Walking up the stairs of the Convention Centre on the final night of Fashfest 2015, it was clear my first official red-carpet fashion event was going to ooze class, style and celebration. Having done my research prior to the event, I was intrigued to see the night’s theme, ‘Engineer’, in action both on the red carpet and on the catwalk.
Mingling with the crowd prior to the commencement of the fashion show, it was hard to take my eyes off some of the unique, mesmerising and out-there statements made through fashion. This initial impression of Fashfest established high expectations, in my view, of the designs that would soon feature on the catwalk. I can gladly say that the designers, models, make-up artists, musicians and everyone else behind the scenes of the show exceeded the boundary of those expectations, rendering my first official fashion event nothing less than a success.
As models made their way down the runway against a sea of giant camera lenses, I became increasingly impressed by the innovation and efforts of designers and their latest contributions to the fashion industry. While it is hard, and perhaps inappropriate, to attribute a reigning ‘fashion trend’ to the night, the classic black and white combination was on feature and a few collections experimented rather successfully with dyes. Meanwhile some designers pursued their love of colour through elaborate prints and textured materials. Across the board, there was a combination of simplicity and intricacy and it was refreshing to witness the results of designers taking a gamble with unusual cuts. Needless to say, this gamble often paid off.
After the show concluded, I interviewed Rachel Jane Eager whose debut Little Jane Lane collection featured at Fashfest 2015. In creating this label, the local artist derived her inspiration from her childhood, including her fascination with Alice in Wonderland. She tailored (pun intended) her collection to resemble ‘tea party attire’ since the completion of her Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design) in December last year.
When asked what fashion means to her, Rachel responded, it is ‘expression’ and seeking to make ‘dressing up’ correspond with ‘the way you feel on the inside’. Rachel anticipates selling her collection and she hopes to engage in mass production within the next six months. Mel Boyce, make-up artist and owner of Melicious Makeup, described the highlight of Fashfest 2015 as the ‘adrenalin backstage and the creativeness of the designers’. Meanwhile, I spoke to ANU’s Lym Garratt, one of the night’s models who enjoyed walking on the catwalk and ‘making new friends’ at the show. Further, Lym praised Fashfest for its provision of ‘exposure to upcoming artists’.
Fashfest 2015 was a truly wonderful experience and I highly recommend tracking down some of the pieces featured in the show. Looking forward to Fashfest 2016 already!
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.