Inside the ADL Fashion Week 2026 Industry Information Session
Narrative Driven, and Creatively Led.
This week, the ADL Fashion Week team welcomed members of Adelaide's fashion, retail, hospitality and creative industries to Adelaide Town Hall for an information session outlining the vision, opportunities and direction for ADL Fashion Week 2026.
The session provided an overview of the festival program, introduced the 2026 campaign theme and strategic platform and outlined opportunities for designers, retailers, venues and creative to get involved through the runway program, Associated Events Program and upcoming Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
Behind ADL Fashion Week
ADL Fashion Week is delivered by The Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) in partnership with the South Australian Fashion Industry Association (SAFIA).
AEDA’s core mission is to grow the city’s economy through tourism, investment, spending and lifestyle attractiveness. ADL Fashion Week contributes to this by attracting visitors into the city, increasing spending across local businesses, and highlighting Adelaide as a vibrant creative destination.
"When people come into the city for fashion, they dine, they shop, they discover, and many of them come back. Our aim is to feel that energy in every corner of the city, north, south, east, and west, not just one strip. The more of the city that comes alive across the week, the better the result for all of us." says Michael Rossi (AEDA Executive Manager, Marketing & Tourism), positioning Adelaide as a creative and cultural city, distinct from Melbourne and Sydney.
Why Get Involved
ADL Fashion Week provides a powerful platform to showcase their work connect with a highly engaged audience. By participating, businesses and creatives can enhance visibility, reach new audiences and be part of a coordinated city-wide celebration of fashion and creativity.
"No matter what industry you reside in whether that is hospitality, retail, creative or fashion - there is something here for you” says Michael Rossi (AEDA Executive Manager, Marketing & Tourism).
In 2025, ADL Fashion Week achieved a 56 per cent sell-out rate, generated $143,000 in ticket revenue and contributed to $939,000 in expenditure across Rundle Mall - a 48 per cent increase on the previous year.
Audience sentiment remained strong, with 90 per cent of attendees recognising the festival's economic and cultural importance to South Australia.
The festival's digital reach also expanded significantly, with website traffic increasing fifteen-fold since 2022 and strong growth across social media channels, demonstrating increasing awareness and engagement with the event.
The Vision & Campaign
Our vision is to distinguish Adelaide by enhancing the city's unique attributes and residents - playing on proximity, connection, and collaboration.
Our Strategic Vision Fashion Up Close and the campaign theme The Threads Between Us captures the essence of this connection through relationships, influences, craft, and shared stories. These threads invite brands to craft experiences that resonate and invoke deeper, more meaningful conversation between the garment and audience.
Together, these ideas invite audiences closer to the people, processes, places, and stories that shape fashion in Adelaide, beyond the finished garment or final runway moment.
"The creative opportunity this year is not to invent a fashion culture for Adelaide. It is to bring people closer to the one that already exists" - Abs Mohammadi (AEDA Creative Lead)
The Runway Program
Creative Director Chris Kontos shared the vision for the 2026 runway program, which will place a stronger emphasis on storytelling through styling, music, performance, and presentation.
“More storytelling across every runway from styling, music and performance, creating a program that feels moder, ambitious and culturally relevant” spoke Chris Kontos (ADL Fashion Week, Creative Director).
The aim is to create runway experiences that feel contemporary, while providing South Australian designers with a platform that connects them to a broader national fashion conversation.
The 2026 program will feature five key runway events across five days:
- South Australian Collective
- Designer Runway
- Couture Ball
- House Runway
- From the Archives Runway
Designers will have the opportunity to apply to participate in official festival runway presentations through the upcoming EOI process.
Learn more about the runway program
The Associated Events Program
The Associated Events Program remains an important part of the festival, enabling businesses, venues, and organisations to create and deliver their own events and experiences as part of ADL Fashion Week.
While independently owned and managed, associated events will benefit from inclusion across ADL Fashion Week marketing channels, website listings, and ticketing support.
This collaborative model helps bring creative energy into the city while allowing organisers to deliver experiences that feel authentic to their audience, brand, or venue.
Further details, marketing support information, and application guidelines are available through the Industry Hub.
Learn more about Associated Events
Looking ahead
ADL Fashion Week is a platform shaped in partnership with the people and businesses who bring it to life. As planning for 2026 continues, we look forward to seeing the ideas, collaborations and new opportunities that emerge across Adelaide’s fashion, retail, hospitality, and creative communities.
To stay informed about program announcements, opportunities and key dates, subscribe to the ADL Fashion Week newsletter.
