There are so many things that I love and never get sick of in the world of fashion. One of those things is paisley. Paisley prints never go out. Each season designers create new takes on the age old motif. Here are some cool images from my many folders of research.
Ok, so it's been a while and still can't get my photos off my hardrive for this post but I need to post it now or it's just going to look dumb if I post this any later.
So Day 5, the final day. Not being bias but my friend Louise Markey showed for the first time in the Next Generation 2 Show and I was delighted to be invited along. Her label LF Markey focuses a lot on the staple silhouette of the shirt. She shows her off impeccable skill of re-inventing these basics with fine detail and style. I love that she is never trend driven but still has a modern take on things which is refreshing after looking back at all the shows.
Louise after graduating first in our year went to London to study at Central Saint Martins for her Masters. Along with designing her label LF Markey she is also the Head Women's Designer of the shirt label Thomas Pink owned by the LVMH group.
We always knew she was talented and we are all very proud of her for all her accomplishments so far.
Here is the only pic I have from the show at the moment but I do have an exclusive Q & A with her below that I asked her after the show:
Awesome black and white print in an easy to wear dress silhouette
BFC: What do you hope to achieve from showing at fashion week this year?
LFM: I wanted to show in Sydney to introduce my label to my home country and start the process of selling to Australia. I have had some great support in past from Australian retailers, such as the wonderful Blonde Venus, and want to grow on that. BFC: What is your design philosophy?
LFM: My label has been described as a mix of formality and playfulness. Simplicity, comfort, bold colours and practicality are key traits of my clothes. BFC: What inspires you? LFM: I draw inspiration from a variety of sources. I often start from a basis of utility clothing or workwear and build on that by looking at art, antique clothing and usually something fun that makes me laugh. At the moment I'm really getting into 90s surf-wear. BFC: What is your advice for young designers on how to succeed in the industry? Or is it not about succeeding? LFM: My advice is to stay true to yourself, know your customer, think outside the box, and work bloody hard. BFC: What collections are you working on now? LFM: Now I'm working on the European editions of SS13 menswear and womenswear, which will be based on what I showed in Sydney but with heavier fabrications.
If you want to see the collection here is a link to see her fabulous show:
Alice McCall is a fave of mine also and was my pick of day 3. She designs with a femme, boho style but also
combines a bit of rock and roll also. Although this collection seems to be more pm
than am pieces and a bit older than past seasons and to me looks like she was inspired by milkmaids amongst tulip fields in the Netherlands :) Since
the launch of her label in 2004 she has become internationally known and has a
big following abroad and here in Oz. Here
are my fave looks from the show:
Love this cute outfit.
Beautiful white shift with floral detail
Love this blue jumpsuit with cut out/mesh detail.
Coming in close was Bec and Bridge who also studied at the uni I
went to.Their styling was great and
really embodied the summer lovin’ sexy Aussie girl. I loved their prints.
Sexy outfit, want this peplum tank now!
Sexy splits with beautiful print, perfect for summer!
What and who I loved from Fashion Week – Day 4
We are Handsome – a swimwear label that started in 2009 is
famous for it’s one pieces with bold, photographic prints of the designers
childhood and inspiration.
Awesome skirt!
Cool, but not game enough to wear this.
Hot with a pair of denim cut offs.
Love the rose balconette.
Worth a mention was Jenny Kee and her art driven prints
displayed in a very unique way. In fact
it was styled by the Romance was Born duo.
Here are a few pics. Love how it’s
so out there!
This was an easy one.
ZIMMERMANN is by far the label that I will always want to be dressed in
and therefore the most anticipated show for me.
As I mentioned earlier in my blog, my first foray into the real world, fashion industry long before uni and my own rag trade experiences, I took the
opportunity in Year 10, 1995, to do a week of work experience with this fashion
label. It was a small studio with just
Nicky Zimmermann, the pattern maker Genevieve Smart (now one half of Ginger and
Smart), PR/Marketing, Marie Claude Mallat (now the director of her own company
MCMPR) and Simone Zimmermann who looked after and still does, the business end of things. I was in awe of Nicky’s hand sketches, the
bolts of fabulous fabric everywhere, paper patterns hanging on the long steel
rack and seeing the beautiful samples in the showroom, I didn’t mind buying their coffees each
morning! All jokes aside, I really was hooked from then on and knew I wanted to be a fashion designer.
-->
Since then I have developed
a love of Zimmermann's sleek, sexy, innovative swimwear and how Nicky always
masters the mixing of femme shapes with edgy detail to their otherwise constant
pretty colour palettes.
Anyway here are some of my “to die for” looks from
Zimmermann's collection titled “Clique Clique”, styled by one half of Mania Mania, Tamila Purvis.
Love the subtle floral print!
Making a red splatter print pretty, who would've thought!
Open knit sweat with laser cut skirt - LOVE!
Pure swim genius!
Sweet as!
I want this to add to my dress collection! Love their splicing every season.
Cute as! Especially on Rachel Rutt. Almost the same surname!
Very cool.
My fave look of the collection! Genius! Even more genius than a whole lot of other clothing designers.
My other two faves from Day 2 were:
-By Johnny, a much more muted colour palette than
I expected after his Summer ’11 collection but nevertheless it was chic and for
the cool girl when she needs to dress up.
I loved this mauvey pink and white peplum pencil skirt in a hand drawn striped print.
Sporty and chic
- Magdalena
Velveska is definitely targeting an older market and not what I would usually
go for, but I love the detail and the femme tailored look. It has spunk to it. Magdalena was in my year at uni and has worked
for many other famous Aussie designers such as Lisa Ho and Akira Isogawa before starting her own label in
2009. She has garnered quite a following. I love this look below and would totally wear
this.
Love the neon lipstick & detail in ths flowy pencil skirt shape.
-->From what I’ve read and heard, this years’ fashion week was
a definite success and after 5 days and over 50 shows later I am way impressed
with the Aussie talent.
Bloggers and online buyers outnumbered the traditional store buyer. Bloggers from around the world were invited to the shows and buyers from my fave online stores Shopbop and Net-a-Porter where here for the first time too. Maybe one day I could be one of those front row bloggers :)
Anyway these are my
highlights by day. I just couldn’t bring
the whole week into one post of all my faves.
I’m struggling to keep down the loves for each designer as it is!
Day 1:
- Romance was Born was the offical event opener. It took on a comic character look with pop colurs and cut out words of "RWB" and "BLAM" carried by the models. They partnered with Marvel Comics to create their famous photo prints and it worked fantastically to create a colourful and imaginative collection.
This photo courtesy of 4th and Bleeker
vogue.com.au - Fab shift dress.
vogue.com.au - Love this jacket and skirt.
-Gary Bigeni put on another colour
injected
collection. I loved the neutral colours
with not overly bright colours. A move
on from the primary coloured blocking trend.
It was a youthful yet mature
collection. I loved the following
looks.
vogue.com.au - Tomboy pretty.
vogue.com.au - Love this look.
-Manning Cartell showed looks that were bold in
silhouette, colour and texture but had some really great engineered and floral
and botanical prints. I loved the navy metallic and leather jacket with the
cute floral shorts and the boy fit pants, slim at the bottom with horizontal stripes.
vogue.com.au - Want this jacket!
vogue.com.au - Want these pants.
-Ginger and Smart continued the orange and pink
colour combo well and mixed it up with some really cool colourful digital
prints. I loved the pastel apple mint
outfit with shoulder ruffle emphasis. The
modern, chic and effortless aesthetic coming from these two sisters is
something that I can see myself buying into if I had lots of money to spend!
vogue.com.au - Love this look!
vogue.com.au - Want all this now!
vogue.com.au
-Ksubi the cult label showed a masculine, urban
almost futuristic collection. The
highlight for me was the printed palm tree denim skinny jeans and Bambi looking
hot as usual!
ZIMMERMANN had their Spring/Summer 12/13 show today offsite at Koskela (another great Aussie success story).
Here is one AMAZING bikini from the collection! Zimmermann is my all time fave Aussie label. My first work experience experience was with Nicky and Simone Zimmermann when I was in year 10 and have been a fan ever since.
Anyway I will be writing about fashion week this weekend when it's all wrapped up and I will be in a very lust worthy state of wanting the latest pieces from all the fabulous designers.
A fortnight ago I was lucky to be able to go to the Cleo Bachelor of the Year Party at the new Marquee nightclub at the casino. I didn't have anything to wear and so I needed a dress, pronto! I had my eye on this Romance Was Born dress from a little while ago and went back to the store to get it and lucky it was the 2nd last one there and in my size! It's my first Romance Was Born piece and alas romance was born! I am in love with my dress! The beautiful digital print on stretch silk satin, bold jewel like colours in a long raglan sleeve shift silhouette was perfect for the Autumn night time.
A quick run down on this Sydney born label. . . . Designed by Aussie duo Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales the label is 6 years old and season after season they create collections that are quirky, colourful and beyond trends. They have collaborated with Sportsgirl and now costume designing for the Sydney Theatre Company as well. They are super creative and I wish I had as many creative juices flowing 24/7 as they do.
Here is my dress from the other night teamed with my Badgeley Mischka gold sparkle peep toe platform pumps (my wedding shoes which I didn't think I would wear again so soon, thank-you metallic trend). And following are some shots from Romance was Born to show how they styled the same dress from their latest Autumn WInter 2012 collection called "Happy Campers". Much quirkier than my styling.
