The Rising Names in Australian Fashion
Though Paris is referred as the mecca of the fashion world, home to the world’s most famous haute couturists and fashion houses, designers from Sydney and Melbourne are also becoming influential in the fashion arena of the southern hemisphere.
From draped dresses to slouchy drawstring pants, or from pastel palettes to bold and sharp digi-prints, it’s all about showing the feminine side of a woman with a touch of sexy masculinity in the SS10 collection.
TV
Long time friends, Monika Tywanek and Ingrid Verner, are the creators and designers of the quirky and dynamic Melbourne label, TV. It has developed an international audience for sculptured knitwear, technical tailoring, graphic prints and artisan collaboration. With Tywanek’s expertise in textile development and Verner’s approach to modern design, they gained much recognition in the Australian fashion scene. “We experiment with our cultural environment aesthetically and productively. Some of our past collections include working with osteopaths for footwear, and knit-based artisans in Alice Springs that are able to invigorate the craft and pronounce our design theories. It is certain that our processes and environment reward us,” say Tywanek and Verner. The pair also won the Tiffany Designer Award in their debut season. Nothing But Flower 2010 is their latest collection, in which the use of fluid lines and textured graphics illustrate a daintier contour. The combination of florals and neon colours is to express conflicts yet a harmonious balance between the natural world and the modernity.
LIFEwithBIRD
LIFEwithBIRD is a unique collaboration between Nicholas Van Messener and Bridget (bird) McCall. Bridget McCall is the sister of Alice McCall, one of the most renowned fashion designers in Australia. After completing her studies in photography in Melbourne, Bridget McCall pursued her interests in London as a photographer for various leading magazines. She was also an agent for Jade Jagger accessory line before working together with Nicholas, who graduated from fashion design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). He also worked with Maiike, a street couture label where he was involved in the set up and expansion of the collection in Japan. In 2002, Nicholas and Bridget launched their label, LIFEwithBIRD. Drawing from their strengths, Bridget and Nicholas displayed a technical ability to translate conceptual, ultra modern ideas into unique garments and accessories like bags and shoes. In 2007, the LIFEwithBIRD AW07 collection “no.8 Simple Futures” was nominated for the Australian Designer Award at the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, presented by Tiffany & Co. In 2009, LIFEwithBIRD & Three60 design joined up with Justin Cooper and created a limited edition set of poster titled “Into the Night”. This series follow a nomadic Parisian girl through the streets of Le Marais. The project was launched at New York Fashion Week.
In 2010, Nicholas and Bridget opened their first flagship store in Melbourne GPO. LIFEwithBIRD AW10 collection, No.16 Blur, is “an evolution of drapery, tucks and forays cut into voluminous fabrications, building shapes and creating contrast colours are extended from nature and industrial materials, meeting for a tonal palette of bleach, plaster, chalk, oil, coal and gravel while prints take the form of foil and blur.” Leather garments like “The Nancy Pants”, leather jackets and shorts are introduced in the latest collection of LIFEwithBIRD. The aspiration of No.16 Blur is to blur the boundaries between day to night and luxe to basic.
Gary Bigeni (the label)
‘Contemporary and yet classic’ is how I describe one of Australia’s up-and-coming fashion labels, Gary Bigeni (the label). Bigeni graduated from East Sydney Tech College in 2002. In four years, he developed his own label and his designs garnered a lot of attention from the Australian fashion industry including Belinda Seper, one of the world’s most respected fashion buyers and retailers. In 2008, Gary Bigeni was named by an international magazine as the “Label to Watch” for its soft but tricky hems, interesting panelling and intricate design techniques presented in every element of his collection. The new shapes and interesting silhouettes are simple and unique. The Gary Bigeni AW10 collection, There Is A Pain, pays tribute to a lecturer and close friend of his, Simon Zakka, who lost his battle with cancer earlier this year. Bigeni not only maintains his signature designs with sweeping panels and jersey drapery in the collection, but also the incredible colours that he has chosen – cold steel blue, heather pink, petroleum, flannel grey and black.
Ksubi
One Via Zero is the latest collection of George Gorrow and Dan Single, the co-founders and creative directors of the most notorious and distinguished fashion label in Australia, Ksubi. The label not only creates premium men’s and women’s denim but also footwear, accessories and eyewear (sunglasses and optical). The famous trademark dice + +, Ksubi buttons, Ksubi stitching patterns and Ksubi brand writing have been sought after by people in Australia as well as people around the world. Established 10 years ago, Ksubi is a culture of fashion, music, design and art – a collective. There are three stores in Australia, one in Melbourne and two in Sydney. They have already had a store in New York and they are opening another store in Los Angeles.
In 2008, Ksubi won the 2008 Interior Design Award for the Best Retail Interior in Australia for “The Bombed Mache” store in Melbourne. Ksubi is also going to engage in a few projects such as fashion shows, tours, publishing, art exhibits, pop up retail, collaborations with brands, designers and retailers, film projects, social awareness campaigns and a new digital division. Recently, Ksubi has created a very tough and vigorous look and eye-catching range, One Via Zero, from white jeans, a denim waistcoat that elongates into a dress, floral denim to double denim. Ksubi’s latest collection has indeed created a “wow-factor” in this year’s Rosemount Sydney Fashion Week.
TEXT BY MANDY CHANG |
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