YOU'VE GOT TO give it credit. Despite the remote location and a seasonal inversion that puts it at odds with the rest of the fashion world, Australian Fashion Week is continuing its quest to become the region's style hub. More than 90 designers, including contingents from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, showed their spring/summer 2005 collections at Sydney's Circular Quay last week, kicking off a circuit that will continue in New York, London, Milan and Paris in September.
'We're trying to position Australian Fashion Week as one of the most important fashion events in Asia Pacific,' says Simon Lock, chief executive of Australian Fashion Innovators, which organises and produces the bi-annual show. 'I'd like to think that we've made significant progress over the past nine years. We've developed a reputation as one of the world's most valuable sources for up-and-coming talents, and we have 300 buyers this season. Hong Kong is a very important market for us, and the feedback from the Asian shows has been positive. We plan to invite countries such a Thailand to attend next year.'
The sun-drenched week opened with Australian Lisa Ho's delicate collection, which sent her fans swooning with delight. Drawing inspiration from Peggy Guggenheim, Ho created a variety of boldly printed gowns in splashes of emerald, cherry, violets and subtle metallics. 'Peggy Guggenheim has always been my muse,' says Ho. 'I just wanted to design evening dresses and cocktail wear for women on a night out and at the races.'
At Sydney University, another local favourite, Akira Isogawa, presented a lyrical, far eastern inspired collection, which included sculptured skirts and exquisitely beaded separates, done in a Hindu palette of creamy oyster and rustic saffron. Models promenaded like tribal princesses. The Japanese designer also teamed up with T-shirt company Bonds to produce beaded cotton singlets. 'I was inspired by textiles and fabrics this season,' says Isogawa. 'I was travelling around the world, and I found some vintage textiles in Paris.'
Wayne Cooper steered clear of ostentatious theatrics and opted for a subdued ambience this season. Set against the backdrop of the Opera House, with a live band singing Frank Sinatra tunes, models sashayed down a mirror runway in sun-ray pleated prom dresses, done in delicious sorbet colours.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Tasmanian-born designer Alannah Hill presented a flirtatious, Moulin Rouge-like spectacle, with models and dancers gyrating in lithe, racy satin ensembles and dresses sprayed with beads and sparkles. 'I'm a die-hard romantic,' she says. 'The show was all about romance, chocolates and sex.' Anti-fur demonstrators caused a stir outside the venue at the Harbour Pavilion, only to find out that the designer wasn't using fur. 'It's really quite funny,' says Hill. 'I've never used fur in my collections and I never will.'
