Worlds collide on the runway

A model showcases a design by Trelise Cooper at the Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Photo / Getty Images

While designers this week have looked to international musical icons and the innocence of childhood for inspiration, Kate Sylvester looked closer to home for her standout Air NZ Fashion Week show last night.

Called Diamond Dogs, the collection was a tribute to Auckland's Judith Baragwanath, famous for her black lipstick and life of contrast between an upper class background and her punkish arty friends.

This clash of worlds, from posh to punk, was represented throughout the range and in the choice of venue, a dirty inner city warehouse decorated with sparkling chandeliers.

It is a collection that showcased several of Sylvester's signatures and obsessions, from menswear suiting to lingerie to uniforms to knitwear.

The pretty and posh floaty chiffon petals in dress and skirt form, tea dresses, chantilly lace, silk ruched gowns, girly nightie dresses and glittering diamond jewellery sat next to pieces that referenced Baragwanath's signature menswear and school uniforms and the uniforms of her arty friends, with stripes, masculine overcoats, tailoring and patches on the backs of coats featuring Baragwanath's face.

Think girls dressed as boys and boys dressed as girls, and a show finale in which a group of models stormed the runway as a reference to Baragwanath's "diamond dog army". Baragwanath was invited to the show, but didn't appear.

It was a strong and positive end to a day which started with NOM*d's unique film presentation in the morning showcasing a surprisingly feminine collection from the Dunedin label.

NOM*D's Margi Robertson collaborated with costume designer and film director Kirsty Cameron to produce the dreamy and eerie short film that examined the "journey from innocence to experience".

But this wasn't just a simple film screening, with models walking out after the film and weaving through the audience.

The collection featured virginal white pinafores, bib detailing, ruffles and lace detailing that referenced innocence, contrasted with darker pieces, leather, velvet, reworked tailored pieces and flashes of bold colour that represented the rite of passage of growing up and leaving childhood behind.

The idea was brave, and it worked.

Sera Lilly is a favourite with our local female television celebrities, who wear her gowns on the red carpet and on TV - the front row at her show reinforced this fact, with Petra Bagust, Samantha Hayes and Keisha Castle-Hughes all taking in her new collection.

Called The Impossible Princess it featured her signature show-stopping gowns, girly and very wearable dresses and lots of glamour and luxe.

Wellington designer Andrea Moore combined her highly wearable collection with her Silverdale knitwear label in a well-executed, well-edited show.

In a week where muted colours have ruled supreme, Moore's use of colour and plaid coats was warmly welcomed.

The Carpenter's Daughter brought some curvy glamour with a collection called Let Them Eat Cake - making light of the label's plus-sized tag. The range featured lots of bold colour and flattering forms in sheer fabrications with lace detail and TCD's signature layering.

It may not have been a range that set the venue alight with fashion forwardness, but it's nice to start seeing some diversity on the runway.

Salasai provided one of the highlights of the day with a collection of effortless pieces inspired by the 80s and female icons of the past.

Designer Kirsha Witcher's range, called Blu Colla Lovers, featured several androgynous inspired pieces, including oversized man style blazers and vests, bold lace, crushed velvet and a print that featured cuttings from 60s newspaper headlines.

But the chunky handknitted and dip-dyed knitwear was the highlight of the show; it was a first for the Hawkes Bay label and went down well with those in the front row.

The evening started with Trelise Cooper's mammoth presentation of her mainline range and the younger Cooper by Trelise collection.

Both were relatively pared back for the so-called Queen of flounce, with a muted palette and subtle silhouettes.

Of course there was plenty to keep the hardcore Cooper customer happy, with floral prints, full tulle skirts and bow accents embroidered into dresses and coats.

And in case you didn't know that the 80s were back, Cooper reinforced fashion's current obsession with the decade with huge hair, garments with oversized shoulders, injections of bold colour - and lots of sequins.

VIVA EDITOR'S PICKS
* "Deep, discordant, dark ..." Zambesi does it again, creating an ambience of intense disharmony combined with edgy utilitarian clothes in an exquisitely executed show.

* Kirsty Cameron's ethereal film Turncoats showing Nom*D's clothes and exploring the adolescent right of passage and the "conflict between conformity and self expression". Clothes for individuals who march to the beat of a different drum.

* I want, I want... Kate Sylvester's inspiration may have been from an 80s icon but the collection was unwaveringly right now. From the school tunics to the masculine suiting this will be filling my winter wardrobe.