PayPal Australia has extended its naming rights sponsorship of the Melbourne Fashion Festival for an additional three years, continuing its commitment to the growth and evolution of the Australian fashion and retail industries.
The announcement follows the 2024 Festival, which featured over 100 unique events and almost double the number of featured designers year-on-year. With 2024 marking its 28th year, the Festival is Australia’s largest, most culturally significant consumer fashion event.
In line with PayPal’s ongoing support of the Australian fashion industry, the contract renewal, first signed in 2022, will see the festival supported through to 2027.
Melbourne Fashion Festival CEO, Caroline (Ralph) Ralphsmith said, “I am delighted that Australia’s most influential consumer fashion event will continue this illustrious partnership with Australia’s most trusted online payment platform, strengthening our ability to expand the scale and influence of PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival even further into the future.
“This extended commitment confirms the confidence in our Festival and the consumer facing event model we are so proud of – a true world-class festival with fashion at its core.”
PayPal senior director of consumer engagement, Shane Capron said, “PayPal supports more than 150,000 fashion businesses in Australia by enabling secure, convenient and flexible payments. By partnering with Melbourne Fashion Festival, we’re creating even more connections between the Australian fashion industry and our 380 million consumer customers in Australia and around the world.
“We are proud that we’ve helped Australian fashion businesses take their brands to a global audience, as consumers anywhere in the world can make secure purchases confidently using PayPal.”
In its third year as naming rights sponsor, PayPal kicked off the 2024 Festival’s Premium Runway Series, presenting the Triumphant x PayPal Runway featuring supermodel and PayPal ambassador, Elle Macpherson, as she returned to the runway for the first time in over a decade.
The runway was a showcase from Australia’s design trailblazers, international success stories and most-loved brands including Aje, Anna Quan, Oroton, Martin Grant, Ngali, Viktoria & Woods and Bianca Spender.