From a land Down Under
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Australian Fashion Week montage
Know your Camilla & Marc from your Ginger & Smart? Then congratulations - you must\'ve already tapped into the designer scene Down Under, which continues to punch above its weight when it comes to all things fierce, fabulous and hip.
Needless to say, no-one does easy, breezy summer dressing quite like the Antipodeans. This week has seen Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (aka RAFW) take over the catwalks of Sydney and, although the event remained as little-reported upon as ever in the UK, that\'s no reflection at all on the calibre of the looks produced. Indeed, there\'s long been a certain cachet to pledging your allegiance to an Aussie brand. Ksubi, anyone? Sass & Bide? Exactly.
So, here are the most exciting Australian designer names to drop into fashionable conversation, illustrated by the catwalk looks that prove our point.
Before you get stuck into sartorial heaven, though, a word of warning. Things can get a little confused season-wise, since when we\'re in spring/summer (as in, now), Australia is in autumn/winter. So these brand-spanking-new season looks are for Australian spring/summer 2010-11, which corresponds to our autumn/winter 2010-11. These pieces aren\'t available to buy yet - they will be come change of season in September - but the labels\' autumn/winter 2010 collections (corresponding to UK spring/summer 2010; keep up) are already here, available and gorgeous. And we\'ve listed precisely how you can get your hands on them if you can\'t bear to wait for this stuff to hit the rails. Aren\'t we good to you?
Bassike
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Bassike
Close friends Mary Lou Ryan and Deborah Sams teamed up to launch Bassike - a men\'s and women\'s luxury organic jersey brand, pronounced \'basic\' - onto the Antipodean fashion scene in June 2006. Fast forward four years and Bassike has expanded into a full collection of denim, shirting and tailoring that\'s fast gaining the kind of cult status in the UK that it already enjoys on home soil. While the design brief may have broadened to keep up with demand, the emphasis remains on creating wardrobe staples to be worn "with ease - and a certain degree of nonchalance".
We love this double denim look, which stood out on the Bassike spring/summer 2010 catwalk among an equally lust-worthy sea of slouchy tailored separates, shredded wool minis and ethereal prints.
Find it in the UK: At Liberty, Start and various independent boutiques countrywide, as well as online at asos.com, netaporter.com and oki-ni.com (for the boys).
Alice McCall
Australia,fashion week,alice mccall,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Alice McCall
With two sell-out Topshop collaborations to her name, you\'d be forgiven for thinking that Alice McCall was British. But, alas, we can\'t fully lay claim to the eponymous designer as a UK talent - although she has regularly shown at London Fashion Week and, considering that her collections sell in over 165 stores in 10 countries, she\'s a bona fide international success story anyway. Her fashion-world credentials are impeccable; she started out as a stylist and, after cutting her designer teeth at Buddhist Punk and Sass & Bide, launched her own-name Alice McCall label in 2004. And she hasn\'t looked back.
If Alice McCall were summed up in one piece, it would be an ultra-girly dress. But this look from the spring/summer 2010 collection, with its directional silhouette and vivid print, was our hands-down favourite amid a gorgeous, easy-to-wear offering in a palette of chocolate box purples, chartreuse and smudgy pastels.
Find it in the UK: online at bunnyhug.co.uk and various independent boutiques nationwide.
Nicola Finetti
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Nicola Finetti
Fast becoming a go-to name when nothing but the perfect cocktail dress will do, you may well recognise a Nicola Finetti creation having been spotted on the toned backs of A-list stylistas Naomi Watts, Rose Byrne and Dita Von Teese. And we expect that head count to grow, as Nicola - who started out in 1995, coincidentally the inaugural year of Australian Fashion Week - continues to secure international stockists and raise the bar when it comes to creating elegant yet modern formalwear.
Amid a count of strapless sheathes bedecked with tulle spikes and full-length column gowns, this devastatingly simple, one-shoulder, silk LBD with visible underskirt and mesh opera gloves stood out with a serious wow factor. We want.
Find it in the UK: At The Shop at Bluebird.
Zimmermann
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Zimmermann
Chances are you don\'t need us to give you the lowdown on Zimmermann\'s fashion credentials, but a Top 10 of Australian labels just wouldn\'t be right without it. The swimwear brand, which was founded in 1991 by sister Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, is one of Australia\'s most well-established designer brands and has got its global business strategy nailed, with showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, London and New York. It\'s even got a consultancy gig with Marks & Spencer under its belt - fancy.
While a well-cut bikini in a signature Zimmermann print remains one of those staple luxuries a woman must own at some point in her life, the ready-to-wear collection that has evolved off the back of the label\'s success is just as likely to carry something got-to-have-it gorgeous. For spring/summer 2010 there was an emphasis on futuristic prints in muted tones, with this tunic and trousers combo getting a firm thumbs up from us.
Find it the UK: At netaporter.com.
Camilla & Marc
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Camilla & Marc
Sister-brother duo Camilla & Marc have been providing the kind of high-octane, flesh-flashing fashions we wish we could wear all the time (damn you, British weather) since 2003. Camilla, the design brains of the operation, earned her fashion chops at Sydney\'s Whitehouse Institute of Design and later at the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda in Florence, while Marc\'s business background supports the commercial side of the operation seamlessly.
A go-to name for head-turning, traffic-stopping, fun, flirty looks (as Leona Lewis knows), the brand prides itself on its elegant lines and luxury fabrications. Oh to have the balls - not to mention the thighs - to pull off this baby.
Find it in the UK: At netaporter.com.
Stolen Girlfriends Club
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Stolen Girlfriends Club
The rules of Stolen Girlfriends Club are simple: have a youthful rebellious spirit, a healthy sense of humour and the ability to entertain and make things matter. If that sounds cool to you, then you\'re in good company; fans of this NZ-based boutique brand include Juliette Lewis, Beyonce and the ever-hip Kate Bosworth.
Founded in 2005 by a trio of surfer friends - Dan Gosling, Luke Harwood and Marc Moore - with no formal fashion training, Stolen Girlfriends Club was initially intended as non-fashion-specific creative initiative. Then its Stolen Girlfriends Club Says Relax slogan Tee, a reworking of the iconic \'80s design, had a Fashion Moment and it all spiraled from there. Yasmin Sewell, one of the UK\'s most influential buyers, apparently loves it.
With such bohemian, delinquent roots, it follows that this is fresh, young fashion that\'s festival ready and there was a distinct folk flavour to the spring/summer 2010 collection. What\'s not to love about this bodycon mini with built-in cape? Florence Welch, eat your heart out.
Find it in the UK: At Liberty, Start and, north of the border, Glasgow\'s Dolls Boutique.
Anna & Boy
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Anna & Boy
Anna & Boy, so named after its fashion editor founders Anna Hewett and Lill Boyd, burst onto the scene in 2005 with one aim: to provide a line of the kind of well-cut, feminine, fashionable swimwear that one could only imagine is in high demand Down Under. Such was its success, however, that it has proved the whole world has an appetite for flattering, fashion-forward designs (even though we may have to travel a little for the climate in which to wear them).
Beyond reinterpreting the styles of a young Goldie Hawn or Britt Ekland to ensnare the present-day beach babe, this is a brand that understands swimmers are only one part of a whole beach look. Along with its pretty printed spring/summer 2010 bikinis and came fine jersey crop tops, billowing maxis, split-sleeve kaftans and wide-leg, high-waisted pants, all beautifully styled with sporty wedges and retro swim caps. This chilled out, cheeky style is our fantasy beach look.
Find it in the UK: At Browns Focus, or online at bunnyhug.com.
Rachel Gilbert
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Rachel Gilbert
Pure, unadulterated red carpet glamour is what you\'ll get on a Rachel Gilbert catwalk. This season may have been her first time showing at RAFW, but such a big presence suggests that this is going to be more than a one-season stand - Gilbert has, after all, been on the scene with this label since 2007, having previously built a name for herself heading up Nicky Hilton\'s line in NYC. Don\'t let that skew your judgement, though. Her reputation in the industry is that of a perfectionist and, with top Aussie models Sarah Stephens and Tallulah Morton on the runway and a recent A-list convert in Taylor Swift, this is one star that\'s firmly on the ascendant.
Gilbert is known for her love of all things feminine, with a magpie\'s eye for a touch of sparkle. She does cocktail minis and full-length, A-list-ready gowns with equal skill, somehow always managing to make the formal look fresh. This tiered ballgown provided - understandably - a rare gasp-out-loud moment in the proceedings.
Find it in the UK: At netaporter.com.
Zambesi
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Zambesi
It may be named after an African river but Zambesi\'s roots are firmly in its native New Zealand, where it has been at the forefront of cutting-edge fashion for over 30 years. Founder Elizabeth Findlay remains at the helm of the womenswear collections, championing wearable pieces which, in Elizabeth\'s own words, "evoke and intrigue". She may have been going since the \'70s, but she insists she\'s not short of inspiration yet; a claim beautifully backed up by Zambesi\'s offering for spring/summer 2010.
There was a distinctive Puritan flavour to the pared down shapes and muted tones of black, putty and anthracite on the catwalk, all styled up with cool mesh skull caps. We can just picture ourselves pounding the city pavements cool as the proverbial cucumber in this perfectly-cut, understated shift.
Find it in the UK: At London boutiques Merchant Archive and Elias and Grace.
Ginger & Smart
Australia,fashion week,Top 10,spring summer 2010
Ginger & Smart
What is it about sibling design teams in Oz? We concede that they work - and Ginger & Smart, which was conceived in 2002 by the Sydney-based Smart sisters Alexandra (a former magazine editor) and Genevieve (an established designer in her own right), is yet another case in beautiful point. Each of the label\'s collections is designed with the three principles of "chic, modern, effortless" in mind, and their signature relaxed silhouette is transformed season on season into pieces which are innovative, imminently wearable and glamorous to boot.
For spring/summer 2010, Ginger & Smart unveil a collection named The Transcendent, inspired by the fourth state of consciousness. Cue fluid lines, dreamy prints and ultra-luxe fabrics, combined perfectly in this stunning parachute pants and T look.
Find it in the UK (takes deep breath): At Browns Focus, Harvey Nichols, Matches, KJ\'s Laundry, Feather & Stitch, Delilah, Muse and Rous Iland.
