Last November IMG announced that after about two decades, it would no longer be backing Australian Fashion Week, putting the event in limbo for a few months. In March, the Australian Fashion Council officially announced its return under its guidance, giving brands just a few months to prep their new collections. While this resulted in a shorter week (four days instead of five), and a slightly smaller number of designers on the schedule, the shows still managed to highlight the diversity of Sydney’s fashion scene.

One thing that the week does very well is hold space for designers at different stages in their careers. On the schedule this season were two group shows that focused on new (and new-ish) labels: The brand-new The Frontier featured designers like Courtney Zheng (who made her on-schedule debut this year) and Amy Lawrence (showing for the second time), along with more established brands like Esse and Common Hours; while the NewGen show, which has been going on since 1996, showcased a mix of art-y and commercial labels like Haluminous and Miimi & Jiinda. Vogue Australia also showcased the city’s independent brands with its special Vogue Vanguard fashion show, which included seven designers who each showed two looks from their current collections. Scroll through to get a glimpse at the Australian Fashion Week scene—and catch up on the rest of the shows here.

Liandra