The Australian Fashion Chamber’s Australian Designer’s Abroad program was launched in Paris in 2015 to connect the best emerging Australian brands with international media & buyers.
The selection criteria is tough and applications are judged by a panel of industry professionals including AFC Deputy Chair and Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s BAZAAR Kellie Hush, industry veteran Carla Zampatti and Tiffany’s Vice President & Managing Director of Australia Glen Schlehuber.

This March the chosen designers will present their collections as part of Paris Fall 16 Ready-To-Wear Fashion Week. The line-up includes: Bianca Spender, Christopher Esber, Ginger & Smart, Rebecca Vallance, Romance Was Born, Tome and STRATEAS CARLUCCI.

Introducing: Tome.
2011 saw the birth of Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin’s label Tome. Based in New York, Tome sees the pair’s collective design experience expressed in a range that is practical and straightforward – this is clear cut, essential dressing.
After meeting at age 19 in a Sydney fashion school, Lobo and Martin branched out to follow careers as a fashion buyer and on design posts with labels such as Gaultier and Derek Lam, respectively. After accumulating 28 years in the fashion industry between them, the two came together to create Tome – innovative collections of simple, luxe, and precisely draped pieces. 

To keep the essential nature of women at the heart of their label, each season of Tome is inspired by a different woman – past muses include sculptor Louise Bourgeois, painter Georgia O’Keeffe, and Cuban artist Ana Mendieta.
Purity is the cornerstone of this ‘every woman’ brand. Tome eschews excess, and instead form follows function, every Tome piece is infinitely wearable with luxurious but pared back fabric choices.