Adelaide’s Wonderful World of Alternate Fashion: Meet the Brands and Designers at Fashion x Frequency.
Fashion x Frequency brings a fresh world of alternate fashion and art to Adelaide Fashion Week 2026. To check out the amazing work of the brands and designers within this article, head to the link below to grab your ticket now!
Jaydon Teo - Victus es.
Victus es. is a casual streetwear label founded by designer Jaydon Teo, built around creating pieces with symbolic meaning and considered design details that enhance the quality of each garment. Jaydon draws inspiration from film, art and music, examining the messages behind each medium and channeling them into his work.
For Jaydon, fashion is deeply personal. The label’s upcoming piece, ‘Lotus’, is an homage to his grandmother and her Chinese and Buddhist heritage. As a teenager, he “struggled to draw the line between self-expression and conformity”. He hopes those who wear Victus es. feel they have something unique while connecting with the story behind each piece.
Janyne Santos - Cria Studios
Cria Studios is an Adelaide-based fashion label owned by graduate fashion designer Janyne Santos. Janyne’s latest release is a five-piece collection titled A Brasiliana, created for the 2026 Flinders Graduate Collection. With extensive experience in design, garment construction, styling and creative production, her work is visually striking and authentically true to herself.
Stit Shreeram - From Me 2 U Clothing
A single dress put Adelaide label FM2U on the map. The woman-owned brand creates vampy, whimsical alternative fashion, with founder Stit building the label from her home sewing room.
Stit taught herself to sew and draft patterns, drawing on a childhood in India spent surrounded by tailors and artisans. In March 2024, she began working on the “Morticia” collection, with each order handmade in Adelaide. Then, a video of the Morticia dress took off online, and orders began arriving faster than her small team could fulfil them. Stit turned to manufacturing, allowing more people to buy the pieces while maintaining consistent quality. Ultimately, she wants FM2U wardrobes to grow with their wearers, becoming collections of distinctive staples that people genuinely love and reach for again and again.
Emily Mae Parker - Free The Rip
Emily is the founder and designer behind Free the Rip, her Adelaide-based label creating handmade, custom garments from sustainable materials. As the creator, pattern maker, cutter and seamstress, she oversees every stage of the process. Since graduating with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Fashion) from Flinders University in 2023, she has turned her passion for sewing into her own independent label.
Sustainability is central to Free the Rip’s approach, with Emily handmaking each garment from sustainably sourced materials “to give textile waste a new life”. Working with limited quantities of each fabric also means no two garments are the same, making every piece a one-off.
Jett Reid - Gamble Clothing Co.
Gamble Clothing Co. is an Adelaide streetwear label founded by Jett Reid, producing high-quality cut-and-sew apparel inspired by hip-hop, graffiti and urban culture. Their designs feature dark graphics and alternative silhouettes, reflecting the label’s belief in taking risks and backing yourself in both life and business. What began as a series of small, independent drops has grown into an Australian label recognised for its craftsmanship and creative collaborations.
Jett told us that alternative fashion is about wearing what you actually want to wear, and that he does not want Gamble to “fit perfectly into one box”. He wants the label to continue evolving while retaining the identity of the team behind it. With Adelaide’s alternative fashion scene still relatively small, Jett believes events like this one are important for bringing the community together. He hopes Gamble can help push the scene forward and show that Adelaide can develop a strong fashion identity of its own.
Gia Thomson - ByQueenie
Gia Thomson is the designer behind ByQueenie, an Adelaide slow-fashion label creating custom, made-to-measure garments by hand. Her approach involves reworking everyday pieces such as tracksuits and suiting, with a design style she describes as “playful, exaggerated and a little weird”. Sizing, colours and fabrics can also be customised where possible, ensuring each piece is made for the person who will wear it.
For Gia, “fashion is one of the easiest ways we get to play with who we are”. She believes fashion has always been political, which is “exactly why it can be such a powerful space to question and dismantle” social expectations. But she does not think it has to be serious to be meaningful: “Sometimes wearing something purely because it makes you happy is a statement in itself.”
Ultimately, she wants people to feel “confident, comfortable, and cool” in her clothes, while wearing something that reflects their personality.
AshriaPurohit - Made by Ashi
Made by Ashi is a small designer jewellery business based in Adelaide and run by Ashria Purohit. Each piece is handmade and one of a kind, created outside the factory line and never mass-produced. The brand was founded on the belief that jewellery should feel personal, with marks, textures and asymmetry left visible as a record of individuality. Nothing is rushed, and no design is repeated.
The same approach extends to the materials Ashria uses. She works with ethically sourced seashells, freshwater pearls and sea glass, while most of the accent beads are repurposed or upcycled from op shops. Sustainability is central to her practice, with each piece made for people who value originality and the idea of owning something that will never exist in exactly the same way again.
Bek - Noxi Store
Bek creates silver and chainmail jewellery in Adelaide under the name Noxi Store. The brand is built around commissions, with Bek encouraging customers to tell her what would bring them joy: “I will make it happen.” She sees herself as an artist creating for self-expression, regardless of which subcultures happen to share the space.
Her journey began with a childhood Littlest Pet Shop toy, which she turned into a necklace simply because she liked it and knew she would like it even more if she could wear it. Now, she says any “trinket or piece of rubbish that I like WILL be incorporated into an outfit!”
That attitude is reflected in Noxi Store’s lack of a single defined aesthetic. Bek believes alternative fashion is about wearing what makes you happy, and that trying to fit into one subculture “would defeat the purpose”.
Zachary McWilliams - The Sky Gallery
Founded in 2023, The Sky Gallery is an Adelaide brand creating high-quality, exclusive clothing that is made locally and shipped across Australia and internationally. Each collection features a hoodie carrying a newly commissioned artwork, with the full series coming together to reveal the complete Sky Gallery and its secret.
For Zac, the clothing begins with ideas. He told us he loves “being able to turn my own creative ideas into something physical that people can wear”. That feels increasingly important to him as “a lot of our consumption is digital”, making something tangible “very refreshing”.
Confidence is central to the label, too. Zac believes fashion is “the best way to express yourself and to show confidence”, and says it has changed his own confidence over the years. He sees that personal growth reflected in his designs.
Blakesby Hats & Accessories
Blakesby Hats & Accessories makes hats intended as statements of individuality. Each one is handcrafted personally by Blakesby, using high quality specialised tools and materials.
The hats come in beaver and rabbit fur felt. Trims are natural fibre wherever possible, including ribbons, cords, threads and other textiles.
Finding Nina Vintage
Finding Nina Vintage is an independent vintage store based in Adelaide, built around timeless pieces and the stories behind them. Its collection is carefully sourced for people looking for character, authenticity and effortless style.
The store’s collection spans clothing and accessories from the 1910s through to the 1990s, with each piece thoughtfully curated. Whether customers are searching for a particular era or simply browsing, in-store expertise helps them find something memorable. More than a shop, Finding Nina Vintage places self-expression and sustainable style at the centre of its approach.
A Star is Worn
Vintage fashion is at the heart of A Star Is Worn, a South Australian store offering a diverse range of vintage clothing and accessories. Shoppers can also find collectibles, vinyl, books, posters, magazines and homewares, making it a one-stop shop for vintage enthusiasts.
The store began with a love of fashion and vintage, alongside a desire to give quality pieces from the past a second life. Its upcycled denim jackets have become signature pieces, with every jacket made as a one-off using mixed media such as embroidery, appliqué and jewellery components. The team also brings extensive experience in garment making and vintage curation.
A Star Is Worn has a physical store as well as an Etsy store, with the same stock available through both. The store sees wearing vintage as a way to preserve the past while helping shape a more sustainable future.
ThriftyGal Clothing
Thrifty Gal is a sustainable clothing label founded by Olivia Davies, whose love of unique fashion began at school, where she spent her time thrifting, upcycling and organising photoshoots. The label started as a side project while Olivia was working as a corporate engineer and feeling unfulfilled in the role.
As more people connected with her clothing, Olivia became increasingly aware of the environmental impact of the fast-fashion industry. Leaving a stable career to pursue more sustainable fashion was a difficult decision, but she took the leap.
Today, a team of women runs the label, sourcing one-of-a-kind pieces from around the world. Each garment is handpicked to meet the team’s quality standards, with every order packed with care. The goal is to help customers build a wardrobe they love while contributing to a more sustainable future.