By Keeva StrattonSydney is alive with fashion fever thanks to Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. There’s a buzz of anticipation for the best of Australian fashion with the irresistible lure of Australia’s most glamorous designer Alex Perry and emerging Aussie designers Ellery, Romance Was Born and Dion Lee some of the hottest tickets in town.
Who’s Talking Fashion?
The online and social media world is a-twitter with coverage as the celebrities and style icons converge on the harbour city. But they’re not the only notable arrivals. Arguably the most followed fashion blogger, Garance Doré, has made her way down under for RAFW. Having already appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise and working currently with Westfield’s winter illustrations, the French Doré, is a much talked about international fashion voice and one that will attract widespread coverage as the week progresses.
Also back in Oz is The Sartorialist who was recently in town collaborating with Sass and Bide. Tommy Ton is also set to capture the local talent and bring his well trained eye and sharp wit to the RAFW mix. There’s sure to be a scene at The Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Rather than again being the subject of gossip, this fashion week Lara Bingle plans to be doing the talking herself as Harper’s Bazaar’s guest blogger. Harper’s Bazaar’s online editor Anna McLeod explained:
‘We’re really excited to have Lara with us for RAFW. She will bring a unique, fresh and fun spin to our online coverage and it’s a complete departure from the norm because she’s not someone in the industry, but she has a great fashion sensibility so her RAFW experience will come from a different point of view.’
Fashion Preview
To tease the proverbial taste buds, Carla Zampatti’s Spring/Summer 2010/11 collection was on display on Wednesday. It’s hard to believe that Carla has been on the scene since 1965, but with yet another flowing collection that imbues elegance and romance, her continuing appeal is of little wonder.
Also on Wednesday, Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens were injected with colour of a different variety whenMarnie Skillings premiered her Lady.Nimble.Shadow Spring/Summer 2010/11 collection. After much hype and speculation, Collette Dinnigan and The Birthday Suit also showed off schedule on Thursday night.
In celebration of home grown talent, previews for the cover of the June/July issue of Australia’s Harper’s BAZAAR have been released, and it features some of the best of our homegrown modeling talent – including Georgia Fowler, Stef Bambi Northwood-Blyth, Juliana Forge, Meg Lindsay and Stephanie Cherry – many of whom are expected to feature on the runway over the next week.
Marie Claire hosted a chic event 15 Years of Fashion Week art exhibition and cocktail party at MCM house last night. The exhibition brought a selection of Artists and Designers together to produce 15 amazing collaborations inspired by Fashion Week. The works will be exhibited at the Power House Museum and then go on auction to raise money for The Australian Children’s Music Foundation. We were particularly taken with works by Jayson Brunsdon in collaboration with Alex-Zabotto Bentley and also a very Perry Alex Perry frock. Editor Jackie Frank hosted the event and stated that she couldn’t resist by celebrating the 15th year of Fashion Week as Marie Claire is also celebrating 15 years in Australia this year.
Diary Date
To get us all in the mood and to celebrate 15 years of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, this week The Powerhouse Museum is hosting a special exhibition – Frockstars – which takes a historic behind-the-scenes look into our most treasured fashion event.
The fashion week exhibition also played host to an exclusive VIP launch party, which was attended by fashion’s most fabulous, including Collette Dinnigan, Peter Morrissey, Wayne Cooper and Akira Isogawa, models, TV hosts and actresses such as Nikki Phillips, Lyndsey Rodrigues and Gracie Otto, and, of course, the international interest came in the figure of style celeb Carson Kressley. The official schedule has now been released, and click here to find out what an incredible week it promises to be.
Your daily hit on RESCU
For all your daily RAFW coverage, including shows, celebrities and gossip, stay up-to-date with RESCU’s reports direct from the runway from May 3.
