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You'd think, what with being a mother, a wife, a fashion designer and the owner of her own label, Sera Vaea would have time for little else. But, in the past, Vaea has done plus-sized modelling too. Indeed she says she'd love to eventually start a plus-sized range, because she believes no one is providing clothes for younger, bigger women.
"It's huge in America. It hasn't really been done here." Which is why Vaea is pleased at the inclusion of plus-size label The Carpenters Daughter in this year's Fashion Weekend, the Fashion Week add-on which is open to the public.
"I think it's fantastic ... The average sizes are 12 to 14 anyway ... so it's important to have something positive at Fashion Week."
Fashion Week manager director Pieter Stewart is delighted The Carpenters Daughter will be showing this year after having a booth last year because the label reflects what is popular and important in the market. However, the owner of The Carpenters Daughter, Caroline Mar, says while her label's presence on the catwalk this year will be ground-breaking, Fashion Week organisers had been unaware of her label.
"Quite frankly, they didn't know who I was. They didn't know I was a retailer throughout the nation when I sat down to meet with them. So I was a little bit put out about that because I always know who I'm talking to if they're in front of me, that's business."
Mar had to find her own plus-sized models too.
"Fashion Week's biggest concern was 'we can't give you models like we can for everybody else, so therefore what are you going to do about it, Caroline?' I said 'I can find them'." Mar contacted her strong client base and selected 15 who responded including Qantas Film and Television Awards nominee Geraldine Brophy from auditions held in late July.
Mar's goals for the runway show are simple. The first is to raise awareness of her brand, which has been in existence for 19 years.
"And to put the big girls up there for the first time. I don't know what's going to happen. It might explode, who knows?" she laughs.
Some are more circumspect about the inclusion of plus-size fashion, however. Viva fashion writer Zoe Walker says it's great The Carpenters Daughter has been included, "but I'm slightly cynical about it and think it is a bit of a token move. Designers should be incorporating bigger sizes into their ranges instead of it being a one-off token event".
