From Melbourne Cup to a mall in Shanghai, China fashion newcomer Elliatt uses racing to flaunt its Australian flair
With sales of its affordable luxury lines growing the fastest in China, youthful Australian fashion brand Elliatt opened its first store in Shanghai; actress Zhang Meng showcased its style at Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival
Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival is one of Australia’s most lavish events.
In the state of Victoria, racegoers don their finery, swig champagne and try to back a winner, while “fashions on the field” competitions see the best dressed competing for hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars in prizes.
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This year’s carnival, which sees its biggest week in early November with four major race days, including Australia’s biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup, played host to one fashionable face that went largely unrecognised by Australian racegoers – but is very familiar to Chinese audiences.
Zhang Meng, 28, is a Chinese actress and sometime singer who shot to fame in 2011 playing Princess Wansheng in a film adaptation of Journey to the West. Zhang, who also goes by the English name Lemon, was in Melbourne earlier this month socialising in the celebrity “Birdcage” area of the course over two race days.
Parading an array of youthful and feminine dresses, with lashings of chiffon and embroidery, paired with intricate headwear, Zhang’s attire was in keeping with the racing tradition of hats and fascinators, though with a distinctly modern twist.