Katherine Lowe shares her Australian Fashion Week highlights. Photo / Katherine Lowe
Katherine Lowe shares her Australian Fashion Week highlights. Photo / Katherine Lowe
The best part about fashion week (for me, anyway) is that there's always something to see. Whether it's clothes on the runway, style on the street, crazy hairstyles, fashion 'celebrities' or street style photographers in their element, it's visually stimulating. There's an energy about the place.
On the flip side, you're constantly feeling bad because you're comparing yourself to everyone else around you. Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia had its ups and downs and its in-betweens. Here's 10 things that I loved, didn't love, or were just plain interesting over the week:
1. Shows I thought were great: Michael Lo Sordo for unstructured tailoring and block colour, Ginger and Smart for smooth low ponytails and a diagonal sheer striped fabric, Dion Lee II because the collection largely consisted of blue, white and black which are my favourites, the hair was tucked into the back of the clothing, and it was sport lux which I did not expect at all but loved.
2. Models: Yes I get it - they're beautiful, their bodies are beautiful, their job is to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. This doesn't mean I want to see their naked backsides. One lucky lady strutted herself down the catwalk in a painted on 'sand' bikini that left very little to the imagination. You couldn't help but stare at her crotch. Too much skin for this prude. Keep it classy, Sydney!
3. Kids: I haven't really witnessed this at any other fashion week I've attended, but people love to bring their children to shows in Sydney. One particular fashion child was toting a camera and shooting members of the audience pre-show.
4. My favourite show of the week: (Taking into consideration I wasn't around for the last day of Fashion Week) had to be Toni Maticevski's absolutely beautiful collection, 'Vision Opportunity'. I don't think I've ever felt so in awe at a fashion show since Burberry made it rain indoors on the catwalk during a men's show a couple of years back. It was structured and clean and detailed all at the same time, and my favourite part: there were huge full skirts fit for princesses.
5. Speaking of full, gathered skirts: Get one immediately if you like to follow trends because it definitely is a thing. I saw long (below the knee, above the ankle) skirts on a bunch of fashion-celebs over the three days.
7. Second surprise trend: #STARTTHERIOT tees by Australian model, Ollie Henderson. They're basically white tees with a black hand painted slogans such as 'Reject Racism', 'Welcome Refugees, Save Lives' and 'Save The Reef' on them. According to style.com, Henderson created them to "encourage young people to become politically aware and involved". Nothing wrong with that, and it's bloody working because I saw them on a tonne of models over the week. Three thumbs up.
8. Flat shoes on the runway and off: If this is a trend, it's something I'm more than happy to get behind, as I'm sure the models are too (I saw at least three wobble or lose a heel down the catwalk.) Down with high heels!
9. Rain: Fashion and pouring rain do not mix. Two thumbs down.
10. Oh Lorde: There's no way you could've entered Carriageworks (the fashion week venue) without hearing a Lorde song. At least five Kiwi models walked the shows. Three New Zealand designers showed collections. One directed the hair for several shows (Richard Kavanagh). There were lots of Kiwi media in attendance, including editors and fashion-celebs that live in Sydney but are originally from the Land of the Long White Cloud (including Chloe Hill - Market Editor of InStyle and Natalie Cantell - model/stylist/writer). Go NZ!
