Tuesday 15 August 2017

MELBOURNE FASHION WEEK - MY PICKS

image: courtesy of google


Soon you will hear the sound of designer high heels clicking along Swanston Street towards the town hall as the week-long Melbourne Spring Fashion Week fast approaches. Melbourne gents have caught on and here you can see guys strutting this season’s favourite trends a long side the women as the city embraces the arrival of Spring, and soon Summer.



Spring Fashion is the perfect opening to what becomes the social season with plenty of fashion and style on show for the looming racing carnival. People replace their sad angry winter tones, ditch the black, and replace with upbeat colours and prints. As Meryl so nicely said “Florals for Spring, groundbreaking”. There is usually an abundance of floral.

I love the atmosphere of a fashion festival. The streets are electric and the energy races through me like a kid in candy store. Some people enjoy formula one racing, I enjoy the fashion circuit.



Being the fashion capital of Australia, MSFW has a lot of expectations to live up to. Melbournites are proud of their style heritage and the “fashion capital” label. We expect a lot from the runway line ups, the settings as well as shopping experiences which must be a daunting task for organisers in creating a program to cater to so many peoples needs.

Of course the shows are a highlight of the festival in the beautiful Melbourne Town Hall building. This year I decided to mix up my ticket selection with some front row, some middle row and some on the balcony overlooking everything like a hawk circling its prey. Which shows am I looking forward to?

I always have an appreciation for the talent of up and coming designers and the Student Runway Collective is a highlight as students creativity is on display from across the state. There is such purity of creativity and freedom when it comes to design students and not necessarily the commercial aspect of their designs. Runway Garage Menswear is ditching the town hall for a carpark this year which will either be a highlight with it's urban flavour, or a waste of my $60 odd dollars. At least it is something different. I do hope to view some variety and not just head to plain suiting with a Fedora on top strutting down the runway. Jack London is always a sure bet for having something a little luxy and unique, fingers crossed.

There is some interesting exhibitions and offerings around town during the week-long event including the National Gallery of Victoria launching The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture. The Imagined Fashion Masters MFW will be a highlight after attending their graduation show earlier this year and RMIT is showcasing its students in a free exhibition. 
The shopping precincts of Melbourne are once again on board and Emporium is transforming into an open-air runway showcasing Australian designers available for purchase within its complex. 

Melbourne has a large “influencer” contingent and I am looking forward to seeing if street style has advanced from what I saw at Virgin Australia Fashion Festival earlier this year and what I see on the gram. The gap between runway and footpath has significantly narrowed with brand sponsorship and a lack of originality for which street style was once known. I sincerely hope to see some originality of style on the footpath. I have heard some whispers that interstate is where the creativity is. Melbourne could you be losing your street cred?
Ethical and sustainability is huge everywhere at the moment including in the Fashion world. Melbourne Spring Fashion Week program attends to this nicely with the addition of a showcase from recycled materials as well discussions on the very subject.

Tickets and program are available online https://mfw.melbourne.vic.gov.au/

Get ready Melbourne, the footpaths are about to be crowded with photographers, bloggers fashionista’s, “influencers” and those just wanting to enjoy the fashion lifestyle for a night or two. Then there will be me, gorging on all the wonderful activity. Be sure to check back in a few weeks with my post- Melbourne Spring Fashion Week wrap up.

Let the outfit selection process begin!







2 comments:

  1. sounds like an exciting fashion event, and one that I'd love to go to! Sadly, in Taiwan which is where I'm currently residing, fashion shows only happen once or twice a year and aren't so rich in events.


    Thanks for sharing on the Fb group Fashion Bloggers United. :)

    Jo Nguyen
    www.outlanderly.com

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    1. Lovely to hear from you Jo, I am sure you keep Taiwan footpaths looking like a fashion runway.

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