Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2023: Cue to stage first solo show in 55 years

So, how does a brand like Cue, which dresses working women, prepare for a possible recession or drop in discretionary spending in 2023?

Says Melanie: “We’ve been through recessions before … we have this vehicle and machine behind us to navigate through those times. Women are still going to need to shop.”

The inclusion of Cue at fashion week, which is owned by global events and talent agency IMG, says as much about the brand’s aspirations to be in front of the top fashion editors, buyers and influencers from Australia and overseas as it does about the event organisers’ imperative to expand the lineup beyond the traditional “darlings” of the industry, such as Camilla & Marc, Aje and so on.

“It is the most commercial brand we have on the schedule but there is so much heritage in that Cue business, and with the Levises as well. They are such an incredible Australian fashion family,” says Natalie Xenita, IMG’s Fashion Events and Properties Asia-Pacific’s vice president-managing director.

Rod Levis, father of Justin and Melanie, founded Cue in 1968 after a stint running a fashion emporium, Levis’s, whose house range was produced by none other than Australian fashion icon, the late Carla Zampatti.

Technically, it’s not the first foray into fashion week for the Levis family, who have a sizeable stake in Dion Lee, who has opened at fashion week, and their diffusion line Veronika Maine was part of the trade show at the very first Australian Fashion Week in 1996.

“Even though it is 55 years in business, this show will be very much about the future and where the brand is going,” Xenita says. “They’re a great blueprint for how we should be looking at local manufacturing as a priority in this country.”

Australian fashion week introduced public-facing shows ahead of the 2020 event, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. Other brands showing in the consumer program include Karla Špetić, Erik Yvon, Gary Bigeni, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos and Michael Lo Sordo. An Indigenous show, sponsored by David Jones, also joins the mix, as does the TAFE NSW student show and the Next Gen runway, whose alumni include Camilla & Marc and Bec & Bridge.

“Of course the international buyers come looking for the next Zimmermann, but then there are designers like Jordan Gogos, who command so much of the media interest,” Xenita says. “It’s fundamental we show the breadth of talent in the industry.”

Afterpay Australian Fashion Week is on May 15-19

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