By Chloe Welling
What draws a designer home after a decade away? For Melbourne-born Toni Maticevski, the answer revealed itself at last year’s Australian Fashion Week, where a new generation of designers brought fresh energy and experimentation to the local industry. “It was so innovative and exciting in terms of design and concepts,” said Maticevski. “I thought, ‘you know what, that’s the kind of industry that I want to be a part of.’”
His Winter 26 collection followed the outline of a valley. It opened into density, thick fabrications layered atop one another, before gradually dissolving into moments of near crystal transparency. From there, the collection rebuilt itself, gathering momentum and volume toward a crescendo in which models appeared encased in floating layers of sheer organza. These closing looks – with their sharp shoulders and protruding hips – delivered an exaggerated version of the hourglass silhouettes that preceded them.
Tailoring was the collection’s leitmotif, grounding even its most fluid pieces with precision. A halterneck dress in dusty English rose was cut with a stiff, protruding collar and sharply nipped waist, interrupted by a diagonal swathe of fabric that brought movement to an otherwise rigid silhouette. Elsewhere, a high-neck blazer dress defined by strong shoulders and a cinched waist was disrupted by a gathered tuck above the midsection, creating a ripple effect at the heart of the piece.
This tension between movement and structure was amplified by Maticevski’s fabric choices, many of which mimicked the irregularity of nature and lent an unexpected earthiness to a collection that might otherwise have read as pure glamour. Take, for example, the gunmetal gown with a triangulated sternum, rendered in a rich, debossed textile reminiscent of the woody axis of tree bark. Or the organza trousers, which caught the light in ripples, recalling sunlight refracting across water.
The styling amplified the punk undercurrent of the collection. Bicep-grazing leather gloves, brushed silver neck plates and sheer black tights cut through the glamour and polish, introducing a novel sense of edge. The colour story reinforced this balance. Black, grey and shades of ivory were punctuated only by a muted musk and glints of silver–a measured decision that tempered some of the collection’s more avant-garde pieces. Embellishment, when it appeared, was similarly reserved, although the collection could have done without embellishment altogether.
Some of the strongest looks were those worn by the male models. A layered ruffled skirt styled against a bare torso and long leather gloves, and a vest made from oriental lilies snaking around the back, paired with a fringed belt atop sheer organza trousers. Another standout was the sculptural black dress featuring protruding circular forms and wisps of electrified silk jutting outward from the body, coupled with an almost entirely exposed back as a stark counterpoint to the engineered complexity of its three-dimensional front.
What emerged overall was a collection built on discipline. Maticevski’s decade-long absence from the runway only sharpened the emotional impact of his design this season. His reputation has long rested on his ability to balance high glamour with rigorous craftsmanship, and that tension remains the engine of his work. In Maticevski’s hands, contradictory ideas of structure and fluidity exist harmoniously.