With sustainability as the new industry gold standard and guiding principle, runway shows at Australian Fashion Week are starting to get a new look.In its third consecutive runway show at Australian Fashion Week, Anna Quan revealed its new partnership with Ebay Australia and styled archival pieces alongside the Resort ‘25 collection.“I think we have to acknowledge that every time we create a new thing, product or item, we are taking up resources and it comes at a cost,” Anna Quan’s designer and founder, Anna Hoang told Inside Retail. “The best thing we can do is re-use and re-wear.” Fashion is forever The Anna Quan runway integrated many coveted pieces from past collections to represent the industry’s commitment to circular fashion – making a statement that fashion is forever.Furthering the brand’s dedication to timeless style, Anna Quan’s Resort ‘25 collection revisited some of its most loved garments and reimagined them for the present day.“I have included many core shapes and styles that we have had running through multiple seasons and our archives,” explained Hoang. “I’d like to show that being ‘fashionable’ isn’t inherently about having the ‘latest’ or ‘newest’ thing.”Anne-Marie Cheney, Ebay Australia’s head of fashion, has observed the industry evolve over time to finally embrace the bigger picture with some brands now intentionally designing with the garments’ entire life-cycle in mind. “Pre-loved is a movement that is here to stay,” she told Inside Retail.The appetite for Australian luxury brands like Aje, Scanlan Theodore and Zimmermann, which is searched for every two minutes on Ebay, proves there is demand for high-quality pre-loved designer items.“Incorporating pre-loved fashion into a runway show marks a pivotal moment in the industry, demonstrating that sustainability is not merely a passing trend but a transformative movement that demands attention and action,” stated Cheney.“We’re excited for pre-loved fashion to take center-stage in the Anna Quan runway show for the first time, reinforcing how demand for pre-loved has become mainstream.” Ebay is offering an opportunity for designers to get creative with their supply chains and a chance to take part in the growing luxury resale market.“The Ebay partnership felt right as it aligned with the brand ethos of bringing second life and longevity to clothing,” said Hoang.She noted that she has “intentionally steered away from the sustainability discourse where it felt like green-washing and disingenuous.” Consumers as collectorsHoang, now a seasoned designer, brings over a decade of industry knowledge to her collection and the approach is surprisingly more analytical than inspirational.“Always review the sales data and evaluate the product assortment. This, in turn, is really just making sure you’re putting your customer front of mind and what they want to wear,” she explained. This is the first year since the brand’s launch in 2013 that it is introducing denim into a collection.Hoang listed multiple factors deterring her from adding denim to previous years’ collections, including the lack of economies of scale, being able to meet minimum order quantities and finding the right contacts who specialize in denim, a highly competitive market.“Denim is very specialized with its own treatments, washes, processes, machinery, and finishes,” Hoang explained. “If I do it, I want to do it right.” Collections by Anna Quan are also designed with global consumers and the reality of unpredictable climates in mind.“I do take a more transeasonal approach and don’t lean too heavily into one season or another,” stated Hoang.“I find that due to the unpredictable weather patterns globally, also being based in the Southern Hemisphere but having a dual northern and Southern Hemisphere audience, it’s very tricky to lean directly into one season exclusively in each collection,” she added.Keeping collections transeasonal, adding wardrobe staples like denim and entering the resale market speaks to the brand’s dedication to creating fashion with a lasting appeal that can live multiple lives.“I wouldn’t say my aim is so much a ‘capsule’ wardrobe but a wardrobe in which the pieces you do own you actually value, wear and that you can wear often every day rather than sometimes,” concluded Hoang.