The first Adelaide Fashion Week (AFW) gathered a crowd of 800 people across its events, driving CBD foot traffic for the South Australian capital.
Delivered by the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA), the festival featured 15 events, showcasing 50 local designers, as well as a three-day shopping event across Rundle Mall and Rundle Street.
Adelaide’s Biggest Shopping Event, which highlights the state’s fashion and shopping brands, saw a 6% increase in foot traffic in Rundle Mall, while Rundle Street’s foot traffic doubled compared to the same period in 2021.
The 'gift with purchase' activation in Rundle Mall - which required shoppers to spend over $150 across Rundle Mall and Rundle Street - saw over 2,000 gifts given away over the weekend, with the average spend per customer tripling the typical annual average.
Myer Centre marketing manager Caiti Bath said both the fashion festival and the shopping event were valuable to Adelaide CBD.
“The value that AFW adds to Adelaide’s CBD retailers is fantastic,” Bath said. “Driving more footfall into the city and encouraging people to shop and stay for longer is so beneficial.
“We look forward to AFW 2023.”
Melanie Flintoft showcased her new label Sunset Lover at the East End venue Mother Vine and said that ADL Fashion Week helped boost her label’s awareness.
“Not only did our sales double during that week, but our social media following grew by 65%,” Flintoft said.
Local fashion brand The Wolf Gang, which operates primarily online, was given the opportunity to pop up in the Mall. The brand is reportedly extending its stay until the end of November due to “overwhelming” success.
The Wolf Gang Creative Director Vanessa Pearce said the brand’s presence in Rundle Mall contributed to sales turnover and notable brand exposure.
“As a digitally-native brand, the opportunity to interact with shoppers and introduce them to The Wolf Gang’s brand story has allowed us to form memorable connections with our customers, and most importantly has seen a consistent increase in our South Australian website traffic across all metrics,” Pearce said.
“We are thrilled to see an increase in the number of users, new users, number of sessions, session duration, and transactions, and these numbers continue to rise week on week, following the October 5 opening of our pop-up shop during AFW.”
AEDA MD Ian Hill said he is looked forward to seeing AFW return and grow as one of the state’s most prominent events.
“Fashion is all about trying new things, reshaping and reworking old models and breaking down barriers,” Hill said. “AFW is a perfect example of this, and this is what AEDA as a subsidiary also strives to do.
“Retailers, big and small, had four days of strong trade and some attracted a clientele they would not usually see after they attended events where their products were showcased.”
Plans are already in the works for AFW 2023.
The launch of the fashion festival this year was met with an influx of new brands opening flagship stores in the city, including Glue and Rebel, with UNIQLO preparing an opening by the end of 2022.
Viktoria & Woods opened its Rundle Street boutique during AFW with an exclusive launch event.
AFW also saw a high tea fashion event by Cielo in Adelaide Arcade and the physical return of online womenswear retailer BNKR in a pop-up location.