The city of Brisbane comes fully alive in October, as the best of the fashion world join together for a month-long series of stylish events.

Right up there on the fashion calendar is the Pacific Fashion Festival; a melting pot of Pacific islander talent, creativity and diversity.

The Mission

The Pacific Fashion Festival is currently in its 5th year running and has grown to be recognised in the community as a signature event. The show brings together local and international designers, models, entertainers, speakers, photographers and videographers.

The committee of 10 ladies and I, who organise the event, are focused on our mission to produce a show that is inclusive of all levels of talent; from beginners to advanced and those in between. Growing each volunteer’s confidence and creativity are two of many goals we pursue.

The Pacific Fashion Festival provides a platform for emerging designers to showcase their talent and new models to brave the catwalk. We deliver Pacific style entertainment and that islander flair full of vibrant colours, heartfelt laughter and joyous interactions.

The Vision

However, apart from the glitz and glamour of our show, we represent a much deeper message than mere fashion. We use the catwalk as our avenue to engage the community in helping to tackle domestic violence in our society.

This vision is accomplished by having speakers share with the 300+ audience of their horrific domestic violence experiences and how they survived abuse. And through our extensive outspoken posts on social media, which is read by thousands of local and international followers.

Domestic violence against men, women and children is not ok and we make sure each person we invite to the show and every volunteer that helps on the day is made aware of our stance.

What Pacific Fashion Festival has achieved so far can be measured by various factors such as:

• the amount of support we have received from the wider community;
• our repeat audience who come to the show every year; and
• the open dialogue we have created about making a stand against abuse.

The event provides an amazing opportunity for the local Pacific islander community to grow together as one. This is achieved by bringing together corporations, government officials and fashion lovers who endorse and assist us in realising our vision.

The Execution

We’re excited about this 5th year of mixing culture and style, and we’re grateful for the wonderful community of supporters who’ve encouraged our growth.

The Pacific Fashion Festival will be held at Cloudland in Brisbane on Saturday, 13 October 2018. Click on this Facebook link for all the latest news about the event and information about how to buy a ticket. Don’t miss out on this fabulous show for a good cause, you will be blown away with a fashion show that mixes culture and style effortlessly.

“Clothes is just something you put on to cover yourself … fashion is a way to communicate,” Dries van Noten, Belgian fashion designer.