MBFWA 2013: Shows and Showmanship

Despite all the air-kissing and too-eager stamps of approval, the fashion media is starting to tell us what it really thinks. Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock penned a refreshingly frank opinion piece for The Australian this week; an analysis on the relative successes and failures of this year’s five day affair.

In particular, Lock’s succinct and forward comments about show production and venue choice jumped out at me. Not only did they ring true and loud for the week that was, but the rumblings of similar sentiment from media leaders was enough to convince me that the issue was about more than glitter and smoke machines.

Hello ELLE Australia / photo: Zimbio

Daytime shows on location should be given only to designers who have the capability and talent to add something really special to the event. Camilla Franks, who produced a most amazing show experience, complete with a teepee and llamas camped in Centennial Park, is a shining example of a designer who should be given a location show during the day. There is no point travelling from Carriageworks during the day to go to a similar warehouse venue.

Carriageworks is a great venue, and its industrial inclination allowed both the necessary space (including a lobby, two separate runways and a presentation ‘box’) and the creative ‘blank canvas’ to cover almost any type of show. Industrial, concreted warehouses seem to be the fashion venue du jour, and for two very good reasons: the starkness will either be the perfect foil to a collection, or it will be the ultimate empty space for creative reinvention.

Carriageworks / photo: Concrete Playground

Lock’s frustration was shared by Glynis Traill-Nash (who has since been appointed fashion editor of The Australian.) She summed the issue up twitter-perfect on Day Two, asking “The questions is, why do offsite shows in industrial venues, when Carriageworks is an industrial venue?”

Twitter: @GlynisTN

That came after Christopher Esber at an offsite warehouse, although it did feature a bright blue and orange matrix of scaffolding. Similarly, the Ellery runway was set up inside an abandoned building in the Sydney CBD. Of course, you cannot take any credit from Kym Ellery's collection, or any power bestowed by big-time model trio Julia Nobis, Ruby-Jean Wilson and Hanne Gaby Odiele. But the question for both shows, and a handful of others, still remains: why go to an offsite venue that is much the same as the one you left? 

Christopher Esber / photo: The Vine

Consider that other designers took the official space and tricked it up a helluva lot more. We saw the extreme in the unstoppable Romance Was Born, who created a magical, perverse wonderland that had every second fashion journo dropping the words ‘mushroom trip’ like they knew how that felt.  Then there were more moderate, but still heavily decorated, shows like Hello ELLE Australia; with its gold glitter catwalk, champagne waiters and giant E-L-L-E balloons. And finally, the shows that incorporated only the subtlest of touches – think Ginger & Smart’s runway featuring only graphic black lines, creating the same geometric print as their garments.

Romance Was Born / photo: Ausmode blog

There was an entire spectrum of production, which acts as proof that the venue has the versatility to cover just about every level of embellishment. 

Of course, that is not to say that none of the shows should be held offsite. There were certainly venues that brought something extra to the table. Lock is 115% right in crowning Camilla Franks the Queen of the Offsite Show. It was an all-encompassing experience, with laughing hippie children playing on wooden swings, llamas wearing Camilla-typical prints, and the ‘runway’ itself housed inside the most glamorous teepee ever.

Georgia May Jagger and Camilla Franks / photo: News.com

And Lisa Ho, whose collection was my favourite of the week, showed in the cavernous foyer of the Art Gallery of NSW. Although the aesthetic opposite of Camilla, it was impossible to deny the grandeur of the marble venue as the morning light streamed in through giant windows.

Lisa Ho / photo: 10 Magazine

At the end of the day, it needs to be about necessity. What is it about a collection that means it needs to be shown somewhere offsite, and what will that venue add? Where is the extra showmanship?

Lock calls for a collaborative effort; that we need to work together to achieve the best possible program. And that means being realistic. If it is just about four more concrete walls, the taxi fares might not be worth it. 

By The Industry Baby with No comments

MBFWA: Aurelio Costarella

The Australian fashion industry can tend to be East Coast-centric. Proximity, population density and commerce have created well-connected creative hubs in NSW, VIC and QLD, while extensions out to any state ‘Western,’ ‘Southern,’ or ‘Northern’ are often a little forced. It’s easy to see how the tyranny of distance can force West Australian fashion creatives to switch seaboards.

And that’s what made the second show of MBFWA so special; the celebration of 30 successful years in the biz for an Australian and proudly West Australian great, Aurelio Costarella.

‘Show’ is not an apt term for Costarella’s fashion week listing. There was no runway, no pumping catwalk music. Retrospect was less like a show and more like an exhibition of Costarella glory, curated by the man himself.

Costarella's gallery

At the core of the experience, of course, were the clothes. Couture and RTW for summer 13/14 presented in a gallery like installation of live models. Each girl was regal, mostly still, and vaguely melancholic while showing off the full impact of voluminous skirting in flossy tulle. Or the textural effect of meticulously piled on matte bronze sequins. Or the long, elegant lines of perfectly draped and placed Costarella silk.

The fact that all of this luxury was dreamt up and pieced together at a studio in North Perth made me smile a little wider. It has always been that way, no matter the ever-increasing heights of national and international success that the brand achieves.

In fact, the presentation was not just an ode to Costarella’s 30 years in the fashion industry, but also to the oft-sidelined talents of WA.

Art by Waldemar Kolbusz

First, the obvious: those looming and deeply evocative artworks that sat pride of place in the center of the room, backdrop to the models’ poses.  The moody, melancholy colour schemes were brought to canvas by Perth-born artist Waldemar Kolbusz. Kolbusz collaborated with Costarella on the pieces, resulting in four emotive palettes that perfectly complemented the garments (strategically) positioned in front.

Costarella accessorised with intriguing, detailed headpieces by Reny Kestel, one of Australia’s most sought-after milliners and a fellow hometown girl. Don’t be surprised if Kestel’s intricate, cage-like masks and iterations thereof show up in the 2013 racing seasons – they are edgy little showstoppers.

Headpieces by Reny Kestel / Hair by Lee Preston

 The classic, swept back up-dos were the work of Lee Preston, who is by now a veritable hair institution in Perth. Whether or not you are keeping a tally, the show was already more-or-less a Best of the West, and then…

There was Grace. Woodroofe, if you don’t know. And that’s just the thing; you probably didn’t. Because even in her West Coast hometown, she is still playing gigs with a $5 entry fee. A smooth, silky croonette (who also happens to be gloriously statuesque and beautiful like a woodland fairy,) Woodroofe was an inspired selection by Costarella. She set the atmosphere for the room, hushed and reverent. Woodroofe is beyond talented, but nationally she was little-known.

Instead of recruiting a bigger name, perhaps a Voice Australia finalist, Costarella plucked a Perth girl and put her on a more national, even international stage. Because it wasn’t just a ‘show’, it was a polished presentation of WA's best to fashion week tastemakers.

And that, on top of 30 glorious years doing fashion, is something Aurelio Costarella deserves resounding applause for. 

By The Industry Baby with No comments