Australian Designer Premal Patel Remembered After Death Linked To Vaping Complications

Australian fashion designer Premal Patel, best known as the founder and CEO of global fashion brand Runaway The Label, has died at 47 after a month-long health battle he publicly associated with vaping-related lung complications. Runaway The Label confirmed his death in a statement on the brand’s official social media channels , asking for privacy for his family as plans are made to celebrate his life and work.

Patel’s death followed a period of repeated hospitalisation in intensive care, during which he shared detailed updates about his condition and his doctors’ concerns about the impact of vaping on his lungs. In one post from hospital, he described suffering dangerously low oxygen levels and being placed into an induced coma while medical staff worked to stabilise him. According to Patel’s account, doctors later found vape fluid in his lungs and identified this as the cause of severe inflammation.

Premal Patel built a reputation over two decades as an independent designer who moved between menswear and womenswear while maintaining a strong connection to Sydney’s inner-city LGBTQ+ neighbourhoods. His earlier label, Premonition, was a popular menswear brand with a physical store on Oxford Street in Sydney, a precinct long recognised as a centre of queer nightlife, community organising, and Mardi Gras celebrations.

In the 2000s, Patel shifted his primary focus to womenswear, launching Runaway The Label and growing it into a brand worn by influencers, entertainers, and reality TV personalities across several continents. Runaway The Label offered collections for women and men, with designs often described as bright, playful, and resort-inspired, reflecting a distinctly Australian sense of style. In recent months, the brand had soft-launched a new line of men’s resortwear, signalling Patel’s ongoing interest in gendered and fluid fashion silhouettes.

In its tribute, Runaway The Label called Patel a “visionary leader” whose values were embedded in the company’s culture, praising his role in transforming the label into a globally recognised name.

News of Patel’s death led to an immediate outpouring of grief from friends, collaborators, and public figures in Australian media. Media personality Sarah Marie Fahd wrote that the news felt “like a bad dream” and described Patel as someone who would be missed by everyone whose life he had touched. Social media creator Aliie Auton called the announcement “heartbreaking” and sent condolences to his family and the Runaway team.

Reality TV figures Tahnee Cook and Kiki Morris also shared messages of shock and support in the comments on Runaway’s social media announcement. LGBTQ+ media outlets highlighted Patel’s longstanding presence on Oxford Street and the way his brands intersected with queer nightlife, performance, and event culture.

For many in the Australian LGBTQ+ community, Patel’s work on Oxford Street and his later global success symbolised the growing visibility of queer-friendly fashion spaces that centre inclusivity, body diversity, and experimentation with gendered dressing.

In the weeks before his death, Patel used his personal platform to issue a direct warning about vaping, describing the experience of sudden respiratory collapse and the fear felt by his loved ones. In one widely shared post, he urged people who vape to reconsider, stating that he would never again put his family and friends through such an ordeal.

Public health authorities in Australia have reported growing concern about vaping among younger adults, including LGBTQ+ people, who are more likely to report smoking or nicotine use than the general population. Research from community health organisations has flagged targeted marketing and social settings—such as bars, clubs, and events popular with LGBTQ+ people—as factors that can increase exposure to vaping products.

Health organisations in Australia have also documented cases of serious lung injury linked to vaping, emphasising that long-term risks are still being studied and that harm-reduction messaging needs to reach communities with higher smoking and vaping rates, including gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Patel’s public reflections, shared from his hospital bed, have now taken on the character of a final act of community care, especially for the audiences—fashion workers, nightlife communities, and LGBTQ+ followers—who regularly engaged with his work. His death has intensified conversations about how health campaigns can better reach creative and queer communities, and how stories from individuals can complement official warnings about emerging health risks.

Runaway The Label has indicated that Patel’s legacy will continue through the team he built, while his life is being remembered not only for commercial success but also for his visibility in queer-linked fashion spaces and his late effort to speak candidly about the dangers he believed vaping posed to his health.