SCENE REPORT Raw Form 2 is proof that Sydney’s underground fashion scene is very much alive

For a city that often gets treated like the younger, less serious cousin of Paris, London or New York, Sydney has had a surprisingly strong month for underground fashion.

First came MODA Designer AW26. Just one week after, we got Raw Form 2.

And while the two events are distinct in their own right, together they point to something that feels increasingly obvious: there is a growing appetite for Sydney fashion that exists outside the usual polished, tightly controlled and largely inaccessible fashion week ecosystem.

Australian Fashion Week is important. Obviously. But fashion in Sydney cannot only exist in sponsored venues, closed guest lists and the same front row every season. If the dominant aesthetic never seems to drift too far from ‘tasteful minimalism’, then it is fair to ask…

Is this really the full extent of Sydney fashion? Or have other scenes been forming underneath it this whole time?

Last week, Raw Form made a pretty compelling case for the latter.

Having debuted their first event earlier in March this year, Raw Form 2 brings together emerging designers, musicians, photographers, models, poets, artists and publishers for a night that sits somewhere between runway, gig, and creative community gathering.

Hosted at Oxford Art Factory last Thursday night, there were performances from G.U.N and autosuggest, DJ sets from Ari Kiko, Lily FM and Bluegum, and a look book sent our way that makes a strong argument in favour of paying closer attention to Sydney’s independent fashion scene.

It’s clear that Raw Form captures a creative scene in motion: young, collaborative, refreshingly uninterested in waiting for permission. But perhaps what stands out most is just that it’s really fucking good.

This is not the first time we’ve talked about how Sydney has no shortage of people with taste. What it often lacks is the infrastructure, recognition and genuinely accessible space for those people to experiment before they’ve yet hit commercially viability.

It’s events like Raw Form and MODA which suggest that both the supply and demand side of things are there. So one question remains. Is this city finally ready to take emerging creatives seriously?

Judging by the images, we think it’s about time.