Toni Maticevski knows how to create a moment. His Australian Fashion Week (AFW) show – his first since he last presented on-schedule in 2016 – was easily the most hyped show of the week. Over the last decade, the legendary Australian designer has been dutifully working in his own lane, swapping runways for intimate Parisian showrooms.

But this AFW, he decided to step back into the limelight, showing his 23-piece winter collection at The Collider in Haymarket. Suspended dark grey canopy curtains and crumpled paper set a grandiose atmosphere for the show, where Maticevski’s friends, family and professional acquaintances all gathered.

The show was a spectacle, a theatrical love letter to local craftsmanship (the pieces were produced in Melbourne) and fashion that dares to dream big. What does it take to get to a moment like this? Maticevski takes us behind the scenes, snapping intimate moments before curtain call.

Last year this time, I took three months off for the first time in my entire career. I wanted to see if all that I’d been working for was something I still really wanted to pursue. I came back feeling lighter and clearer in my thinking and reinvigorated. I realised I still very much loved what I do, and I pushed back on the things that no longer felt right or aligned. So this year felt right to return to Australian Fashion Week.

I let ideas come to me and see where they take me. Shapes and fabric and decoration come into play. I love that it doesn’t lend to a singular notion or concept. I think that feels outdated and reminds me of being a student when I felt I had to justify ideas. Things happen, pivots happen, life happens, dreams happen, and so I let them all stir in my mind as I create and am led by what feels right in that moment.

I really wanted the venue to feel intimate, like you were getting a feel for the energy in the clothes. I wanted you to feel a little suspended in time, gently focused and surrounded by everyone who was there to feel something too. The space at Collider felt grand and still intimate, felt strong and solid yet also delicate with its open windows and light-swelling dome. 

I tried to pull as many of the models I have worked with for the brand, and those who weren’t modelling any longer were invited to be there to sit and watch the experience. I really wanted to nurture and expand on the relationships I have built with them, some who haven’t walked for the brand in over 10 years like Nicole Pollard. She and Astrid Holler have been constants, and if I could, I would work with them every time.

The young men are who I have collaborated with on my book, The Way I See You, and in my brand campaigns, so everyone had a place in the story of the brand. Then there were the new faces and beauties that were discovered, who I know I will bring into the fold again, like Stella Hinton, Lauren Stevenson, Frankie Scott, Amou and many more. It’s important for me to build a narrative and connection here. 

Sean Brady and I talked about flowers and how colour intensifies and diffuses as a flower blooms. We wanted the idea of the eye being the most intense part of the make-up, with a soft halo around the cheeks and a darker inner eye socket. Luminous and polished, I wanted her to feel a little vampy.

For hair, Jayne Wild from Wild Life Salons and I talked about the interplay of angles and crossovers, with feisty knotting at the back. In hindsight, it feels like a metaphor for things feeling polished and restrained on the surface, while the back or insides are in knots. That is how I’d describe a lot of things in the past few months. 

Backstage, it was super chill and light. Everyone there was there because they wanted to be; there was no rushing. The teams were all fully in charge and in control, enough so that we could take (nearly) everyone’s official portrait prior to the show. I don’t love stress or drama. Ease and calm and joy is where it’s at.

Now that it’s over, I feel really good. Light and happy. I wanted something specific, and I wanted it to be mine. My team was super supportive and so were my friends in backing my vision for it. That means the world.

@toni_maticevski
maticevski.com