A little later in the evening, the Fashion Week crowd moved along to the Huffer show. The crowded event was cleverly held in the sponsor's Porsche showroom, prompting almost everyone who's never owned a Porsche (all the journalists) to ask why a mechanic's workroom was so clean, and the Porsche fanciers (all the middle aged men) to answer that all the fancy car workrooms are this clean, all the time. Check 'em out next time you're walking past - it's true!
Once again Huffer, who have a very distinctive style and who know how to work it, sent out a very cohesive collection. Yes, it's street, skate and casual wear - but with a personable twist.
And it's cool too - but it's not try hard cool, it's a "cool is, as cool does" kinda cool. If that sounds like nonsense, well then, it's a subtle trait rather than one that needs to be boasted about.
So as usual, they did a lot of the things that the average New Zealand guy already loves them for - great shirts, long sleeve Ts, cardigans, easy to wear but subtly different jackets - all of which, as Frank Sinatra sang, he can do his way. Homies, rockers, surfers, farmers or bankers, there will be something here for all of you.
Besides that though, the label did seem to be taking a few more risks and really putting a very seasonal stamp on some of the clothes (as in, you'll know exactly where it came from and from which season, basically it's just a lot more high fashion).
Their bright colours were very Huffer but also very of the moment. And the elbow patches and jacket linings in different, brightly coloured purple and green checks, the collared shirts that were half one colour, half another and the rather fabulous knitwear, featuring different blocks of colour as if from a Mondrian painting, are all definitely a little more dangerous.
And although the label still seems to be primarily about, and best at, menswear, the womenswear was also looking great with lots of accessible styles of the casual wear for the Huffer girlfriend. In fact, she might even be lusting after one of the best items out of the whole collection: a super-fashionable, not-seen-before, high waisted but very wearable trouser for boys that's bound to be a big hit.
Lonely Hearts:
They say that every twenty or so years, there's a retro-fashion revival in store. As in, the 70s revival happened in the 90s. The 80s revival happened at the turn of this new century and the 90s revival should be creeping up on us any moment now (New Rave alert, people!).
Apparently this is because as the children born in those decades mature, they start to mine their parent's hey day - that is, before their parents had them - for nostalgic fashion, music and other pieces of popular culture.
So it does makes timely sense that local label, Lonely Hearts, should be taking inspiration from things like the 1985 movie,
Now some people might think those references are pretty uncool but not the folk at Lonely Hearts. Anyway it's not like they're taking direct inspiration from those sources or simply remaking vintage clothing from that decade. No, no, they're coming up with their unique twist on it, spiced with a little bit of the arty, punky vibe the trio themselves are into.
In fact, the immaculately styled clothes on the runway all came with a special Lonely Hearts twist. It was as if some aliens decided to put on an 80s revival on their home planet and they just got everything a teeny bit wrong.
So there was a motorcycle-style jacket with studs - just like Madonna's in the movie - but the studs were giant ones. There were long parkas but the drawstring waist was oddly placed, a bit too low. A zip at the neck of several dresses seemed at the wrong angle and a high waisted pant also had a lower-then-usual crotch.
In fact it was like seeing all those 80s inspirations reflected back at you from mirrors in a carnival side show - everything looks just a little bit warped.
None of it was as easy to wear as an oversized T-shirt with a big 80s slogan on it or a vintage dress, but far, far smarter on the whole.
And then on the straighter side were things like dresses with big beige polka dots and a frill and a tough-pretty party dress with a three tiered skirt, made out of perforated, coated cotton that actually looked like leather.
All of these things are so naff, they're actually awesome. The addition of oversized, mesh T-shirts and sweats with a raw edge also toughened this whole lot up too.
All in all, this was a fantastic, cohesive collection of high fashion street wear by a relatively young, talented label that managed to combine hip, retro references with intelligence, dark humour and their own off beat aesthetic.
Cherry Cotton Candy:
Watching runway shows for a streetwear label can present certain Fashion Week dangers. One of the biggest ones is boredom. Because it can be, as has been said before, like sitting in a cafe watching people walk past.
Happily this was far from the case with two labels that showed last night, on the final delegates-only evening of Fashion Week.
Cherry Cotton Candy (or CCC for short) is the youthful, diffusion label that comes out of the Dunedin workroom of designer Tanya Carlson and it was shown last night ahead of the more grown-up range. And it was a great, quirky little step forward for the little sister - or should we say, sista.
In the past CCC has dwelt perhaps a little too heavily on that cutesy, 50s retro, roller skater style. You know, cherries, hot rods and girls with ponytails. It's a nice idea, and good looking too, but starting to seem a little dated in light of the proliferation of such looks.
Which is why it's good to see the label moving on. These days it's more about a mad mash-up of musical or youth movements. But all done in a way that completely fits in with CCC's own streetwise-but-cute character.
In fact, there were a mix of styles that would make Gwen Stefani proud; everything from oversized checked shirts so long they were dresses, to matching mesh trackpants, tops in colourful patterns and striped, quilted bombers.
Additionally, in the past CCC and Carlson have been quite separate but it looks like some of the tailoring talent that goes into the Carlson label's work is finding its way into the CCC collection too - where this was most notable was in a couple of slightly more sophisticated tops and the sort of 70s-style, flared denim pants that Kate Moss has been popularising.
Conclusion: Kawaii!!, as the dressed up, Japanese girls of the Harajuku district in Tokyo, who partially inspired this collection, would say. (It means "cute" in Japanese).
To people who can't sew, indeed, who have never been able to sew, and who become frightened when a button falls off at an inopportune moment, designer Tanya Carslon is like some sort of goddess.
Although sometimes it's not immediately obvious when you first see them on the runway or perhaps on a hanger, this woman and her Dunedin team really know how to cut a pattern. I mean, really, really know. And how to cut it into very tiny pieces. And then how to put it all back together again until it forms a beautifully fitted skirt or shirt or jacket and you can't even tell that that particular garment was made out of five million little bits of fabric, cut on the bias, or whatever the hell is happening there.
There is just one small problem with this. Carlson knows how to cut a pattern, she knows how to make clothes that suit just about every figure type, she knows everything there is to know about old fashioned tailoring but sometimes it has felt like she doesn't quite know how to do high fashion.
Sure, her dresses are to die for, the high quality fabrics are incredible, and the craft involved in the making is to be admired no matter what. But are they particularly modern? Or is it just the older woman who finds them particularly appealing?
And therein lies the small problem, at least for the fashion writer. With this collection Carlson seems to have tried to remedy this. She's been surfing a lot down in Dunedin so she started looking at wetsuits and how they were made, then looking at all those protective panels made her think of beetles' exoskeletons. All of which has led directly into some of these rather amazing garments.
There were quilted jackets made out of what look like, to this non-sewer, like dozens of carefully constructed-together panels. What looks like the lapel of a tuxedo jacket is actually a piece of quilted fabric, that doesn't come free of the jacket at all.
There was a figure hugging dress made from intricate panels, with a sort of collar that twisted around behind the neck and stood up like half of an old fashioned ruff.
A pair of skin tight pants and then some jodhpur-styles made of more panels.
Another jacket where one side of the collar sits up and the other curls delicately around.
Now that may all sound like some crazed exercise in deconstruction but in fact, most of the clothes looked completely normal.
When the quilted, more futuristic and streamlined pieces were shown together, atop some sci-fi-sized wedge heels, they made for an utterly modern silhouette. When put together with the more classical pieces they looked like a nice jacket.
Oh yes, there were other clothes in this collection too a sexy black satin romper suit, a flaring, pleated mini skirt, some knitwear and gold lace cocktail party dresses - and doubtless they will all sell well to Carlson's confirmed fan base.
But it was the fantastical exercises in pattern making trickery that had those of us who have found it difficult enough to hem a skirt properly in the past gasping, and then asking, "how the hell does she do that? That's amazing."
AUT Rookie Show:
Possibly one of the best shows for any tired, hungry, grumpy fashion journalist in need of a burger and a reality check to watch during Fashion Week is the AUT Rookie Show.
For one thing, watching the final year students display the results of their study it makes you realise just how big an effort designers who have their own labels put in to mount a runway show.
It also makes you realise how many different kinds of fashion design there are all of the would-be designers (there were over 25 of them but this writer lost count!) who showed were doing different things. Some did sportswear, others did menswear; some liked tailoring, others preferred to knit or print. Some did really trend based outfits while some preferred to go down the deconstructionist road blazed by the likes of popular and successful locals, like Zambesi and NOM*D. It's a gentle reminder that there are actually so many different kinds of fashion labels and collections within this country's garment industry and that, just because one person loves the dark and intellectual aspect of our fashion design traditions, that doesn't mean someone else won't prefer sequins and pastel pink all day, every day. The most important things are quality, originality and the thought process behind it all.
And having said that a couple of the collections stood out as potential names to look out for in, hopefully, the near future: Karen Chen with her bright colours and paint splatter printed tees for the boys, Gabrielle Muir for subtle work with texture, Rebecca Sprat who could get a job designing Swanndri-styles for Karen Walker tomorrow, Sam Erkkila's delicate, artistically inclined spiderwebs sitting craftily on soft wool vests, Angela Wong's geek chic sweaters and Yasmin Shardlow seemed a particularly exciting stand out with her excellent futuristic silhouettes featuring sheer shirts under space age vests with double capped shoulder pads.
And finally watching the Rookie show brought to mind one more thing, a lyric from good old George (Benson, that is). Just sing along with me if you know the words: We believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Lola, 5.00pm:
Rachel Hunter's swimwear has a serious psychological problem.
It's suffering from a terrible case of what is commonly known as multiple personality disorder. In fact, rather than Lola, a better name for this collection of togs would have been Sybil (Sybil being the character in the 1976 movie of the same name, that dealt with a woman who had sixteen different personalities).
But this is not a bad thing when it comes to swimwear - because as has been said by dedicated beach babes before, you can never have enough pairs of togs.
And as co-bikini-designer Megan Walls said immediately after the show, "we made this range for the woman who likes to change her mind".
Which is apparently why there were multiple personalities on the catwalk this afternoon.
There were the cute tomboys in a floral, Marimekko-inspired print - tankinis and hipster pants - with thick black trim who were probably going for a surf later.
Then out came chic, urban girls in sporty red and white stripes, black and white bandeaus and minimalist shapes, followed by a couple of retro-cute, pin-up girls in yellow polka dots and bikini pants with floaty little skirts.
Nature lovers had their chance in white togs printed with green hued, bamboo-style foliage.
And the final group of women were the wealthy, older ladies who prefer to lounge by the pool in big, black glasses, sipping cocktails and ogling young men in budgie-smugglers.
These sophisticates were catered for with diamante details, luxuriously long sashes to tie their tops and fabric gathered in flattering places as well as colours like platinum.
Unlike most of the labels showing here this week, who are displaying collections for next winter, Hunter's togs are already available in the shops in time for this summer.
Park, 3.00pm:
Next time Paris Hilton gets arrested, she should consult debutante designer, Joanna Hadfield of the Park label for a fabulous prison wardrobe.
The cute cotton mini dresses in black and white convict stripes will be perfect for her time in the Big House. And should she be released early she can simply throw Park's lovely red wool coat, featuring money bag pockets with little bows to tie them and shiny diamond shaped buttons, on, for her first press conference.
But gosh, what if our favourite blonde heiress stayed in jail? And, ohmygawd, what if, while she was inside, she hooked up with a cunning bunch of cat thieves? And started robbing banks and jewellery stores?
Well, then she would wear one of Park's dozen, well made coquettish little dresses, all featuring some sweet and smart riff on the theme of gold, diamonds and robbers.
OK, so jokes about Hilton aside, the Park collection was a sassy, flirty little collection, featuring fresh signature prints, that was well executed with just the right amount of pretty-pretty detailing.
Deutz Fashion Ambassador Awards, 2.50pm:
If we are to believe the argument that the creative industries - music, film, fashion, design - will save the nation, then someone should buy the industry newcomers at the Deutz Fashion Ambassador Awards a drink.
Because once again this annual design competition served up an extremely fine looking bunch of candidates.
Some of them - including Tymone Winter and Chelsea Thorpe* - are even selling their clothes in stores around the country already.
First up was last year's winner, Sherie Muys, who christened her brand new label, SherieYvonne, and quickly displayed an understated but very clever capsule collection in black and white.
Her wrap around skirt-cum-aprons were a very cool addition to a tailored suit and her beautifully finished shirts would be a hit whether worn formally or casually.
Elizabeth Wilson's tough, sexy ladies and Tymone Winter's beautiful use of draping and colour make for clothes both interesting and sale-able.
Alex Kim, Andrew Smith and eventual winner Jann Wang went down what seems to be becoming a rather traditional New Zealand fashion student's path toward artiness, deconstruction and/or the cobbling together of several garments.
Possibly most interesting of all, in the ideas department, were outfits verging on bad taste and therefore really rather cool.
Ya Kun Cai made odd, 80s, ladies glamour dresses, complete with panels of studs and leather and Yawen Chang put together panelled leather dresses with ethnic-patterned silk chiffon and some of the craziest knitwear seen on runways so far this week.
* Chelsea Thorpe has already shown this week; see the
According to Trelise Cooper, next season's adorable little madams about town will be wearing leopard print, candy-coloured stripes, skirts made of brightly coloured mesh layers and prints that run the gamut from flowers to cats to sneakers. And of course, bucketloads of pastel and pink.
Stand out numbers include sequin covered sneakers for girls with a princess penchant, red velvet coats, sparkling dresses and tops, red bloomers with black frills and a fluffy white bathrobe with a heart appliqued on the front and the words "Beauty Queen" on the back in red.
All in all, it was bloody cute, as were the assembled four-year-olds who traipsed, skipped and wandered down the runway to pose sweetly at the end for photographers.
In many ways it's actually a good thing that Cooper's principle collection for grown up girls is a little toned down these days.
