Expert Eye: Huffer

A scantily-clad Aha Rock burst from a cake at the conclusion of Huffer's Fashion Week 2011 show. Photo / Babiche Martens

Huffer's onsite show tonight ended with a bang, literally, as models came out of the finale walk jumping and celebrating to Dizzee Rascal's club hit Holiday, complete with exploding party poppers, and "celebrity" Aja Rock jumping out of a mock cake.

The lively party vibe was a welcome retreat, albeit one that could leave you feeling either upbeat or disorientated.

Either way, it marked a new era for the brand with a focus on gradually re-developing the Huffer label with a new sense of direction to come.

As for the collection itself, new menswear designer Sam Hickey focused on developing the brand's existing staple of strong outerwear, from puffer vests and jackets; as well as developing some of the week's strongest shirt shapes with better fits and better fabrics.

With the apparent themes of revisiting the glory days of Communist Russia, the collection also focused on military style jackets and boxy shapes for both sexes.

"We have spent the first six months of the year focusing harder than ever on our garments. It's a changing retail environment and there are some great opportunities for us. We're also ensuring that we stay true to heritage of functionality, which is also a flying trend right now" says Huffer director, Steve Dunstan.

It was also good to see some good knitwear come through, particularly cable knit sweaters for both sexes in grey and colour of the week, burgundy.

Women's wear designer Aimee McFarlane focused primarily on saleable Huffer dresses in jersey fabrics for her third season with the popular streetwear brand, as well as pleated knit skirts in Missoni-style prints that will no doubt be popular with the Huffer customer come next winter.

OUR ONE-WORD REVIEW: Optimistic.