Fashion Week 2006: The good, the bad and the ugly tantrums

J.D. Fortune front-row at Zambesi. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

Biggest scandal

The lock-out of VIP international delegates at several local shows. The reason? The labels involved didn't feel the need for international exposure. Problem was, no one told the VIPs and they turned up only to be turned away and threw excellent fashion tanties - in full view of hundreds of guests. The earth shook and repercussions were felt for days.

Best runway theatre

A tie between Zambesi, Kate Sylvester and Trelise Cooper. Sylvester's show was smaller but perfectly formed and made hearts pound. Cooper's mega-budget show could have driven lapsed Catholics mad, with monks, tattooed angels and flame-throwers. Zambesi's show had a runway so long you couldn't see the end and a clever piece of theatre using the Jaws theme, a bit of dry ice and a huge boat.

Best sign you're getting old

The family connections. For instance, Annah Stretton's daughter models, as does the niece of Catalyst honcho, Laurinda Sutcliffe and the daughter of industry insider, Paul Blomfield. Petra Bagust's daughter Venetia, the wee baby who once cried through an entire show, has grown into a toddler and at the Tav show danced with the models as her pregnant mum watched.

Most pleasant surprise

Student designer awards are usually pretty hard to sit through, with a whole bunch of madly or badly made clothes. However, the Deutz Fashion Ambassador collection was fantastic with such a variety of professional, stand-out designers that it bodes well for the future.

Least pleasant surprise

We thought that US delegate Brian Long might have overcome his habit of clutching the hands of everyone he sat next to in the front row. A few delegates were shocked when Long kissed them on the lips, by way of casual greeting.

Newest fashion habit

Speaking of Brian Long, another thing he started was singing along to the songs karaoke-style in the front row while tapping the feet. It's a sort of signal that says, "Yeah, I know about more than just fashion, I also know about cool music."

Biggest fashion entourage

This year the prize goes to the designers of the Pacific Islands-based label, Tav, who brought 30 friends and relatives from the Cook Islands to participate in the show.

Best newcomer

Regular readers will have heard of quite a few of the labels - like Jimmy D, Beth Ellery, Jaimie Webster. So possibly the best unknown quantity was Docherty Wilkins with their odd-but-interesting sculptural tailoring. Not immediately accessible but definitely huge potential here.

Hardest working VIP guest

It would have to be writer Jason Campbell. He was the most regular sight in the front row, armed with his laptop. This year Fashion Week had a wireless internet connection and it meant he could file stories and send emails from everywhere in the venue.

Best behind-the-scenes magic

Local stylists proved their worth to the designers who hired them. New and interesting runway looks were created by hardworking Karen Inderbitzen-Waller (for Nom*D, Little Brother and Kate Sylvester), Atip Wananuruks (RJC), and Linda Davidson (Annah Stretton) and won labels rave reviews.

Runner up, behind-the-scenes magic

The Number One Shoe Warehouse. Now that they're doing copies of international designer shoes, every second show included them. They may not be of long-lasting quality but come at bargain prices and in big, model-feet sizes.

Most expensive dress

Peter Loughlin, of the Arabesque label, spends most of his time making frocks for wealthy Arab women in Dubai. One of his dresses was worth $100,000.

Most authoritative presence

The Air New Zealand cabin crew who directed guests to their seats. They were volunteers who gave up their days off to do this job. Which is probably why, when they told you to stow your bags under the seats, you just did what they said automatically.

Cutest goodie bag inserts

Let's just say goodie bag culture is getting out of control. There seemed to be more free stuff than ever this year. And deep in our guilty hearts, the fashion media are all torn up about this. On one hand we love getting a whole bottle of champagne and a year's supply of mascara, but on the other this seems a little extravagant. Having said that, the cutest goodie bag inserts this year included Huffer's great checked wallet and Zambesi's striped blue and grey marle scarf.

Most appearances in the front row by a celebrity

This one is a tie between the rather pregnant but always very well-dressed Petra Bagust, and Jayne Kiely and Hilary Timmins, who were spotted together giggling rather a lot - and that's when they weren't modelling in a show. At the end of the week Raybon Kan started to appear regularly too - probably because he's working on yet another "character" piece on Fashion Week. No one knows why his name tag said, "Scott Dunn, Media Assistant".

Most celebrities in the front row

It would have to be Zambesi. They went beyond the usual local televisual types to include A-listers who don't go out much, like Niki Caro, Karl Urban, Melissa George and J.D. Fortune from INXS.

Most rockin' after-party

It probably should have been Little Brother's. Dimmer was playing, and there was plenty of free beer and pizzas - but somehow the fashion crowd lost interest in this excellent Kiwi band and spent most of the night smoking outside. So it was probably the Zambesi show, where the bartenders eventually ran out of mixes and just poured straight alcohol into the glasses - and people were still drinking while dancing wildly on the runway.