Karen saves the day

By FIONA HAWTIN

Thank goodness for Karen Walker. She saved the final day of the trade-only Fashion Week shows at the eleventh hour. With a few exceptions many of the shows were lacklustre or worse.

Like all of Walker's collections, there was a story. Living with Cannibals and Other Adventures, inspired by Amelia Earhart, is about a downtown girl who crash-lands in the middle of the jungle.

Luckily, she has a wardrobe tailor-made for such occasions.

High-waisted, wide-leg pants, skinny jackets, jodhpurs, waistcoats and safari-style suiting including short shorts in tan, white and dun are just the thing for emergency landings.

So too are the yellow, brown and turquoise floral print chiffon shirting and dresses for dinner with friendly cannibals.

The Times of London fashion editor Lisa Armstrong said "I loved it" before she and fellow VIP guest Tim Blanks went backstage to congratulate Walker on a job well done.

It was the same story all week - the big names were the ones that delivered. The week created no new stars, but cemented established names and rising talent.

The final day of the Air New Zealand-sponsored Fashion Week made a feel-good start with Style Pasifika's group show featuring Paula Coulthard, Overstayer and Nadine Freundlich.

The audience got a history lesson from Coulthard, who won the urban Pasifika streetwear section of Style Pasifika last year. Yesterday, she told the story of Pakeha colonisation of the land of the long white cloud in clothing. After a Maori challenge, she sent a model down the runway in a wooden skirt that looked like a ship's prow followed by skirts made from old blankets with blanket stitched wakas.

Gradually, the clothing became more and more European in its look. One red jacket even incorporated four of the New Zealand flag's stars on the back.

Nadine Freundlich's man's tartan coat with knife-pleated back worn over matching pants and woman's tweed dungarees with pleated mini skirt at the back were the most interesting of her tailored suiting.

Overstayer, the label of hip-hop artist King Kapisi - known to his mother as Bill Urale - showed male and female streetwear in a mix of basketball singlets with Overstayer emblazoned over the fronts, hooded jackets, cargo pants and boys' lava lavas in tweed and denim.

But when King Kapisi came out for a couple of songs, it was the entertainment that won the crowd over.

In another fashion meets music overlap, hip hop record label Dawn Raid also showed its less refined streetwear - more oversized basketball singlets, hoodies and jeans - as part of one of the New Generation shows. Again, the highlight came when MC Savage from Deceptikonz started his rap off with "Dawn Raid's takin' over the show".

The Verge New Generation shows are supposed to nurture up-and-coming designers but that is sometimes taken to extremes.

As Sally Ridge and her two associates showed their new james&august underwear range, the audience wondered what's fashion about some racer-back singlets and a few badly-designed hipster knickers?

The show's youngest designer, Nikki-L, is barely old enough for the polytech course she would benefit from.

Things picked up briefly with Cris Roberts' and Beth Mikkelson's Pearl label.

This was far more accomplished. Roberts and Mikkelson have a liking for ultra-feminine georgette and silk boudoir wear for floating about in looking fabulously Blanche du Bois.

But the second New Generation show had more embryonic collections that weren't ready for public consumption.

It didn't help that battle fatigue had well and truly set in for many fashiongoers, but chalkydigits T-shirts proclaiming "I Love My Greengrocer" and "Love Hey Land" really didn't belong at the event.

Nor did Tudor Clee's men's shirts, although they would have looked great in the menswear section at Smith and Caugheys.

IPG designer Turet Knuefermann's fondness for all things Gucci was obvious in her winter collection.

Instead of using Nicky Watson in a barely-there diamante bikini as she did last year, she let her slinky and sexy dresses, tops and pants speak for themselves on the runway with only a sword-waving model, and Nicky Watson in clothes.

Helen Talbot subverted conservative men's suiting with a skinny-fit jacket and hotpants suit, and a tiny waistcoat that gave less coverage than a sports bra.


Look ahead ...

Make like a crusader --- invest in a cloak or a mini-cape for winter.

Buy velvet, but don't make it black. Deep teal and rose-pink are luscious looks.

Men should mix suiting with casual gear for an urban edge. Think hoodie under jacket for a modern version of sharp but street.


Herald Feature: Fashion Week

Fashion Week photo gallery

NZ Fashion Week - official site