Kate Sylvester's modern fairy tale

Sylvester's show was based on Little Red Riding Hood. Picture / Martin Sykes

Kate Sylvester unleashed her wild side in a knock-out show at a derelict building on Britomart last night. The mood was set with painted forest backdrops, glow-in-the-dark eyes and the sound of howling wolves.

Based on the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf certainly wasn't wearing grandma's clothes, unless she's incredibly body conscious, sexy and cool.

What a stylish wolf, woodsman and granny there were with fabulous faux fur hats, black and charcoal velvet leopard print dresses, leatherette boot-look leggings, strapless Prince of Wales check leotards and leather coats and jackets, suiting, sculpted grey wool coats, chunky mouse-brown knits, finest gauge wool cardigans and peach bed jackets.

Not to be outdone, Little Red Riding Hood went all out with a show-stopping red wool cape, beautiful palest sunray pleated pink dresses, slips and beautiful ivory wool lace dresses.

It was a high-energy show. Where Sylvester is often restrained, she outdid herself with a darker look that will still translate into beautiful, ever-so wearable pieces.

Thank goodness also for Tanya Carlson's younger label Cherry Cotton Candy. It was an upbeat way to start the third day of Fashion Week and was a much-needed injection of fun in a day that limped through until the Sylvester show followed by Huffer's edgy urban casual looks

The label, designed by Carlson's design assistant Cara Cotton, was a young, irreverent take on the Winter Olympics. Hence the ski vests with bold rainbow chevron stripes, fabulous ice-skating mini dresses with contrast collars, buttons and detailing, the leopard-print muffs, cheeky gold short shorts, metallic silver trackies and tack-o-rama nail-art fake fingernails.

Not quite sure if the silver metallic leotard over striped leggings was the piece de resistance or just really bad taste. Whatever. It brought a smile to the audience's faces and a promise from those old enough to remember bad Jazzercise outfits and bodysuits not to revisit the look.

The Dunedin designer's Carlson label showed plenty of what she excels in with a rock-chick twist: wearable jackets, pants, delicate blouses, special occasion lace dresses and maxis - all commercial and should sell.

Into that she threw in a few well-styled numbers, such as the chunky peach Aran knit over the billowing full-length blue floral-print skirt. And the long sage chunky cable-knit gloves were a quirky touch.

Arabesque, the label of Dubai-based New Zealander Peter Loughlin, showed Gulf luxe looks in beautiful fabrics in a moody Arabian nights setting. Silks and beading were to the fore. Men wore Rudolph Valentino brocade jackets and the women were demure princesses.

Jordan Luck made a guest appearance to sing Why Does Love Do This to Me? at Hart's show featuring VSSP, Vamp and V Luxe. The bubble skirt is going strong at Hart, so it's a safe bet it will still be hot in malls all over the country next winter, given the brands' mass market following.

Other shows yesterday included Miranda Brown, whose textile art background now stretches to experimenting with laser cutting of fabric. Her growing confidence has been reflected in her clothing line. Because she's into sustainable fashion, none of the shapes are too radical or trendy. However, they are beautifully made out of eco-friendly fabrics and Brown has also pulled back on the over decoration of her clothing, with a few simple but meaningful motifs bound to make these garments more popular with the not-so-crafty.

Jane Rhodes is another who experimented with prints, using historic botanical images of birds and flowers on her fine fabrics. A simple green belted cocktail in georgette was embossed with fantails. Tailored garments are Rhodes' staple and her coats were particularly well cut.

The four designers comprising the group show were lacklustre.

Charmaine Love, who designs Michael Campbell's golf clothes, showed more of the Maori printed designs that are her signature right down to the one-sleeved affair Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie once wore. The green-gold fern embroidered column dress was a nice departure.

There is definitely room for improvement from Fashion Week newbies - Queenstown label Firefly and Serdoun Couture's Russian-born model-turned designer Alissa Serdoun need to work on their originality.

At least Docherty Wilkins was more colour co-ordinated, sending out French vanilla and black tailored pencil skirts and jackets. The balloon sleeves were a nice touch.

Streetwear label Federation, or Fed as it's called in skate circles, did a tight range of skater gear for men and women. Much of the regulation hoodies, skin-tight black jeans, wide striped knits had Bambi or New Zealand bird prints. The silver birds in flight brooches were a nice touch.