If you haven’t guessed from my Instagram flashing at you above, I’m in Sydney at the moment making this my fifth time here for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The “Oh, Brit blogger at MBFWA” novelty has well and truly worn off. I hang around asking for long black coffees, can tell if I’m in Redfern or Eveleigh and more to the point, know the lay of the land when it comes to Australian designers. The tired stereotype about Australian fashion is that designers here do resort froth contemporary-categorised clothes well, appropriate for sun, sand and sea. At least, that was the autopilot quote I trotted out when put on the spot by video cameras here and asked about what Australian style means to me.
The truth is, as is normally the case – far more nuanced. They might be exceptions rather than the norm but a few of the designers I’ve seen thus far buck that straightforward Australian style stereotype and yet within their chosen path of eveningwear, still manage to steer their collections towards an unexpected twist that feels idiosyncratic to Australia. They might have ambitions to steer clear of a slubby t-shirt and a pair of silk pyjama bottoms but their take on “dressy” dressing betrays their roots. These clothes can sit poolside and beachside and they can get wet too.
Kym Ellery for example has always pushed her brand towards an aesthetic that is anything but easy breezy. In fact there’s something deliberately difficult about her penchant for sculptural peplums, stiffened flared trousers and weighty satins and silks. Like you need to really have a vaguely daring and brazen attitude to be an Ellery girl. Her show staged in the iconic Icebergs restaurant in Bondi was a focused affirmation of that. As she had already shown what is her A/W 14-5 collection in Paris already, for MBFWA, she proposed “what the Ellery girl might wear on the red carpet.” All hail the moment that someone dons a nose chain, a crinkled pink-topped mullet ponytail and an extra elongated flared-sleeved mesh gown. It’s unlikely to happen but Ellery’s specific proposal for eveningwear definitely makes you wish someone would rebel rebel it up. There was talk of Zoroastrianism, shadows chasing light in the sequence of ensembles and science of life. None of that really matters though when in Kym’s own words, it was about “keeping it cool.” There’s a lot of that c word about in Sydney. It’s inexplicable and yet frequently seen in the models larking around after the shows, gaggles of girls hanging around in Bondi and the fuck-it effortlessness manner of attire. Ellery was naturally tapping into that. The chunky footwear, the in yyour face (literally) jewellery made in collaboration with Henson and the hair of course are all pure styling but together with the deliberately elongated silhouettes, the stiffened fabrics and complex pleats and way evening looks were built up in layers and asymmetric tilts, this was a girl stalking her own stretch of ceremonial carpet – black perhaps.http://www.stylebubble.co.uk/files/2014/04/0E5A0598.jpghttp://www.stylebubble.co.uk/files/2014/04/0E5A0618.jpg
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Good Evening Sydney
If you haven’t guessed from my Instagram flashing at you above, I’m in Sydney at the moment making this my fifth time here for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The “Oh, Brit blogger at MBFWA” novelty has well and truly worn off. I hang around asking for long black coffees, can tell if I’m in Redfern or Eveleigh and more to the point, know the lay of the land when it comes to Australian designers. The tired stereotype about Australian fashion is that designers here do resort froth contemporary-categorised clothes well, appropriate for sun, sand and sea. At least, that was the autopilot quote I trotted out when put on the spot by video cameras here and asked about what Australian style means to me.
The truth is, as is normally the case – far more nuanced. They might be exceptions rather than the norm but a few of the designers I’ve seen thus far buck that straightforward Australian style stereotype and yet within their chosen path of eveningwear, still manage to steer their collections towards an unexpected twist that feels idiosyncratic to Australia. They might have ambitions to steer clear of a slubby t-shirt and a pair of silk pyjama bottoms but their take on “dressy” dressing betrays their roots. These clothes can sit poolside and beachside and they can get wet too.
Kym Ellery for example has always pushed her brand towards an aesthetic that is anything but easy breezy. In fact there’s something deliberately difficult about her penchant for sculptural peplums, stiffened flared trousers and weighty satins and silks. Like you need to really have a vaguely daring and brazen attitude to be an Ellery girl. Her show staged in the iconic Icebergs restaurant in Bondi was a focused affirmation of that. As she had already shown what is her A/W 14-5 collection in Paris already, for MBFWA, she proposed “what the Ellery girl might wear on the red carpet.” All hail the moment that someone dons a nose chain, a crinkled pink-topped mullet ponytail and an extra elongated flared-sleeved mesh gown. It’s unlikely to happen but Ellery’s specific proposal for eveningwear definitely makes you wish someone would rebel rebel it up. There was talk of Zoroastrianism, shadows chasing light in the sequence of ensembles and science of life. None of that really matters though when in Kym’s own words, it was about “keeping it cool.” There’s a lot of that c word about in Sydney. It’s inexplicable and yet frequently seen in the models larking around after the shows, gaggles of girls hanging around in Bondi and the fuck-it effortlessness manner of attire. Ellery was naturally tapping into that. The chunky footwear, the in yyour face (literally) jewellery made in collaboration with Henson and the hair of course are all pure styling but together with the deliberately elongated silhouettes, the stiffened fabrics and complex pleats and way evening looks were built up in layers and asymmetric tilts, this was a girl stalking her own stretch of ceremonial carpet – black perhaps.http://www.stylebubble.co.uk/files/2014/04/0E5A0598.jpghttp://www.stylebubble.co.uk/files/2014/04/0E5A0618.jpg
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