What is fashion? What is style? Explained by Sydney Fashion Designer Natalija Rushidi

Fashion, to me, has never been about trends.

It’s never been about what’s in or what’s next.

Fashion is simply expression.

It’s the way we speak before we open our mouths.

It’s how we take up space in the world.

It’s how we tell our story—quietly or boldly—without needing permission.

When we strip fashion back to its essence, it’s not clothing.

It’s identity.

And that brings me to style.

Style isn’t something you buy.

It’s not something you learn from a magazine or copy from someone else.

Style is your personal language.

It’s the visual expression of who you are—your experiences, your moods, your contradictions, your softness, your strength.

Style is how you choose to show up.

Some people express themselves through colour, others through restraint.

Some through structure, others through movement.

None of it is right or wrong—because style isn’t about approval.

It’s about honesty.

When fashion is used as self-expression, it becomes liberating.

It stops asking, Do I fit in?

And starts asking, Do I feel like myself?

That’s the kind of fashion I believe in.

Fashion that allows you to exist fully.

Fashion that doesn’t disguise you—but reveals you.

Because when you dress in a way that feels true,

you’re not following fashion.

You’re expressing yourself.