PSA: PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival Has Just Dropped Their 2025 Program

Melbourne Fashion Festival has just dropped its 2025 program, and trust us, it’s bringing all the style, sass, and substance! Launching on February 22, this 15-day extravaganza is packed to the brim with everything from jaw-dropping runways to hands-on workshops, inspiring exhibitions, live performances, film screenings, and thought-provoking talks.

As a not-for-profit powerhouse, Melbourne Fashion Festival stays true to its mission of consistently delivering an unforgettable, world-class event that champions fashion and creativity in all its forms. This year’s lineup is no exception, offering 80 unique events that dive deep into how fashion connects to culture, with a spotlight on local talent, small-scale makers, community initiatives, and creative institutions from across Victoria.

The Independent Program shines a light on the many ways people connect with fashion. It’s not just about clothes—it’s about stories, identity, and meaning. From conversations around belonging and First Nations design to sustainability, inclusivity, and self-expression, this festival is the ultimate deep dive into the heart and soul of the fashion world.

Whether you’re here to celebrate, create, or learn, there’s something for everyone. Ready to get involved? Scroll for our roundup of what’s on.

Celebrating Melbourne designers and artists:

All Dolled Up: A performance installation by P.A.M. and S!X where you can note and attach your worries to a doll that is then carried away by performers, taking your troubles with them.

Past, Present and Future Threads: 10 Years of NXK: Celebrate a decade of Nixi Killick’s innovative fusion of fashion, art and technology in an immersive exhibition.

Ageless Style: Julie Goodwin x The Langham Melbourne present an engaging salon show, styling session and Q&A on timeless fashion.

An evening with Dom Bagnato: Watch Dom Bagnato perform his modern crooning singing style at il Mercato Centrale Melbourne.

Opening the Atelier: The Art of Australian Fashion: NGVWA’s annual lecture featuring prominent Australian designers.

Fashion Artists: A showcase of the intersection of fashion and art in contemporary Australian practice at Mars Gallery.

Independent runways:

Runway to reef: Arona Katona’s collection set against the mesmerising backdrop of sea life Melbourne aquarium’s 360 oceanarium.

LCI Melbourne Graduate Runway: Fashion and costume design students present their final collections at the Collingwood campus.

Cakey Sportsman: Volume I: Matea Gluscevic presents wearable art, untethered creativity and embodying our most playful authentic selves at Abbotsford Convent.

BAAQIY new collection launch – Runway x Fashion Life Drawing: An innovative and immersive runway experience that invites the audience to engage through sketching.

First Nations:

Stitchin’ Stories: Blak & Threadly: Koorie Heritage Trusts’s exhibits nine extraordinary first Peoples artists and designers grounded in family and storytelling.

Sip & Bling Workshop: Wiradjuri designer Kirsty Dickinson, the ‘Queen of Bling’ offers a workshop at Haus of Dizzy, also offering teen and kids workshops.

Revive and Thrive Series II: RMIT showcases a collaborative masterpiece uniting current and graduate students with Aboriginal artist, Cassie Fisher-Paterson.

Wouldn’t be caught dead in it!: The launch of new podcast exploring what we plan to wear for our final big event, featuring guest artist, Maree Clarke, who is reviving Aboriginal mourning practices.

Sustainability:

MIND: The Regenerative Fashion Store: Showcasing 25 local fashion and accessories designers that push the boundaries of how textile waste can be upcycled into high-end pieces.

Knot a Scrap of Waste: Kuwaii’s collaborative exhibition transforming textile remnants into art with artist Sarah Parkes of Smalltown.

Sustainability in Style: A panel discussion and pre-loved runway with Jardan Furniture and Love it longer.

Attend To It: A runway performance showcasing emerging local designers who prioritise sustainability including Its My Roommates, Annienoka and Not Sew New.

Upcycled Bag Charm Workshop: A workshop hosted by Melbourne vegan handbag brand, sans beast, and upcycle leaders, IntoCarry.

Regional:

Material Cause: Art x Textiles: Bendigo Art Gallery showcases a collection with themes of sustainability, diversity, artistic collaboration and First Nations design and including a major acquisition of work by Jordan Gogos.

Claw Money World: Warrnambool Art Gallery takes you to the heart of New York’s graffiti scene through the eyes of pioneering and ground-breaking artist Claudia Gold.

Creative Coast: Revival Runway presents ten independent designers from Geelong, Mornington Peninsula and other fabulous coastal areas.