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Australian Fashion Week has reached peak ‘performance art’, leaving social media users divided over whether a recent runway stunt was high fashion or just “ridiculous.”
On day three of the event in Sydney, the Iordanes Spyridon Gogos (ISG) catwalk show at the UNSW Galleries in Paddington took a bizarre turn when a shirtless male model began dragging a woman across the concrete floor by her ankles.
The man was wearing nothing but a draped green skirt around his waist, using both hands to haul a blonde woman across the gallery.
The woman, also dressed in a matching green garment, appeared to be pretending to be lifeless as she was dragged past the legs of front-row attendees.
Moments later, the male model hoisted the woman over his shoulder so her head dangled towards the floor.
While the ISG label, founded by Jordan Gogos in 2021, is famous for its maximalist and avant-garde approach, this particular moment left many scratching their heads.
The strange display was shared on Instagram by So Sydney, who captioned the post: “You can always expect an Iordanes Spyridon Gogos fashion show to bring out the weird, wild, and wonderful.”
But commenters were largely unimpressed, with some questioning where the “fashion” was.
“When stupidity gets mistaken for creativity,” wrote one user.
“Sydney Fashion Week is so cringe,” remarked another follower, while someone else quipped that the show featured “so much drama, such little fashion.”
Yet another person asked: “Okay, cool, but where is the fashion?”
Others took an even blunter approach, with one woman saying she’d rather be “poked in the eye with a sharp object” than pretend the display was remotely interesting.
News.com.au has reached out to ISG for comment.
Despite the social media criticism, Jordan Gogos remains one of the most respected designers in the Australian creative industry.
The multidisciplinary designer, whose work spans furniture design and fine art, is often viewed as a pioneer for inclusivity and queerness.
Vogue Australia has previously praised his work as “not being hindered by conventional thought,” noting his “museum-worthy levels of craftsmanship.”
His pieces have already been acquired by major museums across the country, but for the average Australian watching the footage, the “why” factor was front of mind.
The incident wasn’t the only disruption to hit the Paddington show.
Mid-runway, a fire alarm began blaring through the UNSW Galleries, leaving attendees wondering if it was just another stunt.
For several minutes, the models continued to walk out onto the catwalk to the sounds of the alarm while the audience sat in confused silence.
Eventually, the building was evacuated, and two fire trucks arrived on the scene to investigate the “non-fire activity” that had triggered the system.
The show restarted a short time later.
