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Cheryl Burtenshaw’s label, the intercapitalized
BurtenShaw, showed an autumn–winter based around felting,
focusing on details. Her colours—a black base with blues, purples
and greens—reflected paua, a theme that continued with the use of
actual paua shells as ornaments, either as brooches or tied around
the waist. The felting did get more complex as the garments appeared,
showing the care which Burtenshaw went to for this collection.
We had waited for Mild Red for a while.
Even though we had been treated to a preview with its ‘Box Office
Blues’ catalogue, it was a pleasure seeing Donna Tulloch’s work
on the catwalk. Tulloch’s story has been covered in earlier issues
of Lucire and there was a tribute in some of the publicity
addressed to one friend, the late Mike Collins, nicknamed ‘Slick’,
who had encouraged her to start her own label in 1995.
The label stayed true to its trademark of uneven
necklines and hemlines, idiosyncratic tucks and darting and the
mixed media of wools and wovens. This time, the inspiration came
from film and cinema, with such appropriately named garments as
‘Drama Queen’, ‘Popcorn Tax Hoodie’, ‘Final Cut Skirt’ and what
may have had some connection with the author, ‘Jack’s Back’. The
designs were monochromatic, with cut-outs of felts and in fact some
deconstruction. The first red coat mixed Tulloch’s eye for form
and deconstructed back and left sleeve. Lettering, such as ‘3, 2,
1’ and ‘Admit One’, played on the movie theme, while we noticed
bumps on the sleeves that hinted at film reels. The final dress
had film-strip motifs at the bust and literally in strips down the
garment.
Asymmetric, angular tops retained their "wear
it any way you want" principle that Mild Red is known for.
Our highlight was one green wrap top that appeared to have been
worn inside-out, with an outside grey pocket: Tulloch ingeniously
mixed angles (the way the wrap went around its wearer) with curves
(the overall silhouette) with this single pocket obscuring the navel.
A classic Mild Red wrap came toward the end but
with a twist: it was voluminous, with oversized sleeves and ribbon
details.
CONTINUED
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BurtenShaw
 
Mild Red
   
Mild Red stayed true
to its trademark of uneven necklines and hemlines, idiosyncratic
tucks and darting and the mixed media of wools and wovens
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