There were conflicting points of view at the recent Australian Fashion Week, meanly dubbed “Fashion Weak” by some on the ground. While homegrown labels such as Zimmermann and Christopher Esber are blowing up overseas, others such as design darling Dion Lee are going into administration.

Times are tough and more consciously produced labels have their work cut out for them competing against the fast fashion giants. But talking to 40 fabulous faces from the front row about the future of Aussie fashion, there’s still plenty of optimism, energy, creativity and talent (to paraphrase RuPaul) in the industry.

In this special fashion and beauty issue, State of Style presented by Dove, we profile one of the next big names to get excited about, celebrate 20 great homegrown labels, look at the rise of the consignment store, find out what happens to an emerging designer when Taylor Swift wears their dress and more.

The future of Aussie fashion is bright, if we're prepared to get behind it.