When the pandemic hit Australia in March, like many events at the time, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which would take place in May, was cancelled. In the following months, the industry has watched with great interest how other global Fashion Weeks (with a longer lead time) have managed to hurriedly evolve into digital. “It’s been a year of creativity. I think some of the ways designers are presenting their collections under the current constraints of the pandemic have been really amazing. I find it quite interesting. We introduced livestreaming back in 2012, but I don’t think we’ve yet understood just how valuable that tool is and all the ways we can harness that tool [until now],” said Natalie Xentia, executive director of IMG’s fashion events group in the Asia-Pacific region, which organises Fashion Week in Australia.“When people can, they will go back to physical events because nothing can replicate that feeling of an in-person experience.”Last week, it was announced that the newly named Afterpay Australian Fashion Week will continue to go ahead from 31 May – 4 June as a live event with digital components. It will be intriguing to see what the week will involve, as the buy-now-pay-later platform has now come on board as a sponsor, ending the event’s long-running relationship with Mercedes-Benz.“It will be critical how we leverage our assets – Afterpay.com and the app – during Fashion Week, giving Australian fashion brands access to local and international consumers,” Afterpay co-founder and CEO Nick Molnar told Inside Retail. “One out of three millennials now use us every month and almost 10 per cent in the US have used our service now. It’ll be a combination of real time [with digital]: ‘I see it, I love it and I’m seeing what’s to come.’ I think that’s the unique aspect that we will bring. Bringing our community the reach we have into the fold will be our key focus.” Next year’s Fashion Week will also run the VIP consumer event that was originally slated to launch this year, Afterpay Australian Fashion Week: The Experience, where the general public are invited to attend select designer shows, seminars and special events during the week-long event.Iconic Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti has showed at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for many years and is looking forward to making a return to the catwalk. As she told Inside Retail, there’s nothing quite like a live runway show.“I think there’s a certain magic about fashion on the stage. It’s a bit like theatre, the ballet, music, the orchestra. [Fashion is part of the arts and for it to be on the stage is much more important than seeing it online and in photographs.”A reflection of societyAt many events this year, discussions around social issues have been woven into programs. At London Fashion Week this year for example, several designers chose to incorporate conversations around sustainability and inclusivity in their shows. Designer Roksanda Ilinčić invited several high-profile women to lead discussions on the catwalk, including body activist Honey Ross, author Chante Joseph and former refugee and political science graduate, Awuor Dit.“The world is having big conversations right now, and fashion only makes sense if we think about it in that context,” said the designer in The Guardian.AfterPay Australian Fashion Week will be no exception, said Xentia, who said that diversity and sustainability will both be key focuses for the event. “This would have been the second year out of our three-year roadmap to embed sustainability into the event, so we’ll be returning to that in our roadmap, and we’ll be condensing years two and three to introduce what we had planned for this year in 2021,” Xentia said. Next year, the event will continue to partner with B Corp fashion rental business, Glam Corner, which aims to keep clothing out of landfill. “It was very disappointing when we had to cancel Fashion Week this year, we were going to have our first Indigenous designer showcase [with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair]. That was one of the many exciting things we had planned which we unfortunately couldn’t bring to life, so that will be key next year.”