myfashionguide.com.au

Fashion Week Stars

Carrie Bradshaw once declared “I like my money right where I can see it. Hanging in my closet.” We’ll hedge our bets that if Miss Manolo Blahnik was bona-fide, she’d dash as quickly as her kitten heels would allow from London Fashion Week in February to the Land of Oz in March, to soak up the glamour at the impending  L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

It goes without saying that Fashion Week is a global event. After all, any week-long soiree that combines beautiful and innovative clothing and accessories with champagne, celebrities and media is bound to be a sought-after ticket. Importantly (while it’s easy to forget when overcome by its heady atmosphere) a Fashion Week is a trade event where buyers can view fashion design collections for following seasons and media can dig for a scoop. Designers who show at any Fashion Week or festival are guaranteed a welcome catapult into the limelight that is the fashion industry.

Whether it’s a global giant like New York, Paris, London or Milan, or somewhere a little closer to home, Fashion Week means that designers and brands are being showcased on a national and international level. Queensland darlings Heidi Middleton and Sarah Jane Clarke of Sass and Bide fame showed their Papa-Sucre collection to a full house (including Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Poppy Delvigne) at London Fashion Week in September last year. London-based Antipodium (created by Aussie ex-pats Geoffrey Finch and Ashe Peacock) also graced London Fashion Week and their local appearance at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival last year made a stylish impact that is sure to be repeated in 2011.

Who are spreading their Fashion Week ‘wings’ this year and how? Easton Pearson (who are based in Brisbane and had their first show in Paris in 1998) say “Australian designers know that if they’re going to succeed internationally and catch the attention of overseas buyers they can’t just copy something that’s already out there. They’ve got to bring something new and innovative to the market. Australia is renowned for being very creative.” Labels like White Suede, LIFEwithBIRD, Romance was Born, Alpha60, Limedrop, Nevenka, This is Genevieve, TV and Nom*D who continually reign supreme at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, provide an edgy innovation that has seen them become some of Australia’s leading brands.

A country that is renowned for surf and sport, Australia is making waves in the global fashion industry. Glamour veterans Alex Perry, Tina Kalivas, Bettina Liano, Collette Dinnigan, Wayne Cooper, Akira, Arabella Ramsey and Camilla and Marc enjoy international success that is undeniably facilitated by national and international Fashion Week showings. Pointedly, as Australian labels make it big overseas, foreign threads make their mark on our turf. Swedish label Cheap Monday appeared at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Stockholm earlier this week – they’re also one of Australia’s favourite boutique denim labels.

It’s undoubtable that the osmosis that is Fashion Week contributes to an international fashion community. Not bad for some ‘threads and a party’!

(Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival March 14 -20, Rosemount Australian Fashion Week May 2-6)

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