KEY POINTS:
The New Zealanders had a fairly minor presence on Sydney runways last week, with only three showing. Annah Stretton showed as part of a group, Cybele Wiren struck out with her first solo show in that country and Zambesi displayed next summer's collection for their Australian fans. A much larger New Zealand contingent holed up in several showrooms in Darlinghurst. In an initiative sponsored by national economic development agency Trade and Enterprise, seven designers - Beth Ellery, Juliette Hogan, Lonely Hearts Club, Love Lies Bleeding and Saben among them - went over to expand their prospects in Australia.
We spoke to some of them at the end of the week:
1. Murray Bevan
Head of Showroom 22, who was there meeting with buyers and media.
Highlights of your week?
Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning were the highlights for me. We'd arrived Friday and spent time setting up and we had a few people through. But on Monday we started getting back-to-back buyer appointments and we had about 12 media through. And we were quite prepared for the Australians to ignore us because after all, we were playing in the big kids' sandbox now! But we were pleasantly surprised - they did take us seriously and so many of them were honestly enthusiastic.
Learn anything about the fashion biz?
We're used to putting on fashion shows but it was great seeing what a difference one-on-one rapport makes. Seeing young New Zealand designers passionate about their work, open and honest. One Australian newspaper commented that it was so refreshing to see all these new faces [from New Zealand].
Find anything interesting in Sydney we should know about?
We didn't get much time to go out but the coconut bread and ricotta hotcakes for breakfast at Bill's in Darlinghurst are always good!
2. Cybele Wiren
Designer of the Cybele label who put on her first solo show in Australia last week.
Highlights of your week?
Putting on the show was just such a massive achievement. It's probably the biggest project I've undertaken to date. We did it on a black runway, we had them cover the runway in black vinyl and that worked really well. And we've had a great response from that - we've been told it was quite different from most other shows. The stylist from Nylon magazine [from the US] took a dress to shoot and apparently they used it, so that's good. The shoes and accessories [made especially for the show] have also gone down really well.
Lowlights?
Being so tired you feel delirious! Oh, and one of our models had food poisoning and she had to have a vomit during the show! But she was so amazingly professional and such a trooper, that no one would ever have known!
Find anything interesting in Sydney we should know about?
The Victoria Room in Darlinghurst does great tapas.
3. Tulia Wilson
Creative director of the Zambesi label; this will be her last runway show. She's leaving the label she's worked with for more than 15 years.
Highlights of your week?
We had an almost universally positive response to the show which was very exciting.
We restricted our colour palette [it was mainly black and white] but that proved to be a real strong point. We've now got some new accounts in the US and the UK and throughout Australia. Because of the MTV awards, it's been celebrity madness here! Nicole Ritchie is wearing our gold, sequinned dress and apparently loving it. And Dita Von Teese was very captivating in the flesh, she seemed quite enamoured of the collection as well.
Lowlight?
You're so busy you don't get to celebrate the work that the other labels have done.
Find anything interesting in Sydney we should know about?
A fabulous new place for breakfast called Forbes & Burton in Darlinghurst. They have a really beautiful and very original menu.
