Viewing entries in the Runway category
Shakuhachi – RAFW 2011
Being more of a high street brand than a designer label, Shakuhachi’s SS 11/12 collection was subsequently incredibly large and versatile, spanning several distinct looks and trends. Prominent amongst these were bright pops of colour-blocking, lace, leather, print and embellishment. The brand produced it’s own accessories for the show in the way of clear PVC belts and wedges which added a really contempory edge to the range.
Although there were many looks in the collection that weren’t really to my personal taste (though I’m really loving the grey asymmetrical dress), you couldn’t help but appreciate the high commercial appeal of the collection which is sure to get picked up by lots of high street retailers.
Image Credit: Kelly Defina for fashionising.com
Christopher Esber – RAFW 2011
After Christopher Esber’s stunning solo RAFW debut last year (he’d previously shown in the same TAFE Innovators collection as classmate Dion Lee) I’m going to step up and say that I was dissapointed by his SS11/12 offering. There’s nothing inherrantly wrong with the collection… it ticks all my boxes; cohesive, conceptual and wearable, but ultimately falls short of my design expectations.
Esber’s previous summer collection stood out as a 90′s minimalist odyssey of constraint in colour and technicality, whereas this collection channeled – as my friend Lorena put it – “mother of the bride”. Although some remnants of his earlier inspiration shows through in this collection, the most memorable pieces are the shift dresses and demure blouse and skirt sets.
I’ve chosen my favourite looks from the collection to showcase here, and as a result they don’t entirely allude to my overall opinion of the collection as a whole.
There’s no denying Esber’s obvious technical talent, but in my eyes there’s some confusion as to which market he’s targetting as a designer. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
Limedrop – RAFW 2011
For some reason I couldn’t put my finger on, Limedrop presented the only runway of the week that actually felt like summer. The quirky but cohesive summer collection Calypso was built from a range of flattering and easy-going shapes in light fabrications ideal for enjoying an ice-cream down by the beach on a scorching summer’s day. While I appreciated the esotericism of designers like Michael Lo Sordo and Dion Lee’s summer collections; in the middle of a Melbourne heatwave isn’t that all anybody really wants out of their summer gear?
Carl Kapp – RAFW 2011
Showing for the first time at RAFW, master draper and fine tailor Carl Kapp cuts with enviably elegant restraint. Taking inspiration from the ballet shoe and the way it delicately ties around the leg, fluid silks in lustrous earth tones swathed the form with a relaxed grecian simplicity. Sunset and desert shades set fire to the fleeting silhouettes that transformed with the body’s slightest movement, creating different shapes with settled drapes and folds. Dresses clung to the neck and flowed to the floor, twisting at strategic points with knot work and subtle ribboning that tied ethereal slips of silk to a long, lean body with considered versatility.
Image Credit: Kelly Defina for fashionising.com
Alistair Trung – RAFW 2011
Showing a whopping 54 looks for his debut RAFW runway, Alistair Trung was amongst my most highly anticipated events of the week. The collection itself was largely everything I’d hoped for; summer leather, drapery, volume and layers. Famously quoted to have declared “I like to create clothing that wont give women a nervous breakdown,” Trung’s “trans-seasonal, trans-occasional, trans-age, trans-size and ultimately transgender” approach to design is what gives the label it’s strong international appeal. Taking inspiration from tribal culture, zen philosophy and the exploration of the ritual of dressing and adornment, the runway was no disappointment, if a little long winded.
