| Returning
from huge queues to the bathroom during the interval, the audience
was primed for the second half
In the interval, the three Call Me Baby
competition winners showed their offerings. What is impressive here
is that each designer showed the same level of creativity as the
professionals. Elizabeth Wilson, who celebrated her 22nd
birthday that night, Kirsty MacDonald and Michelle Hurliman
created designs that were worthy of the catwalk. We didn’t have
to cringe and think, ‘Good effort for an amateur.’ In some respects,
these flights of fancy, less constrained by commercial reality,
were as pleasing to the eye as what we saw in the collections. Our
pick would be the chess-board-motif dress, grey marle hoodie and
high heels of birthday girl—and now local girl—Wilson, who normally
works in a café.
Returning from huge queues to the bathroom during
the interval, the audience was primed for the second half.
Akimbo, by Shelley Tiplady, appealed to
existing customers by adapting prints from her earlier spring–summer
line. Her ready-to-wear line was structured and classical, while
her première menswear range, to be sold exclusively at her
boutique, Belle Bird, emphasized quality. However, it was her eveningwear
that caught our eye the most. While designed for the party girl,
this section displayed a softer side to Akimbo, with effective use
of lace and a stand-out powder blue outfit with flower details at
the base of the V at its front.
CONTINUED
|
Akimbo
    
|
@