Festival, with the first edition under its new national banner set to take place from February 19 to March 6, 2027. And for the next generation of Australian fashion designers, applications for the National Graduate Showcase are now open.

As a long-standing partner of the event, Fashion Journal is proud to once again support the National Graduate Showcase, platforming emerging designers in the lead-up to the Festival and helping put their work in front of a wider audience.

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Born and based in Melbourne, the Festival has been a fixture on the Australian fashion calendar for 30 years. Its annual graduate showcase has become an important stepping stone for students entering the industry, giving emerging designers the chance to take their collections from the classroom to a major runway in front of industry professionals.

How to apply for the National Graduate Showcase

The Showcase is open to students in their final year of a bachelor’s or postgraduate fashion design degree. Ten finalists will be selected to present their graduate collections on the Festival’s Premium Runway, where their work will be seen by industry, press, buyers and the public.

Each collection will also be reviewed by an esteemed industry judging panel, which includes Fashion Journal Managing Editor, Giulia Brugliera.

For graduating designers, it’s an opportunity to make that first step out of university and into the Australian fashion industry – with your work seen by some of the people who could help shape what comes next.

Applications for the 2027 National Graduate Showcase close November 16, 2026. Here’s how to apply.

When is PayPal Australian Fashion Festival?

The major events of PayPal Australian Fashion Festival will take place from February 19 to March 6, 2027, with a program spanning runway shows, talks, exhibitions and other fashion-focused events.

While the Festival is expanding its national focus, Melbourne will remain its home. A year-round program of events, retail partnerships, designer experiences and collaborations is also in the works.

For more information about PayPal Australian Fashion Festival and its 2027 program, head here.