Day three: Waiting for Zammers

The thing about this year is that there's no Kate Sylvester show. I don't want to harp on about it, or give her more grief than she's most likely had already, but the fact remains that minus KS, there's a hole in the week and it isn't an easy one to fill.

That's not meant to be rude, or snide, or any sort of disrespect to the designers who are showing, it just means there's a gap where the knockout should go.

Thank God then, for Zambesi last night and a show that restored my faith in the theatrics of fashion in New Zealand. But fashion isn't about theatrics remember!

Forget the gimmicks says Karen Walker, it's the clothes that matter after all. Yes, and they were fabulous too. But choosing to stage a show in a giant warehouse, with a catwalk the length of a tidy racecourse takes serious balls and Zambesi had theirs out in spades last night.

Not that it was all fun and games from the get go. The interminable wait at the beginning was enough to try the patience of a sinner. forty-five minutes in a damp carpark with nary a ledge to shelter under, let alone a glass of good cheer is one way to test your audience I suppose.

Impromtu bivouacs were fashioned from magazines, programmes and assorted handbag flotsom.

Several of the more gallant gentlemen present were seen to cloak the lovely ladies in their overcoats.

Stylist Rob Niwa certainly got his own back on anyone who has ever sniggered at his Louis Vuitton brolly. Personally, I wouldn't have cared if it came from the Warehouse, I'm just glad it kept us dry.

Gilda Kirkpatrick's gangsta bling ensemble became an object of desire, if only for the cover afforded by the baseball cap-under-hoodie side of things. The best part of an hour out in the rain is a very good means of making one question the validity of the whole enterprise.

There was talk of a sing-song, or storming the doors. None of it amounted to very much though; we were all too broken by the elements.

And so we waited. Forever actually. Those of us who took refuge in cigarettes to expedite proceedings were lucky enough to have one good lung left by the time we got through the door.

Zambesi showed their cojones in their choice of venue, but it took balls of steel to actually survive the start.

Finally though, the drunk birds from Yvonne Bennetti showed up and it was time to get going. The palpable sense of expectation was only heightened by the sheer size of the venue. An aircraft hangar would be compact in comparision.

Getting a glass of bubbles from a lady in a Zamboozi t-shirt was further proof that this brand backs itself, and how great is it that there's such a sense of humour in Fashion Week this year?

Nothing to giggle at in the show itself however. Designers Liz Finlay and Dayne Johnston went out on a limb and the result was an honest to God triumph.

The choice of venue served to set the bar for this show higher than anything I've seen them do before.

The length of the runway alone meant that nothing but an impact, immediate and terrible would suffice, and my but did they deliver.

The collection they showed last night set a whole new standard for Zambesi as a brand.

Everything was covetable, wearable, dramatic, gorgeous. The colours, the textures, the styling, none of it missed a beat. The leather pieces were simply beautiful, the new oversized proportions for coats and skirts were dramatic without being gimmicky, the colour palette of orchres and browns and a range of greens from forest to kelly - all of it left one in no doubt one was seeing the work of two designers at the top of their game.

The show itself was a marvellous spectacle. This year they used a larger team of models than ever before. Having them march out together in a phlanx at the end was inspired. An army of Zambesi. Exactly the right sort of finale for a show full of grace and strength and drama and ideas. Can you tell I liked it?

Zambesi corralled us like silly chooks last night, but it was worth every second of the wait.

Highlights of the day

* Waiting next to Ali Williams in the carpark outside Zambesi. Nothing like a man mountain to make one feel dainty. Dude is huge.

* Nyne. Showing for the first time this year, and bringing a great attitude up from Hamilton with them. Watching one of the trio, Melinda pay homage to Margi from Nom*d at 4.20 last night was too funny, and also very cute.

* Briar Neville walking in Zambesi. Model-cheering has really taken off this year. They yelled the house down for the show ponies at Stolen Girlfriends, but Briar got the biggest shout of all last night. They didn't even mind when she about-faced and caused a bit of a spill right at the end.

Lowlight:

Having The Air New Zealand lounge completely to myself at 3pm yesterday. It's one of the best pieces of real estate in the country, bright and light and sunny. The perfect place to chill out, in theory, and a great place to show visitors a gorgeous view of our city. And it's dead as a doornail this year. Whose great idea was it not to give lounge passes to the delegates from overseas?