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New Zealand Fashion Week autumn–winter 2013, day three: from clean-cut to sublime prints


News

September 6, 2012/14.37



Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography

Above Stolen Girlfriends’ Club’s apocalyptic-themed show took place in an underground car park, with fashion editor Sopheak Seng calling the label’s Dead End collection ‘to date, one of the label’s best’.

Day three of New Zealand Fashion Week brought clean, Quaker-style clothing, a boar’s head reappearance and sublime prints.

Salasai
Opening the day’s proceedings was Kirsha Whitcher’s Salasai label. Clean lines formed the basis of the collection. Country chic was the order of the day with models wearing hay in their low-slung ponytails and ten-gallon hats, but this is not your kitschy cowboy wear: this was subtle fashion for wearing on the farm, designed not to get dirty. A colour palette of oatmeal, cream, burgundy, chambray blue, coffee and navy was injected with pops of butter yellow, mustard and earth reds, bringing the collection to life. There was everything from low-cut double-breasted jackets to biker jackets with contrast sleeves, and pretty dresses and knitwear for the girls. The boys also had their fun with beautiful, chunky, two-tone knits, loosely tailored shirts and low crotch pants.
   The key print for the coming season was a zigzag Aztec print of deep navy, coffee and cream. This appeared in everything from shirts to dresses and even as a full suit for the girls. The print appeared throughout the men’s and women’s ranges. The boys had fun with big checks that came in chambray and wine. Stellar pieces from the collection would be the wine-coloured leather leggings, cut and fitted like a glove, the boxy-and-slouchy jackets, and the shirt dresses, all easy-to-wear pieces which will translate across a wide range of ages and styles. For the boys, it would be the two-tone sleeve jumpers, knitted slouchy style, the check shirts and tailored pants. The collection and label seemed to have matured since its inception, encompassing a much wider audience. It will be interesting to see how the label grows as it is now based in Australia.



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Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography


Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography


Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography



Blak

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Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography




Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography

Blak showcased a mature collection for its annual showing at NZFW. Entitled The Black Rose, the collection was all about the dark glamour and beauty of this mysterious bloom. Black was the key colour, while cobalt blue and flashes of coral oranges and shades of grey helped to lighten the mood. Sheer and floaty, being a big trend from this week’s shows, were seen on cutaway shirts and floaty dresses. Silhouettes and shapes are relaxed and sporty, as evident in the Ts of fine silks, and the trackies in the signature bleeding floral rose print. The leather and lace combination was another emerging trend from this year’s shows, executed to perfection here in the keyhole-back dresses, while leather played master to jackets and contrast-panel skirts. A grape-purple leopard print added a bit of fun to all the seriousness of the clothing. A well executed and edited show for the young label.

Charlie Brown



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The international designer this year was Charlie Brown. The show’s backdrop featured an open, laughing mouth, reminiscent of the Rolling Stones’ tongue logo, which was somewhat of an imposing force for those that had the unfortunate seats right next to the models’ entrance on to the catwalk. Weird backdrops aside, the collection was patchy and far too long. With 49 exits on the run sheet, this show could be compared to Trelise Cooper’s show from last night. There were beautiful segments to the show, but no overriding theme that could be gauged. There was everything from Chinese-inspired cheongsams and two-piece mandarin collar suits to ostrich-feather gowns and skirts to Gatsby-inspired déco garden party dresses.
   The show opened well to a strong utilitarian vision with camo and leather pieces mixed with metallics in the form of well cut trenches, pants, body con dresses and skirts with exposed zips and hardware running up the back. With models wearing studs and spike on their heads, it was easy to see the correlation between show and collection name. This is possibly where the show began to veer. Next was an Asian-influenced section with bamboo prints and lacquer red dresses cut into cheongsam-style gowns, there also were leopard-print bat-wing dresses and fur coats added to the mix. The final section of the show was quite good with its eveningwear: gowns of jet beaded black decon lines and ostrich feather embellishments on flowing and draped silk chiffons. White, red and black were the key colours for eveningwear.
   The clothes were finished and tailored well, but the show needed a clearer vision and an eye for editing; as it was, it was suited to a private viewing. Designers can blur the lines between what is acceptable on a runway and what makes sense on a retail side. Aside from that it was all very elegant and wearable, and there is definitely a market for it.

Taylor

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Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography

Taylor was next. This was not a full winter collection, more a mix of experimental ideas and concepts which will later become the winter collection. Pieces from Taylor’s summer 2012–13 Shadow collection were mixed in. Taylor’s clothes are always well finished and presented; however, this show was a little lost in translation. Black, white and cream dominated, while yellow and bright orange were injected from summer. Textural squiggle lace and silk chiffons were the fabrics of choice for the collection show, and came draped and layered over each other. The opening outfit was the star piece—a zip-off trench in shearling was amazing. Strange sea anemone-like collars of strips of fabrics donned many of the models’ necks, which was rather distracting from the seaming work which goes into a Taylor garment. Pieces from the summer range show that Taylor is truly one of those labels that doesn’t have a fixed season, a seamless transition for the savvy consumer.

Annah Stretton



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Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography

Above Annah Stretton’s autumn–winter 2013 collection.

Annah Stretton marked her 20th year in the rag trade. To celebrate, the show was divided into two sections: first, her autumn–winter 2013 collection, secondly, a cabaret style song and dance show of her greatest pieces from Australasian fashion weeks. The ugly boar’s head from the 2004 collection, Feral Beauty, made a reappearance in all its glory, as well as other pieces from the archives. What stood out in the retrospective collection was how far the Annah Stretton label has come: gone are the bits of pieced-together fabrics, attached ropes of pearls and cheap theatrics; in its place is beautiful clothing made for women.
   For her winter collection, entitled I’ve Got a Crush on You, Stretton turned to the post-Depression-era glam of 1940s dance halls, with floaty bias-cut chiffon gowns with cowl necks and fluted sleeves, and prom-style dresses. Florals, lace and polka dots were all shown. These are clothes that are meant to take you away on a journey of romance. Frills spilled forth but in a refined manner, down the front of blouses and cardigans, while circle-cut peplums featured on jackets and coats. Colours of rose, blush, gold, chocolate, deep navy, bottle green, purple and orange made up the core. Strong shoulders and elegant, wide-leg trousers also referenced strong women from the ’40s. Overall a well executed and edited collection.

Below A retrospective of Annah Stretton’s earlier work.



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Stolen Girlfriends’ Club


Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography

You know it is always going to be a party more than a collection whenever you attend a show by the guys from Stolen Girlfriends’ Club. This year’s show was much needed in a week of somewhat sombre shows. Held in a underground car park, the show space was fitting with the collection’s inspiration of an apocalyptic doomsday. Dead End is, to date, one of the label’s best. The show was slick and well executed. Gone was the crazy styling of past years, and in its place was clean and wearable styling that let the clothes do the talking.
   The show started with everyone in the audience switching on their mobile phones to shed light on to the runway as four models walked the extremely long catwalk, dressed in coats and jackets with illuminated linings. A wool turtleneck knit dress opened, showing the label has grown up but not lost its roots. Peplums on leather jackets were key while an embossed crocodile leather jacket was a stand-out for the menswear. Pleather trackies were also quite cool; the material was used extensively in detailing on T-shirt and shirt sleeves. Mesh was given a new twist with a metallic speckle running through, and appeared as a long tube dress for the girls and a slouchy jumper for the boys. The collection also had a very good prints this season (one thing you can always rely on with the label): a dinosaur print was seen on mullet hem dresses, tailored shirts, casual Ts and printed pants; and a double snake print on the tote bags, and the backs of jackets and coats. Black reigned supreme while flashes of yellow, burgundy, chambray and orange added to the mix. It was slightly ’90s grunge, but ever so cool: if there was ever a doomsday you know you will forever look good in these clothes. It was a great night to end the third day of showings.—Sopheak Seng, Fashion and Beauty Editor



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Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography


Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography



Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography



Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography


Nikita Brown/Nikita Brown Photography


Matthew Beveridge/Matthew Beveridge Photography


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fashion / history / Lucire / modelling / New Zealand / tendances / trend
Filed by Sopheak Seng

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