We will frock you: A - M of NZ Fashion week

FIONA HAWTIN provides the definitive A-Z guide to our biggest fashion event.


A All systems are go. Come October 18 there will be wall-to-wall fashion during New Zealand Fashion Week. It's a chance for 46 labels (at last count) to show off their winter 2005 collections to national and international buyers and media as they roll up for the country's biggest frock show, sponsored by Air New Zealand.

B Blokes. They're well catered for this year. Those showing menswear include Zambesi Man, Nom*D, Workshop and Workshop Denim, Sidewalk, Mandatory, Dawn Raid, Tudor Clee and chalkydigits. Doris de Pont is also launching her small range of menswear, or "boys' clothes" as de Pont refers to it. It will include a shirt and T-shirt incorporating her season's signature print, as well as a few other things.

C Cosmetics. Makeup has a starring role during Fashion Week. To get the strong colour look which L'Oreal Paris makeup spokesperson Nikki Lovrich says will be big for winter (with emphasis on dramatic eyes in fuchsia, topaz, bronze and greens) the makeup company has called in 720 Glam Shine Sorbet Lipsticks, with Raspberry Sorbet set to be the hit. There are also 480 Touche Magique illuminating concealer pens and 560 Panoramic Curl Mascaras to get the job done. And Napoleon is planning on doing a dewy skin, smoky eye and strong red lip look for RJC, whereas for Helen Talbot, the smoky eye will be teamed with stained lips. World has enlisted their favourite hairdresser and makeup artist, expat Brent Lawler, to do miraculous things using Shiseido. He's flying from Paris to keep the look fresh and original, but will be looking to entomology for inspiration in the finale. Break out the Swarovski crystals.

D Designers. Without them, this frock fest would not be possible. The lineup of 46 labels putting their clothes on the catwalk is seen as the strongest for this fourth Fashion Week. Zambesi, World and Trelise Cooper are among the old guard back for another year. Also returning to the fold is Dunedin designer Tanya Carlson and Kate Sylvester, who had to skip last year because her talented PR and sales manager Rebecca Wadey was in the middle of radiation therapy for breast cancer. The good news is she's fighting fit for this year's effort, as is Helen Grant from M. A. C, the makeup company creating looks for the show and Sylvester's producer Yasmin Farry. Both also had breast cancer last year but are now healthy again. And finally, we get to see what established designer Helen Cherry is doing for her first Fashion Week outing. Others to show include Angeline Harrington, Doris De Pont, Helen Talbot, Mild Red, Miranda Brown, Ng, Sabatini White and Susan Scarf.

E Expect to see. Designers are usually hush-hush squirrel about their collections until they can be revealed on the runway. However, we've managed to wrangle a few state secrets from some. This is what we know. Hailwood's show Attack of the Dolls is loosely based around music. "This year I'm heading down a death metal/Loretta Lynn scenario combining dark leather and hand-woven silk dresses. Stevie Nicks is coming home."

World, which pulled off a stunner of a show at the Northern Club last year, is unleashing its women's and men's collection Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It is a "dark collaboration towards a concise silhouette" blending day and evening wear. The show also means to introduce Worldman as a serious part of World.

Kate Sylvester's Love in a Cold Climate collection is inspired by the Mitford sisters' world of draughty castles, debutante balls and hunting parties circa the 1930s and 1940s with hunting tweeds, tea dresses, overcoats and ballgowns. Think of a delicate floral dress rubbing up against a heavy tweed coat and you're bang on. Sylvester's also bringing in a team from Melbourne salon Shibui to do the hair for the show.

The first show of the week is RJC's Prima donna collection that promises to infuse American 50s sportwear with the refined luxury of Italian culture. Designer Claire Kingan-Jones used heiress Peggy Guggenheim as her icon for the range of tweed, satin, velvet and lace worked into fun skirts, defined waists, sumptuous dresses and winter coats to be offset with knee-length pants, and masculine styling.

Karen Walker's presenting her Living with Cannibals and Other Adventures collection inspired by adventurous types like Amelia Earhart. Expect a mix of masculine and feminine, tailoring and street, military and ornate. Her show is also going to be a launch pad for her new diffusion line Karen Walker Runaway, which is a small collection of denim, T-shirts, sweatshirts and low price-point dresses and tops. Yippee. Karen Walker for all.

Trelise Cooper's collection Flirty Flappers And All That Jazz is full of art nouveau and Belle Epoque references. It's straight to the Speakeasy clubs with flapper frock and mannish suits. There will be plenty of antique rose, peacock blue, mint julep green, printed chiffon, panne velvet, sequins and metallic embroidery.

F First-timers. All up, 12 of the labels are newcomers and are taking part in the New Generation shows. Some are so new they're being unveiled during Fashion Week. Such as Sally Ridge's james&august underwear label. It's strictly a no-fuss, no-lace line-up of undies and tops. Also showing is hip-hop music label Dawn Raid, who represent Mareko, Deceptikonz and Adeaze, and started a sideline in branded T-shirts for extra cashflow. It grew. Now Danny Leaosavaii and Andy Murnane, the names behind the Dawn Raid moniker, are into hoodies, denim, footwear, womenswear and childrenswear. Caroline Church is no newcomer to Fashion Week. She's formerly one-half of the State of Grace label but is going solo with her new self-named label. Pearl's Beth Mikkelson and Cris Roberts, who worked for Zambesi for a long time, are old-hands in the industry but it's the first outing of their label since they set up shop earlier this year. Verge designer and director Ian Webster has already assembled the troops and given them a one-day boot camp on what to expect and how to be prepared for any Fashion Week emergency.

G Get well soon. Poor Liz Mitchell. She should be awarded this year's fashion bravery award for keeping on her fashion track with her right hand in plaster after falling down a treacherous piece of driveway at the back of her workroom two weeks ago. She can't even blame the heels. She was in lace-up brogues but they were leather-soled. At least the unsightly plaster came off yesterday and the slightly more attractive fibreglass one went on. Mitchell's planning to customise it with Swarovski crystals. It's the second time in six months she's been in plaster, breaking her foot over Christmas, which meant she didn't get to go to the Oscars to dress Keisha Castle-Hughes. Still, she's determined to pull off her most luxurious fashion show - called Wallis in Wonderland. As long as no one tells her to break a leg, she should be able to do it.

H Hangover cure. There are so many cocktails dreamed up for the occasion of Fashion Week (see Q), there are bound to be some almighty hangovers. Of course the only effective way of warding one off is abstinence. Yeah, right. So that leaves miracle hangover cures. Some swear by the hair of the dog. A bloody Mary is supposedly best. Must be the tomato juice. Drinking a litre of water followed by orange juice before bed also helps to avoid the dehydration that is essentially what a hangover is. The orange juice helps to speed up the metabolism of the alcohol by the liver. Good to know.

I In the background. For every glamorous model on the runway, there's an army of people behind the scenes. There will be 70 dressers helping them into the gear. And L'Oreal has 30 makeup artists and 48 hairdressers ready to leap into action backstage for a number of shows.

J Join in. The shindig may be a trade-only event but there are plenty of chances to witness what's happening on the runway. For a start, there are two best-of shows on Thursday October 21 at 6.30pm and 8.30pm at the venue. The catwalk shows will feature collection highlights. Adults are $58 from Ticketek. There's also NZ Runway at Labour Weekend from Friday-Monday at the aforementioned venue. Although not run by New Zealand Fashion Week organisers, it will have highlights of the collections at daily catwalk shows. It also includes elements of New Zealand food, wine, music, dance, beauty, art and interiors. For more information see NZ Runway.

K Knitwear. As expected, there will be plenty of knitwear. Something to do with the number of sheep we have and the small fact that temperatures get chilly in winter. Nom*D, Mild Red, Sabatini White and Insidious Fix are all renowned for their knitwear. But Liz Mitchell is also doing something with cashmere.

L Location. After three years at the grand old Auckland Town Hall, Fashion Week is moving house for a harbour view. The old Alinghi and Team New Zealand America's Cup bases, now collectively known as 135 Halsey St, are becoming fashion central. Finally, a good use for the Viaduct Harbour, other than all the eating, drinking and carousing that normally goes on. More room, apparently. It means that designers can have onsite showrooms for the real business of selling clothes to buyers, instead of having to show their ranges elsewhere. As always, there are a few who have chosen to show off-site. Zambesi, World and Nom D are staying mum on their locations but Doris De Pont is taking over Float for the unveiling of her menswear range with mention being made of dance floors. Well, Saturday Night Fever the musical is on at the moment.

M Models. They're the ones that make the clothes work. More than 200 models from six agencies are needed over the four days because 30 or more are needed for a single show. It's not just a case of arriving, having hairdressers and makeup artists tizzying them up, getting into the gear and careering down the runway, as anyone who saw America's Next Top Supermodel would know. Apart from the obvious requirements of height and looks, the girls and boys need to walk. Don't think it's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. Oh no. It's far more complicated than that. For those who need a few pointers, expat model Angela Dunn, a guest, has been running workshops for models on how to make the most of a designer's clothes. She should know. She left here 15 years ago to make her fortune as a catwalk model for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent.

No doubt there will be plenty of celebrities again taking to the catwalk for designers. Nicky Watson, who created a stir last year when she wore a diamante bikini at the IPG show, will be doing a command performance for the label again this year.

>>Part two: N - Z

Herald Feature: Fashion Week

NZ Fashion Week