Australian slow-fashion house madre natura, marked its debut at Australian Fashion Week 2024, by teaming up with its new creative agency Orphan to reinvent the runway.

Staggeringly, Australians throw 500 million kgs of clothing into landfill every year. As an ethical fashion label, with a focus on making garments that do less harm to the planet, madre natura refuse to add to this problem.

So, to avoid wastage, the brand chose not to launch its new collection to the world, until it has sold every single piece of its previous one. ‘The Last Season Collection’ was unveiled at Fashion week, and saw an old collection hit the catwalk, for the first time ever globally.

Traditionally, fashion runways have always showcased the designer’s new lines.

But in a very bold and very brave move, ‘The Last Season Collection’ did the opposite, and quickly became the talk of Fashion Week.

The runway show has received praise from various media outlets:

“Finally, something new for Fashion Week: old clothes on the runway” – SMH

“Sustainable label just sent an old collection down the runway at AFW” – Refinery29

“The most daring show at Australian Fashion Week showed absolutely nothing new” – Broadsheet

In another world-first, ‘The Last Season Collection’ was streamed LIVE on TikTok, where viewers were able to shop the collection, in real time, as it was being paraded down the runway. A control room was set up backstage, in which 10 second shoppable ads were created instantly, by a team of editors, for every individual garment in the collection. These ads were pushed out LIVE, while the models were still walking down the catwalk. They also reminded TikTok-ers that once every item from ‘The Last Season Collection’ was sold, madre natura’s new collection, could be released. This innovative use of the TikTok platform, helped ensure that the show went viral.

Says Ant Hatton, founder, Orphan: “At Orphan, we always try to focus on creating work that is both arresting and persuasive. Our hope is that ‘The Last Season Collection’ will persuade consumers to purchase more sustainably, and persuade other fashion labels to stop producing more and more garments, before they have sold the ones they have already made.”

Says Hans Berents, founder, Orphan: “Our aim was to defy conventions within the fashion industry and spark a global conversation on sustainability. ‘The Last Season Collection’ was inspired by the desire to create an optimistic future for the planet, the industry and everyone who walks and will walk the earth in generations to come.”

Says Jackie Galleghan, founder, madre natura: “Like most designers, it had always been a dream of mine to showcase a new collection on a major runway. But the idea Orphan presented was so on brand, I knew that we needed to do it. At Australian Fashion Week, the nation’s top designers have their work on show, but ‘The Last Season Collection’ made us stand out amongst them. It made people talk about us. And it let the industry know that we are here. But most importantly, it means we are not just talking about sustainability and wastage, we are actually doing something about it.”

madre natura debuted at Australian Fashion Week, by teaming up with Australia’s #1 clean-tech startup ‘Greener’ who sponsored the runway. Together they sent a clear and profound message: glamour need not come at the world’s expense.

Client: madre natura
Agency: Orphan Agency
Show Caller/Producer: The Event Group
Talent Partner: Chadwick Models
Broadcast Partner: Tribal Apes
AV, BTS, Content Partner: Welcome Content
Music Partner: Rumble Studios
Production Partner: Louis&Co.
Look Book, BTS, Runway Photographer: Steve Baccon
Retouching/Design Partner: CAK Studio
Design Partner: Marcus Key
PR Partner: Adhesive
Media Partner: Zenith

With Special Thanks to:
TikTok
Greener
Redken
Bresic Whitney
Deliverables Agency
Little Flowers
Indigital
Production Tech