The New York-based company that has put on the event for the past 20 years says it will stop running events in the country.

The future of Australian Fashion Week and the associated showcasing of homegrown designers is in limbo after IMG announced it would exit the event. IMG, the media company that has owned and operated the annual event since 2005, today confirmed the decision.

Australia’s fashion industry is reeling after confirmation the country’s leading runway event is on its deathbed.

The long journey onto the international runways for Zimmermann, Romance Was Born, Christopher Esber and Dion Lee began with models strutting their sequinned, slashed and embroidered stuff at Australian Fashion Week.

The New York-based company that has run the event for the past 20 years says it will stop running events in the country.