Sequins, Peplum and Hats: Five Trends From Melbourne Fashion Week You’ll Be Wearing This Summer

This year’s Melbourne Fashion Week was a joyful feat. Over 600 designers and retailers came together to celebrate fashion, delivering on playful styling, inclusive casting and endless outfit inspiration.

While street style is always a highlight of the week, we’re turning our attention back to the runways, where shoppable collections from some of our favourite local designers shone. A prevailing takeaway from this year’s fashion week is just how Melbourne it was.

It unapologetically leant into Melbourne’s various scenes, from subcultural labels like Karlaidlaw and Kahe’s hyped collections to Erik Yvon and Collective Closets’ bold, dopamine-fuelled designs; plus St Agni’s chic, off-schedule presentation of elevated, tonal classics.

Despite the varied approaches to design, there were a few overarching trends that we’re taking note of ahead of the summer season.

Don’t fear, peplums are here

Felt a shudder down your spine? That’s the ghost of 2010s fashion closing in. Peplum tops have made a comeback, but they’ve evolved from their (often neoprene, often neon) frilly days. Peplum has changed – its cuts are now a bit more laid-back and subtle. Across the pond at international fashion weeks, Bally, Cecile Bahnsen and Erdem were among the labels that brought the style back to 2025. Here, Melbourne-made label Gotham sported a mock-necked velvet-look peplum top. Cakey Sportsman and Jarrod Reid both presented more avant-garde approaches to the trend, debuting modern, structural peplum shapes.

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Melbourne Fashion Week collections will be dropping soon but if you’re itching to get hold of some peplum in your wardrobe, consider Cecilie Bahnsen’s peplum hem bow-detail top, Oxford’s Margot knitted peplum top or Aje’s Scarlett top.

Tapped into turquoise

After a particularly cold and wet winter down south, everyone’s craving a fun, hot summer. There’s no better colour to ring in the warm weather than turquoise; there’s something joyful and nostalgic about it. At Melbourne Fashion Week, womenswear designer Atoir unveiled a turquoise gathered metallic miniskirt. Genderless designer Gary Bigeni showcased a bodycon number, and cult favourite Niamh Galea (previously Ramp Tramp Tramp Stamp) brought out its best-selling velour hoodie, all in the same shade.

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Take a look at Blanca’s Paloma top and Amanda Uprichard’s Briella dress. If you’re looking for a subtle turquoise addition, consider a piece of jewellery like Najo’s turquoise silver earrings.

Embrace wear and tear

Instead of producing sleek, spotless and pristine collections, several designers who showed at Melbourne Fashion Week consciously chose to present pieces with visible loose threads and signs of wear. In doing so, these local designers highlighted the labour and love that goes into creating garments. Weilwan slow fashion designer Corin Corcoran made all her pieces from recycled materials, their history only adding to the complexities of her designs. Baaqiy’s couture collection, which featured visible hoop skirts and rough hems, was a masterclass in detailed construction.

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Shop pieces from Baaqiy’s previous collections, like its Swan cropped bomber, or pieces that feel like they’ve lived multiple lives, like Karlaidlaw’s placket T-shirt and Adidas x Song for the Mute’s Taekwondo shoes.

Stand out in sequins and metallic

Quiet luxury has been awfully quiet recently – it’s time for brighter and louder fashion to step back in. Melbourne Fashion Week cranked up dopamine dressing with labels revealing head-turning statement pieces. Erik Yvon ’s latest collection indulges in intricate beading and sequins, while Clair Helen dabbled in bright metallic organza and iridescent fabrics. For something on the subtle side, look to Lucinda Babi ’s understated sequin finishes.

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Add some sparkle to your style rotation. Consider Decjuba’s Tilly sequin knit tank, Alpha60’s Chester jean or Deering’s Shimmy skirt.

Top it off with a headpiece

Jewellery, bags, shoes – there’s a hierarchy when it comes to accessories we gravitate to. Too often, our heads are left bare without as much as a second thought. But Melbourne Fashion Week has made a strong case for headpieces. Laundry Gallery pared it back with several block-coloured caps, while Yarrenyty Arltere Artists presented sculptural, wearable art headpieces. Modest fashion designer Asiyam showed a selection of tonal headscarves, while off-schedule, St Agni styled models with Maison Krasnova flat caps and pillbox hats. Meanwhile, Salon Archive pulled out a headpiece from Jean Paul Gaultier’s Cyber Baba spring-summer 1996 collection.

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Take a gander at Gup’s Junie hat, Maje’s Ebobnav hat and Diesel’s C-Beast-A1 cap for inspiration.

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