and economic impact to businesses across the city. “We’re really excited to be celebrating 30 years of the MFW program but really it’s a celebration of not just the event,” said Flinn. “It’s truly a celebration of all the incredibly talented designers, creatives, artists, producers and partners that have all contributed to the Melbourne fashion scene over the last three decades,” he added. Open invitation In line with the theme of this year’s campaign, “you’re invited”, the program is a mix of new events accompanied by fan favourites – combining both free and ticketed events so that industry insiders and fashion consumers alike can participate. “It’s about everyone who’s collaborated with us along the way to reimagine our program offering and shine a spotlight on what makes Melbourne fashion so unique – which is all around individuality, community and self-expression,” elaborated Flinn. For the 10th year in a row, the program includes fashion capsule exhibitions dispersed across high-profile locations around the city. “In that time, more than 10 million people have engaged with the capsules and enjoyed them,” revealed Flinn. “I think they’ve also become a bit of a signifier, once they pop up all over the city in different places, people know that Fashion Week itself is on the way.” The purpose of MFW’s 2024 program, and the 29 annual programs that preceded it, is to place a spotlight on emerging and established Australian designers. “They’re so enormously talented – I think with fast fashion on the rise, it’s such a big challenge in the industry around the world, locally and internationally, it’s so important that we support, elevate, showcase and shine a spotlight on our local talent,” explained Flinn. “We’ve always had that big commitment to supporting local designers and retailers, and even in quite challenging times – last year’s event, we contributed more than $20 million in economic impact to local city businesses and retailers,” he stated. Runways sell When asked about the $20 million in economic impact value that MFW generated for the city of Melbourne last year, Flinn said, “Absolutely, not bad for a little runway show – a lot to achieve in just a week.” MFW’s focus on runway to retail has not only converted consumer interest into real spending for the featured designers, but also the city more broadly, including arts centres and the hospitality sector. Since 2020, MFW has delivered $80 million in economic impact for the city of Melbourne. “We’ve redesigned and reimagined the program with our dispersed runway model, it’s been such a game changer in how we’re able to support and activate different precincts and venues and parts of the city,” said Flinn. MFW will once again take over unexpected spaces and city landmarks to transform them into fashion shows for the public, including The Lume, Melbourne Museum, Town Hall and Queen Victoria Market. Both fashion industry insiders and outsiders go back and forth on the purpose of fashion weeks, but the monetary value does the talking for Melbourne Fashion Week. “[MFW] provides such a unique and amazing platform for designers and artists to be celebrated and have the spotlight pointed their way, and for them to go off and do so much incredible work locally, nationally, internationally, from there,” concluded Flinn. “I think these events are really evolving to become so much more accessible and providing fashion experiences for everyone – even if they’re not ‘fashionistas’.”