KEY POINTS:
Sometimes the difference between Australian and New Zealand fashion seems as simple as black and white, but a middle-ground emerged yesterday in the first showing by one of theirs over here.
Not for Kirrily Johnston the flesh-flashing style of much of what is shown in Sydney at the summer collections. They do tight and white and we do loose and black.
"You can layer up, it's a much more sophisticated way of dressing," she says of our cool-climate style and her hometown of Melbourne.
But she's not bagging her compatriots: "It's a lot to do with the weather," she says of the Sydneysiders' penchant for the big reveal.
Johnston is a more subtle creature and her aesthetic suits the New Zealand style.
"I've been made a bit of a fuss of - that's nice," she said after her show. But showing here felt "kind of the same as normal", and made sound sense, given New Zealand Fashion Week concentrated on winter collections, whereas Australia showcased summer.
"It's also three hours away, so no jet lag, no foreign language."
Financially, showing here also added up, particularly if she picks up more buyers here. She will be showing her range to buyers all week, but hopes to take time out to see the Zambesi show tomorrow night.
Her own show was entitled Black Perfume, slang for opium, and was inspired by Parisian opium dens a century or more ago. There was a modern edge rather than too much fin de siecle referencing, but the connection came in languid, draping garments in a dreamy colour palette of burnt terracotta and black, with a little cancan-style stripe.
Johnston, who was invited to show by Fashion Week director Pieter Stewart, in what the event hopes will be just the beginning of Aussie interest, knows how to get herself welcomed back.
"Kiwis are well dressed."
