A change in venue for Australian Fashion Week has not been enough to prevent criticism about lack of diversity on the event runways.

This was the second year the Australian Fashion Council ran the Sydney-based event, taking over from US company IMG.

The 11-15 May event’s change in location from Eveleigh’s Carriageworks precinct to Circular Quay’s Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as well as some off-site shows, made for picturesque photos with iconic Australian landmarks.

Some attendees expressed disappointment in the event runways not showcasing greater diversity, however.

Melbourne-based model and content creator Annika Nielsen was in Sydney for the show, attending for the third year in a row.

Nielsen said that despite seeing beautiful clothes, she quickly noticed that some of models were “diabolically skinny”.

“It just, again, brought me back to being in the group that is not welcome in fashion, especially being in a larger body,” she said.

The average Australian woman wears a size 16, according to a 2024 survey of more than 32,000 women conducted by body positivity fashion app Mys Tyler.

The same study also found, for that year’s Australian Fashion Week, 90 per cent of looks were shown on ‘straight size’ bodies (sizes 4-8)—sizes that represent fewer than 10 per cent of Australian women.

While 2026’s fashion week highlighted local Indigenous labels and designers, Nielsen said diversity should also be represented in other areas, and most shows were not even meeting the “bare minimum”.

“I feel like we’re not even hitting that,” she said. “And not even just with size diversity, but with age, with race, with ability.”

Having gone to several shows, Nielsen said she only saw able-bodied models, despite knowing local talent who had done other similar events.

“If you are only designing for one group of people, are you a good designer?” Nielsen said.

Kim Mee Lee is the founder of digital marketing agency Kit Media Lab and produces her own content online.

Lee attended Australian Fashion Week 2026 as a content creator and said she was impressed with Indigenous brand Ngali’s pieces.

She said Australian fashion events were distinctly commercial, compared to European fashion events which also leaned heavily into creativity.

While buyers, designers and journalists were the main audience of fashion week, Lee said, creators and influencers were “integral to the industry moving forward”.

“More coverage means more eyes on the brands,” she said.

“Without visibility, brands aren’t able to grow in the same way they used to. Utilising modern media strategies is the key to success in this industry.”

Like Nielsen, Lee also noted a lack of diversity across the brands.

“Casting feels like it has a long way to go when it comes to inclusivity,” she said.

“Some brands do an amazing job of this, however the majority has a lot of room for improvement.”

RMIT University fashion and textiles senior lecturer Dr Harriette Richards also attended Australian Fashion Week 2026, where she saw the Iordanes Spyridon Gogos runway show and three talks hosted by the Australian Fashion Council.

Richards has a background in cultural studies and researches the impact of fashion on the world and people in it.

She also focuses on ethics, exploring questions of environmental and cultural sustainability.

In attending fashion events, Richards said she was curious to see how brands were tackling the environmental and social impacts of fashion.

“A lot of the time they’re not really grappling with it or they’re kind of making small initiatives,” she said.

Companies generally focused on small, incremental changes, such as take back or resale schemes, Richards said, but even brands positioning themselves as environmentally conscious were still producing a lot of goods.

None of the brands that showed at this year’s Australian Fashion Week currently have B Corp certification—an independent certification from nonprofit B Lab that assesses a company’s social, environmental and governance impact.

However, most brands include general messages addressing ethical concerns on their websites.

Despite criticisms of the event, Lee said she still saw Australian Fashion Week as important for her specific industry of marketing.

“It’s a burst of creativity and inspiration which is much needed in a fast-paced industry,” she said.

“It encourages people to slow down and connect in real life—there’s a lot of beauty in that.”