Among the others in fashion-forward outfits were Paris Bishop, in a rose gold column dress with an off-shoulder puff sleeve by Alin Le’kal, and Nathan Buckley’s partner, Brodie Ryan, who led the charge on the many bridal-inspired looks in a Sean Rentero gown that she accessorised with a bird-shaped bag bought last week at a fundraising auction.

If straying from convention was one theme of the night, another trend that has gathered steam since the pandemic is the pre-red carpet photo shoot. Designed with social media in mind, suites at Crown Melbourne hosting teams of stylists, hair and make-up artists and professional photo and video studios began popping up from 10am on Monday.

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The backstage action extended to hair and beauty including Josh Daicos having a last-minute haircut before stepping onto the red carpet with his fiancee, Annalise Dalins, who shimmied like a 1920s flapper girl at a speakeasy in Oglia-Loro Couture. Dalins also opted for a dramatic hair transformation during the afternoon, but it was all for show – the extensions were cut into her signature blonde bob.

Still, on a night short of showstoppers, it fell to the OG of the Brownlow red carpet, Rebecca Judd, to threaten to steal the show in a strapless pink gown by J’Aton that featured both a bubble hem and corsetry, two nods to international runway trends from the past year.

She said she had been working with J’Aton for about 16 years. “Red carpets, my wedding dress, Brownlows, Logies, you name it. It has always been them. They’re like family to me,” she said.

And the inspiration for the gown? “It was basically like, ‘What haven’t we done before?’”

In fact, it is 20 years exactly since Judd, when she was Rebecca Twigley, wore the red, plunging Ruth Tarvydas dress that put her on the map as a fashion identity.

“It’s great to see all the young girls coming through – I feel like an oldie being here,” she said, before disappearing inside.

With Nell Geraets