NZ Fashion Week: An insider's diary

Favourite overall show:

Zambesi. The venue at the open-to-water boat dock, the beautiful clothes, the most stylish people in Auckland coming out to play and rock stars in our midst… what more could anyone ask for?

Favourite outfits/pieces:

Where to start? I'm still working out a plan for how I'm going to eat around the time Trelise Cooper's lingerie hits the stores... since I'll be spending a few months' worth of my food budget trying to buy as much of the collection as I can! Also the denim dress and cropped leather jacket at Cybele, skinny jeans with gold buttons at Hailwood, black satin trenchcoat at Zambesi and everything fur-trimmed at Kate Sylvester.

Trend I want to try:

Leggings, Trelise-style. And ankle boots, again as seen at Trelise.

Trend I will be avoiding:

Blue lipstick a la Hailwood.

Best soundtrack:

Wolfmother and White Stripes at Cybele. Although M.I.A at Hailwood got a few toes tapping (and front-rowers, Brian Long and Rich from Keep Asia, bopping).

Best dressed male:

VIP seater Ricardo Simich who, despite working incredibly long hours, was impeccably groomed every day.

Best dressed female:

I would desperately love to raid the wardrobe of

Fashion Quarterly

's Rachel Morton.

Favourite goodie bag contents:

Hard to top Zambesi, I've been practically living in the striped navy and grey marle scarf since I got it!

Best non-fashion moment:

Being seated next to the INXS entourage at Zambesi and invited by them to the concert.

Hottest accessory:

Chunky jewel pendant necklaces at Cybele and knitted beret as seen at Huffer.

Best shoes on the catwalk:

Every single pair at Cooper by Trelise.

Favourite model:

Samantha Harris definitely deserves all the hype surrounding her - she was a complete standout.

- - - posted at 4.47pm by Kelly |

Comment?

Favourite overall show:

Trelise Cooper. In terms of spectacle how could anyone top her theatrical production including a tattooed angel descending from the rafters of the St James, fire torch wielding monks, cute kiddies walking the runway with towering glamazon models, not to mention divine clothing and lingerie.

Favourite outfits/pieces:

Every single thing in the surprisingly dark Kate Sylvester collection; Federation's wool sweater dresses; Zambesi's skinny velvet pants in black and midnight blue; All of the Cooper by Trelise collection; Cybele's chain print shirts; Jimmy D's spiderweb print chiffon…I could go on. Really there wasn’t a lot I didn’t like this year!

Trend I want to try:

Wide belts cinching floaty billowing dresses

Trend I will be avoiding:

Ankle boots. I love the way they looked on models, but I can't imagine I could wear them without looking like a weirdly proportioned elf. Also that moss/mustard-cross colour, a hard colour to look good in.

Best dressed male:

VIP Jason Campbell.

Best dressed female:

Petra Bagust. How anyone looks that stylish when they're pregnant is beyond me. Each day she was impeccably dressed, including above the knee dresses with boots. Yummy mummy indeed.

Favourite Goodie bag contents:

A stripy scarf and M.A.C. Fix + face spray from Zambesi

Best non-fashion moment:

Karen Walker Eyewear launch party with a photoshoot for guests complete with keepsake photos.

Hottest accessory:

Wide belts - Including the pumpkin coloured belt with square buckle at Zambesi or the patent leather ones at Kingan Jones

Best shoes on the catwalk:

The thigh-high boots at Kate Sylvester

Favourite model:

Samantha Harris, A stunning and unique beauty. Also Karla Devine. I'm having a hard time picking one of anything, sorry!

- - - posted at 4.47pm by Megan |

Comment?

I stumble across round one of the celebrity sew-downs taking place in the Chandelier Room just as the contestants are explaining their design concepts to the large crowd gathered.

Comedian Raybon Kan, Leigh Hart (aka "That Guy") and April Ieremia were each given 2 hours to design and sew together a garment with the help of third-year AUT design students.

Designer Liz Mitchell was called in to judge the winner.

She said of Leigh's design: "I like the use of the safety pins, there's a real 'punk feeling' on the bodice."

April's 2-piece halterneck top and white floor-sweeping skirt she called "pretty impressive".

But Raybon's puffball dress with a deep, plunging neckline is deemed by Liz to be the winner.

"You've obviously been taking notes Raybon… this is very similar to the shapes we've seen on the catwalks this week," she told him.

After the presentation, I ask Raybon which shows he's been to this week, hoping to glean where he might have drawn his inspiration from and he tells me that with no media registration or I.D, he's just been sneaking into whatever he can, although I'm curious as to how he winds up in the front-row anyway.

Apparently, according to Raybon: "It's all about who you know, baby."

- - - posted at 5.13pm by Kelly |

Comment?

Probably not a good idea to send a shopaholic like myself to report on the Designer Garage sale happening at ANZFW 4 U. I have just come back lugging a few shopping bags (containing a navy high-waisted pencil skirt from Hailwood and some cute little pieces for my friend's baby from Federation… if you must know!)

Designers including Adrian Hailwood, Caroline Church, Petrena Miller, Sakaguchi and State of Grace have set up stalls on the Fashion Week site and are selling samples and other pieces from last season at sale prices.

Organiser Paul Blomfield has based the concept of the Garage Sale on London Fashion Weekend, a popular 3-day event tagged onto the end of London Fashion Week.

Working on the stalls are many of the designers themselves, which is great for the customer as they can get advice on how to wear the item that's taken their fancy.

I was sold after asking Hailwood himself how I'd best wear the pencil skirt… he told me for work wear he'd pair it with a crisp white or black shirt tucked in or a loose singlet or t-shirt (again tucked in) and a belt for a more casual look.

He said the 'garage sale' has been a huge success for him.

"It's been amazing, I've gone through 2/3 of the stock that I had brought down with me. The first two hours were nuts and we had people queuing outside the doors."

Also a success was his show at Fashion Week. He says he has picked up 14 new accounts this week and has been very happy with the positive reviews he received.

Understandably, he didn't have a lot of time to attend other shows during the week but he managed to make it to Nom*D ("brilliant"), Carlson ("gorgeous… beautiful tailoring") and the Showroom 22 group show to support friends Jaimie Webster and Maddy Richards (MAW) which he said were "both great".

There were many other happy campers milling around the central cash register as I was there.

Sarah, visiting from London, had just bought a pair of Moochi trousers. Her friend Anna had brought her along to have a look at some New Zealand fashion.

"There are some good bargains around here. We're now going to go have a glass of wine and then go and enjoy the shows!" she said.

Leigh, from Remuera, had just bought some "winter things" from Caroline Sills to wear to her son's wedding in England. She said she and her friend "always shop together… and we don't let each other buy anything ghastly!"

- - - posted at 3.31pm by Kelly |

Comment?

Although the trade shows are over, our week of fashion has not quite finished.

Those who missed out on this week's shows get a chance to be part of the fashion fun today at ANZFW 4 U, Fashion Week's inaugural public access day.

There will be highlight footage of the week's shows, live Kiwi bands performing and a Designer Garage Sale for all those bargain-hunting fashionistas out there.

Take a look at what else is on offer today ANZFW 4 U

We're going to head back down to the sheds to see what's going on, and hopefully pick up a bargain or two ourselves!

The official wrap party is tonight at Rising Sun (details on how you can buy a ticket at

nzfashionweek.com

). And although there will be a few revellers nursing sore heads today after Zambesi's after-party last night, we're sure that everyone will be up for just one more to celebrate the end of another successful New Zealand Fashion Week.

- - - posted at 1.19pm by Kelly |

Comment?