RAFW 2011 Day 3 Wrap Up  May 5, 2011

Here is the wrap up of Day 3 at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week from Pedestrian's guest blogger, Thea Basiliou - tastemaker, buyer and owner of Brisbane-based boutique Blonde Venus...

Showroom - Lover
What a lovely way to start the day. Madeleine and Kate at Lover greeting us with hot coffee and breakfast to help us get through the day!

Lover showroom

It was V! exciting to see this collection in the showroom (hold it, stroke it, squeeze it). I started pulling pieces from the collection rack to photograph it and I virtually emptied the rack as I loved it all.

It seems strange to say this but it is refreshing to see a collection and actually like so much of it. There are many times that I have received look books or walked into to a showroom and felt like I was struggling to choose beyond a few styles. That's definitely not how you want or should feel. You need to love it and want it and feel passionate about it.

So, thanks Lover for making our week. I look forward to wearing you flares all summer long!

Flares at Lover

Showroom - Dress Up "Grandiflora"
I have heard many buyers this week lamenting over the standard of some of the collections showing on the Runway. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is.

All buyers are never going to love everything or want to see every show. You actually just need to know what you are doing and who you should be going to see. I know what I like and realise that for a contemporary store like ours some of the cooler labels are not going to be on a mainstream Runway.

Stephanie Downey's Dress Up collection is a fine example.

We have stocked Steph's collection for a few years now, so know it well. Dress Up is simple, edgy and cool girls don't need to see it on a Runway to know that they want to buy it and wear it till it falls over.

Steph's latest collection called Glandifora is based on the rich colours of these stunning Begonia leaves - olive, grape, toffee, chartreuse, chocolate, forest green... plus she has created an all over Begonia print on silk that thankfully doesn't look like a digitally worked print but all that we feel like right now and that's simply a charming print.

This collection includes her signatures shell shapes, collared blouses, pleated trousers and sexy dresses with new angled lines and plays on symmetry through seaming and darting. I have too many favourites from this collection but I love a good jumpsuit and this one is red hot!

Showroom - Carly Hunter "Polymorphic Light Explosion"
At the risk of repeating myself! Carly Hunter is another important young Australian designer who has put her heart and soul into making something that comes from an intelligent place.

Polymorphic is an biological term meaning 'the occurrence of different forms, stages or types in individual organisms of the same species'. I know this because I just googled it which goes to show you that fashion can be cerebral as well as arty.

Again, if you know Carly's work, she has quite a strong signature that transports from season to season. These images say it all - there is a certain easiness that comes through in these shots - layered transparents and it's all about white light (white heat). I can see these in summer accessorised with a Hendrix Gin and Tonic and a slice of cucumber ;)

Carly's pieces are also fabulous as seasonal keepers due to their modern style - a simplistic avant garde look that can be so adaptable.

Runway - Michael Lo Sordo
Michael Lo Sordo is a name that has kept cropping up over the past 3 years or so and I have taken peeks at his collections from afar. I hadn't been quite wooed enough to take a further look until I saw his
current winter collection which is why I went along to his show yesterday.

Again, the Cargo Hall morphed into another being which was a beautiful clean white minimalist space and a perfect host for his collection. The models seemed to be gliding around the room and I think that is
a testament to his clothing. Beautiful, light ethreal pieces in this largely white collection floated around the room, light as air.

There was also soft blues and pinks and a soft print that felt like a paint brush that had been dipped in water and left a trail of colour swimming behind.

My favouries in this collection were a simple drop waist shift dress with a pleated skirt in and another short shift dress with long sleeves and a-line skirt which were both in white. The overall result was not forward as much as contemporary evening and possibly contemporary bridal wear and wonderful to feel such quality and high standard in a collection on the Runway.

Runway - Gary Bigeni
I think that Blonde Venus may have been one of the first stores to ever stock Gary Bigeni's collection oh so many years ago so I feel a personal attachment to see what he is up to. Plus he is one of the most adorable guys you could ever meet!

I often get a little flippant looking at Gary's collections because I have seen so many of them over the years and I guess I may have tired of the idea of a draped jersey dress. So last night was exciting as it was such a stunning collection and such a pleasure to watch. Yes sure, Gary had still included that dress but his incredible colour palette of rich pumpkins, russets apricots and tans mixed with shades of summer blue was so refreshing.

The addition of a sporty medium width printed stripe in these very same tones was also so uplifting. A print but not like anything we have been seeing everywhere - a real zesty stripe that looked great in every style that it came out in.

Zesty

Gary also achieved some great tailored trousers and jackets and some very luscious leather pieces - beautiful shorts and my favourite piece, a pencil skirt in half leather and half jersey.

The super high heels looked a little dangerous to navigate in but they were a beautiful match to the collection and I believe that they are Gary's too. I also loved the grey pedicure.

We wound up the night with a fashion dinner of course - Lauren Clarke (Lover), Nicola Sudjana (Valonz), Monique White and Austin Morrow (QUT) at a fabulous vegetarian restaurant called Yulli's in Surry Hills.

It's already 3am as I'm finishing this update and Dion Lee is at 9am.
It wouldn't be fashion week any other way!
Thea x