Romance Was Born, the Sydney-based fashion label that marked its 20th anniversary last year, has bypassed the traditional runway schedule at Australian Fashion Week. Instead, designers Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett partnered with Cultivated, the in-house sustainable furniture refurbishing program of Cult Furniture, to stage an exhibition of recycled pieces reinterpreted in the brand's signature embellished style at Melbourne Design Week.
Sales said the exhibition represented a deliberate choice to redirect the brand's focus. "It was an exciting project," he said. "It's something we've always wanted to do—we did a really amazing show last year for our 20th anniversary, and decided to focus on [Design Week] instead." The brand said seasonal collections will continue as planned.
For the Spring 2026 offering, the designers drew on their multidisciplinary interests and their studio's location in the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, which gives them access to historical textiles including traditional French lace and handmade Art Deco wallpaper designed by Auguste Thomas. The collection featured slender bias-cut dresses made from vintage Italian bedspreads, some with cape details, alongside feathered trims and evening gloves, as well as more contemporary pieces such as embellished denim pencil skirts and mod-inspired miniskirts.
Sales noted that garments were selected to complement the upcycled furniture on display. An embroidered patchwork jacket with a fuchsia feather collar, he explained, was positioned next to a matching upcycled couch. The overall presentation created what Sales described as the appearance of "a silent film restored by modern technology," embodying what the designers characterized as an intentional exaggeration: "There is kind of a weird humor in what we do."
