A shift away from pure direct-to-consumer is emerging as one of the defining business conversations at Australian Fashion Week this year 2026.
For Gary Bigeni and Nagnata founder Laura May, the runway this year is as much about resetting their wholesale and export trajectories as it is about the clothes.
The commercial repositioning for both labels is anchored in creative decisions that run deeper than seasonal direction.
Bigeni's showing – The Enduring Collection – marks 23 years of his label, and represents the first time he has returned to draped jersey since the brand's early days. The decision wasn't driven by trend forecasting.
"At the end of 2025, I felt reflective of the year that had just passed – creative projects I had been working on, and I came to the realisation that I wanted to design & create things that I love,” Bigeni says. “I wanted to go back to where I started – draping, using mannequins to create shapes & forms for all genders, shapes & sizes."
That impulse sent him back to the pattern makers he worked with in the brand's earlier years, alongside graduates from UTS where he has served as a design mentor.
"Synchronising the connection of my past and my present together, and how I can merge all these different creative ideas that I have developed in the past 23 years into this collection has energised me, and excited me."
The collection brings together draping, hand painting, artist collaborations on prints and soft-tailoring — and will be exhibited at the MCA. Given this is the 30th milestone birthday for Australian Fashion Week, Bigeni said it felt like perfect timing to execute this vision.
“Plus, to be able to exhibit this collection at the MCA – such a culturally significant artistic venue – is mindblowing."
For Laura May, the pivot was more inward than backward. Nagnata's AFW presentation, FUTURE = FIBRE, follows last year's outward-facing focus on circularity and its ‘Return To Earth’ philosophy. This season began somewhere more personal.
"My first year of motherhood has deepened my appreciation for the space self practice and spirituality holds in my life, which naturally informed the direction of the show,” May says.
The result – a raw warehouse setting, wool bale installation, movement and soundscape – is immersive in a way the brand feels more confident executing after its AFW debut.
"After last year, we felt more confident trusting the emotional and sensory side of storytelling and allowing the audience to feel immersed in the world we were creating."
Where both designers converge most sharply is on the commercial mechanics of growth – specifically, the role of wholesale in a landscape where D2C became the default for many independent labels.
Bigeni's current channel mix is unambiguous: 100 per cent direct-to-consumer, through online sales, pre-orders and commissions. He is frank about wanting to change that.
"In the past I have had a mix of both,” he said. “This is where I would like to go back to – a healthy mix of B2B alongside D2C."
His AFW showing is explicitly structured around that goal, with a sales agent lined up to take the collection to wholesale buyers post-runway.
"It's important for me, at this stage of my career, to have a runway show like this, where my collection gets taken by a sales agent to present it, and give it a full life, post-show. This feels respectful to myself as a designer, and for the entire team of pattern makers, makers, stylists, assistants that I wouldn't be able to create a collection without."
Nagnata's relationship with wholesale has been longer and more deliberate, but shaped by the same resistance to volume-first thinking. Laura May says buyers have taken time to locate the brand – it sat "slightly outside traditional categories" initially – but that understanding has deepened.
"Now buyers really understand the value of that intersection between fashion, technical knitwear and conscious design,” she says. The brand's "Movements Not Seasons" positioning, which rejects traditional seasonality in favour of longevity and continuity, has shifted the nature of those retail conversations.
"It's created more meaningful conversations with wholesale partners around product lifecycle, trans-seasonality and building sustained customer demand rather than short-term trend cycles."
Both designers are also watching the international buyer interest circling AFW this year with intent. The likes of luxury platform Net-A-Porter is attending shows this week, alongside Middle Eastern buyers from the likes of Chalhoub Group.
Bigeni is direct about his ambitions: "I see huge potential in international markets for my range – I feel globally my audience can be across the USA, Asia and Europe. I also feel like it could be good to explore the market in the United Emirates as well."
May points to regions with a strong appetite for craftsmanship, natural fibres and elevated lifestyle dressing – and notes that Nagnata's product versatility, moving between wellness, travel, fashion and everyday wear, travels across climates and cultures without heavy adaptation. As well as D2C channels, the brand's products can be found in the likes of David Jones and Stylerunner.
"As we grow internationally, maintaining the integrity of the brand is really important to us. We want growth to feel aligned and sustainable, while continuing to build genuine community and connection within each market."
That phrase could serve as shorthand for what both labels are demonstrating at AFW this year: that longevity in Australian fashion isn't about scaling fast or chasing the category of the moment. It's about knowing what you're building, and being willing to wait for the moment when the industry catches up.