How to experience Melbourne Fashion Week beyond the runways in 2024

The seven-day program has something for everyone, no matter your budget.

While the runways at Melbourne Fashion Week in October always bring the excitement, they’re not the only events worth marking on your calendar. From industry talks to exhibitions, free community workshops, masterclasses and fashion installations, the seven-day program has something for everyone, no matter your budget. It’s a testament to this year’s theme, You’re Invited – because as much as we’d love to sit front row at every runway show, the week is really about meeting other creatives and getting inspired by the incredible community of Melbourne.

• Melbourne Fashion Week’s 2024 program runs from October 21 to 27
• There are seven premium runways and over 30 independent events happening throughout the week
• Tickets are on sale now, here

As an official media partner again for Melbourne Fashion Week 2024 (it’s a long-term relationship now), we’re particularly excited for the diverse range of events taking place from October 21 to 27. Not only is it a chance to get involved in some important discussions about our local industry, it’s also a fun way to make new friends. Here are our picks for some of the best events beyond the runway this year.

Fashion capsules

If you’ve ever found yourself wishing you could press ‘pause’ during a runway show, you’ll love the Fashion Capsules. These free exhibitions are all about getting up close and personal with the collections, so you can really appreciate the work. This year, there will be five Fashion Capsule exhibits showcasing the creative works of more than 70 local designers, weavers, artisans, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands artists, stylists and more. Grab a coffee, a friend and a treat, before meandering through the streets to explore what’s on offer.

We’re particularly excited for Capsule 2 at Melbourne Town Hall Forecourt, featuring collections from Lucinda Babi, Reigner, Alpha60, Dot Comme and more, curated by stylist Stuart Walford. Down at Southbank Promenade, Capsule 3 features designs and artworks from the Bábbarra Women’s Centre, curated by creative director Nina Fitzgerald, while Capsule 4 at the State Library of Victoria showcases designs by LCI Students, curated by Frankie Wiegerink.

Workshops and markets

If you’re a budding designer wanting to learn more about sustainable fashion, on Tuesday you can head along to the All Day Every Day fashion workshop at RMIT. Run by a few of the School of Fashion teachers, you’ll join people from a range of different design disciplines for a hands-on workshop, making hyper-sized mock garment care labels that will be displayed as a provocation of fashion for well-being.

There’s more hands-on events happening later in the week, too. From Wednesday to Saturday, Spring Place will play host to a new RE:Fashion hub, supported by Collarts. The hub will offer a public clothing swap, a massive pre-loved market, a Healing Stitch workshop where you can learn how to repair pre-loved garments, and a masterclass in styling your own wardrobe.

If backstage beauty is more your thing, you can attend a masterclass with makeup artist Mumu Lin, who’ll be running two one-hour classes (for free!) on Friday.

Exhibitions

There are plenty of exhibitions popping up around the city, many of which don’t require a ticket. Fashion Phopar is at the top of our list – from Friday to Sunday, the exhibition will showcase a collection of clothing and objects crafted by local designers and artists, all made using waste materials. Go along to experience the art, read about the process and even purchase a piece to take home.

There’s also a guided tour of The Australian Ballet’s costume department, plus exhibitions throughout the week looking at the interplay between fashion and art, and the military influences on popular fashion.

Thought-provoking talks

Save your boldest outfit for Wednesday, for the free Dopamine Dressers themed event at Fed Square. Defying the idea of Melburnians dressing in all black, this panel talk will profile the designers and influencers who go big with colour – including Denni Francisco, creative director of First Nations clothing label Ngali, renowned makeup Nigel Stanislaus, and Adele Varcoe, artist and lecturer in fashion design at RMIT.

The following day, a new-look Conversations program presented by LCI Melbourne will take place in the beautiful mezzanine of GPT Queen & Collins. You’ll hear from a panel of industry experts about the business of fashion, followed by a deep-dive roundtable discussion on inclusivity in the industry.

Speaking of inclusivity, on Saturday, author Sonny Jane Wise will lead a talk on how neurodivergent creatives are shaping fashion’s future, along with a panel of Australian stylists, designers, models and producers.

Over at the RE:Fashion hub at Spring Place, you can also join the important conversations around sustainability, body positivity and social enterprise happening over four days, from Wednesday to Saturday.

To view Melbourne Fashion Week’s full program, head here.