Karen Walker:fashion

Karen Walker

Actor and Australian darling Cate Blanchett was front row in 2000 as guest editor for Harper's Bazaar this year. One of here favourite shows was that of the New

Zealand designer Karen Walker who collection was a quirky take on society dress and who send her models down the runway in silence, instead giving each of the

audience a Discman loaded with a choice of tracks.

After the show Blanchett was quoted as saying, "I watched to the sounds of trucks outside and the universal orgasms taking place beside me. These provoked the first real laughs of Fashion Week. I loved it form the very first second.

This year was also notable for the designer Peter Morrissey's use of bold prints in collaboration with indigenous designer Jacinta Numuna Waugh which captured the
mood leading up to the Sydney Olympics

Akira Isogawa:

 Akira Isogawa:

Having debued in at the 'New Generation' group show in 1996 and had his first solo show in 1998 expectations were high for designer Akira Isogawa show the following season, delivering in spectacular astyle

Vogue Australia wrote, "Faces came alive at the Isogawa show ... [which] closed with a pinafore of rustic peasant simplicity fused with the extraordinary opulence of Balinese beading".

For the international press and buyers who had made the long journey to Sydney in search of the unique signature of Australian fashion, Vogue concluded that  "Isogawa, in only his second show, has saved Sydney".

Imports were big the second year of Australian fashion week.

Imports were big the second year of Australian fashion week.

International supermodel Linda Evangelista walked for designer Charlie Brown, starting the show by climbing out of a bed on the catwalk, a cheeky nod to the rumour that she was a girl who wouldn't get our of bed for less than $10,000

The other big name that year was the English journalist Marion Hume, who had just bee appointed to the role of editor of Australian Vogue. While her criticism of some ruffled feathers she had nothing but praise for Rosemary Armstrong's label Tea Rose, describing the outfits as 'flighty chiffon pieces created with a light touch...picture perfect".

take it easy , let's drink and smoke.....

Fashion Know It All: Silk

Spring’s newest looks borrow from breezy California styles of the ’80s; ELLE’s Fashion Know It All Anne Slowey says it’s time to kick back and relax.

Dear FKIA,
After all the body-con stuff of the past few seasons, what’s with the floaty silks for spring?

When one thinks of cliché California fashion, what comes to mind are silicone-enhanced DDs in bra tops, paired with microshorts or sweats in sweet-tart colors. Throw in a pair of cowboy boots or Uggs, and you’ve got the picture.

But there was a golden era in the ’70s and ’80s when producers’ wives lolled about in flowing, natural-dyed silks in Malibu beach houses amid clouds of hash smoke, killing time until their philandering husbands returned home with cast and crew for an all-night orgy. Notwithstanding the waste of human potential inherent in that version of Hollywood wifedom, the lean ladies of the canyon and beyond had a great look. The flowing silhouette was in part reminiscent of the see-through shifts of the ’20s but had its true origins in the East: in Thailand, whose slippery, sensuous fabrics were imported by people such as Go Silk founder Jerry Hirsch; and perhaps more famously, in Japan, the native land of Issey Miyake, who committed his entire design team to reinventing elegant leisure wear with a modern, arch sensibility.

When the look caught fire on the East Coast in the early ’90s, urbanites lent it a worker-wear vibe, adding utility pockets, reinforced seaming, and wrap-tie details from skydiver and hazmat jumpsuits. I fondly remember the store Parachute in SoHo; its long wrapdresses, drawstring pants, and halterdresses in crumpled silks were an affordable alternative for hip intellectuals and anyone who didn’t want to look like she was married to a junk bond trader.

Today’s approach is more like the California original: easy, simple, and without the proletarian details, though Alex Wang’s jumpsuit with its dropped-tie waist and visible pockets comes close to its utilitarian roots. Marc by Marc Jacobs went the color-block route—another huge trend for spring—to give his midcalf balloon dress a sporty riff, while Derek Lam and Max Azria for BCBG opted for the unadulterated flow of a simple dress and pantsuit.

The trick to wearing these silks is not to adorn them with anything other than a simple sandal or sporty lace-up, maybe a hemp belt or a few chunky ethnic bracelets. Less is more when going au naturel, drugs or no.

The dresses that defined Fashion Week....

The first ever Australian fashion week, offering local designers a chance to show off their work on a global stage.

Back then Zimmerman was only a small brand and after their show founder Nicky Zimmerman admitted "It cost us a fortune to do but we feel we have gotten that back
tenfold … we have an order from Harvey Nichols (London) for our swimwear. It's just fantastic."

But not everyone was so exuberant with one newspaper article dubbing the event 'Fashion weak', lamenting the low attendance of both media and overseas buyers and
calling into question the event continued viability

Let the Parties Begin!

Let the Parties Begin!

From office parties to neighborhood get-togethers, 'tis the season to get dressed up. I'm all about enjoying the holidays instead of getting stressed about what to wear, so that's why I recommend something versatile and easy like a cocktail dress, like this one pictured from Aidan Mattox

The cocktail dress -- which is really just a dressy, after-five, short (which means anything but floor-length) dress -- comes in all sorts of fabrics (silk, jersey, beaded) and colors (Little Black Dress, red, metallics, etc.) It goes to everything from actual cocktail parties to formal weddings. (Photo Credit: Nordstrom)