Fashion Week Wrap Up
In Unison editor Stacey Knott and designer Erin Gaffney forged early nights with cups of tea and slippers to get amongst the glitz and glamour of Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Here is the evidence of their sacrifices for you.
Monday was the registration day, we both forgot about this, so were nervous about our shabby attire, imagining people would already be dressed in their most impressive outfits to pick up their packs and judge us behind their Dior sunglasses. Despite our fears we went down to the Viaduct, home of Fashion Week where we got our passes and delegates bag which included plenty of magazines, a can of beer, coffee, tea bags, Nivea samples, Karen Walker nail polish, a sample CD, bagel crisps and plenty of flyers and information on Auckland.
On Tuesday we went to Annah Stretton’s show. I loved this collection; it was very lady-like and inspired by exotic dancer Freda Stark from the mid-20th century. The colour palette included dark purples, beige and nudes, blacks and dusty pink.
There were plenty of 1920s styled underwear garments, including body suits, as well as lace, ruche silks, frills and ruffles, high-waisted skirts, corsets, some on the outside, animal skins, leopard print, and my absolute favourite was a fabulous tulip styled tutu, in both pink and black.
We spent a bit of time during the week people-watching at the ANZFW bar, the Moet and Chandon Lounge, where we took in all the amazing outfits, big statement shoes, sequins, bow details, high-waisted tulip skirts and harem pants worn with heels were all dominant trends for the Fashion Week goers.
The Diet Coke Little Black Dress show was another good one, - six designers from NZ and Australia made LBD interpretations of the coke bottle. Juliette Hogan was one of my favourites here, with her classically beautiful floaty number with a bow. Hailwood went for clinched waist dresses, while Romance Was Born was a little too wacky for my taste, using velvet and glitter.
On Tuesday night I checked out Zambesi’s latest collection, held offsite at the Sky City Theatre. The collection was typical for Zambesi, androgenous looks, dark and moody, with plenty of greys, chocolate and black, oversized cardigans, pleats, and army style jackets. The suits were slimly cut, with pants cropped above the ankle, waistcoats and chunky knits throughout. On Saturday I also went to their Retrospective show which was amazing, it was their designs over the last 30 years to an amazing soundtrack and with Black Grace dancers performing.
Erin checked out the Kate Sylvester show, held in a huge industrial warehouse with plenty of fashionistas in attendance, with free drinks flowing and the society page photographers snapping away. It was a contrast between industrial grit and glamour with the big chandeliers down the catwalk, and the tattooed models with black lips. The clothes were well tailored, muted colours, with gold detailing and military jackets for the men.
On Thursday we checked out the up-and-coming designers at the GHD show, which included Michael Pattison’s Trix and Dandy collection, made for a younger crowd with its printed pants and Marilyn Munroe printed tee dress. I was also a fan of Chapel I loved the two-tone dress and their use of flowing fabrics and merino wools, Bionic Pixie performed for Serena Fagence which was edgy and extreme, with metallic body suits, and dinosaur spikes.
Later, we were hustled and crammed into corners and bench seats for Stolen Girlfriend Club’s show in an old building in Newton. The collection was country bumpkin meets cowboy, meets bad-ass desert wanderer. Chunky knits, long johns (really), leathers and denims jackets, and knitted short shorts (or perhaps they were knickers?) and other such delights held up with string as suspenders. The after party was a good reason to stay out too late, especially with all the free drinks and bands playing.
All in all a very tiring but exciting event, seeing it all with your own eyes and getting a pass in the first place made us feel fabulously important.
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