The future of Australian fashion week is in limbo after IMG, the New York media company that has owned and operated the event for almost 20 years, announced on Wednesday it was withdrawing from the event.

The industry event, held annually in May, has been credited for spotlighting Australian designers such as Romance Was Born, Dion Lee, Zimmerman and Akira Isogawa. The event was founded in 1996 by the PR consultant Simon Lock and sold to IMG in 2005.

In a statement provided to Vogue and Russh magazines, the IMG Fashion Events Asia Pacific vice-president and managing director, Natalie Xenita, said: “We are incredibly proud of IMG’s many accomplishments leading Australian fashion week for the last 20 years … The event has played a key role in ushering the industry forward.”

This year’s Australian Fashion Laureate – the annual awards associated with Australian fashion week, and its final event held by IMG – takes place this month in Sydney.

As recently as August, IMG announced the dates and partners for its 2025 event, including jewellery brand Pandora and fashion publication Business of Fashion.

In a joint statement, the Australian Fashion Council’s chair, Marianne Perkovic, and CEO, Jaana Quaintance-James, acknowledged Australian fashion week’s critical role in platforming designers to the local and international market.

“This moment signals an opportunity for the industry to reimagine and reshape how Australian fashion is represented,” they said.

The designer Jordan Gogos of Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, who has presented shows at Australian fashion week for the past four years, said he was not completely surprised by news of IMG’s withdrawal.

“Fashion right now is so uncertain everywhere,” Gogos said, citing tough economic conditions and the demise of prominent local designers.

“IMG is a private company. It’s unrealistic for a private company in America to uphold the Australian fashion industry. That’s a silly expectation, if you think about it.”

But he was hopeful about the future of local fashion, agreeing the withdrawal of IMG was an opportunity for the industry to reinvent itself.

“Fashion constantly breaks down and builds itself up … There’re other ways to have an impact and create beautiful things in Australia.”

Chelsea Bonner, the CEO of Sydney-based talent agency Icon Management, said the withdrawal of the international conglomerate presented an opportunity for local owners to steer the event.

“I think it’s vital that Australian fashion week is owned and run by Australian businesses, who have a deep understanding of the differences between Australian designer fashion and every other country in the world,” Bonner said. “We are very unique in our offering here.”