A model showcases an outift by designer Kate Sylvester on the runway during the second day of the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2008/09 Collections. Photo / Getty Images
It's been three years since Kate Sylvester showed at Australian Fashion Week - so her show was eagerly awaited in Sydney yesterday afternoon; after all, the New Zealand designer has a strong following in Australia.
The idea behind the show was probably best summed up by the
title of the collection: "Royally Screwed".
Their tiaras skew-whiff, skirts split, straps falling off shoulders and misplaced sashes dangling, Sylvester's misbehaving aristocrats roamed the runways to a spot of punkish music.
The designer also launched her menswear in Australia - New Zealanders first saw it at the local Fashion Week last September - and this new collection proved why the boys' clothes are already near to selling out of the Sylvester stores in her hometown.
The looks are masculine and a little bit interesting but by no means too frightening for your average bloke to try.
And as for the naughty young ladies, while most average women won't be wearing the looks with those spats or sashes quite like the models were, there's no doubt that there's a boatload of very do-able outfits shipping to Australia next summer.
As she has been doing recently in New Zealand - her last two shows were all about wolves and Red Riding Hood and then the much lauded, and very popular, surrealist art motif currently in stores - Sylvester managed to strike that perfect, and very smart, balance between themed runway show, interestingly crafted, covetable clothing and that all important "hey-where's-my-credit-card?" buzz. Yet again.
