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. 

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