Rosemount Australian Fashion Week 2010

The smell of hairspray, perfume, designer bags and personal assistants sweating with stress can only mean one time of year: FASHION WEEK. 

That’s right. A mass exodus of magazine headquarters everywhere saw fashion editors and their teams strut to Circular Quay to see what all of Australia will be wearing for the coming seasons (and to also score some pretty fantastic goodie bags). Australian designers are really upping the international ante and, after having made an impact in other fashion capitals (Willow in New York and Sass and Bide in London), some decided to not show on their own turf. But there was still plenty of both established and up and coming talent to cause a frenzy of “oooohs” and “aaahhhs” and not to mention the mega-show of the year, Alex Perry’s ‘Arabian Princess’.

Staged at a soundstage at Fox Studios, the Arabian Princess show has been hailed as the best of fashion week. With over a thousand guests and glittering gold and silver highlighted pieces which were hand sewn, not a detail was overlooked for these knock out creations. And as always, Alex Perry’s show stirred visions of strong, exotic women and celebrated the female form. 

When it comes to quirk there is only one show that is a must-see: Romance Was Born. After a truly ingenious 2009 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, everyone was eager to see what they were bringing to the table. And they didn’t disappoint. Ladies with talons, a dynamic jurassic catwalk setting, a cocooned shoulder ride and even a volcano dress were among the oddities that wowed the fashion crowd. Practical application of these creations doesn’t really come into the equation, it’s just exciting to see the ever-growing talent of this duo (Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett). 

Ksubi made a return after financial worries and recent bad press, bringing a nineties revival to their collection and got back to the Ksubi basics. As to be expected, lots of distressed denim that was complimented by block colours, trucker hats and some unique tailoring that saw the blazers long and the jeans short. 

Arnsdorf’s collection was another crowd favourite with origami style pleating, earthy browns and pastels galore. Designer Jade Sarita took a leap of faith with this collection, going in a new direction with an unexpected aesthetic to her designs. Newcomer Christopher Esber’s collection was a black and white delight with daring keyhole tailoring and will be available exclusively at The Corner Shop in the coming months. 

Bassike’s collection was reliably easy to wear and featured loose knits, streaks of bright orange and jailbird black and white stripes. They also unveiled their first collection of shoes, with pointed-toe flats in sweet pastels that, rumour has it, are made in the same factory as Prada’s shoes.

The high profile international guests were a little thin on the ground this year. Especially when Alexa Chung, who rumoured to appear, was a no show. We had the adorable Style Bubble blogger Susan from London here to have a tour of designer’s studios and was invited to take happy snaps backstage (www.stylebubble.co.uk). The usual style suspects were there; including Jennifer Hawkins, Ruby Rose, Lara Bingle, Alyssa Sutherland (my favourite Australian model), Fifi Box, Gracie and Miranda Otto and Charlotte Dawson.

Altogether the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week was another notch on the belt of steadily inclining prestige of local designers. The pop up bar was lovely, the show production spectacular and the talent outstanding. And of course my head is filled with inspiration and outfits that I will be lusting after for months. 

Stand out RAFW 2010 shows: Arnsdorf, Dion Lee, Romance Was Born, Hussy, Bassike, Ellery, Fernando Frisoni, Karla Spetic, Christopher Esber, Ginger & Smart, Rachel Gilbert, Ruby Smallbone, Alex Perry, Nicola Finetti, Manning Cartell.