Unseasonably warm winters have left many buyers nervous about purchasing for the season. But AW10 has them smiling, as Assia Benmedjdoub discovers.
Residents of Southport have barely had a chance to flip their calenders to November and already, they are glistening in 35 degree heat.
For Adrenalin boutique owner Dean McCauley, who’s site is centrally located in the Gold Coast suburb, this signals the start of a strong, often predictable spring/summer selling season. Light safari-inspired dresses by womenswear label Willow have already all but sold out, prompted as much by the relentless heatwave as the race that stops the nation.
But much like the winning horse at the Melbourne Cup this year, something Shocking has happened.
“It’s over 30 degrees outside today and there’s girls wearing our Camilla & Marc moulded shoulder jackets,” McCauley says. “When we first put them on the floor they lasted all of about two seconds.”
This is good news for McCauley and his wife Katrina, who first jumped on the ‘bold shoulder’ trend for spring/summer 2009 and have continued it with tough silhouettes for autumn/winter 2010. Nicola Finetti, Willow, camilla & marc and Superfine have all received orders from Adrenalin, with stuctured silhouettes and motorcycle jackets receiving the majority of dollars.
Relative newcomer Amber and Thomas will make its first drop to the boutique next season, having impressed McCauley with its niche stockist base and urban aesthetic. Knitwear, however, has been largely dismissed after an “abysmal” performance this year.
“Even though we’re in the Gold Coast, autumn/winter is really important for us and this year $1000+ leather jackets flew off the racks,” McCauley says. In fact, the GFC increased demand for high-priced, aspirational pieces and hit sales of staples such as knits.
“Even the really, really light textured knitwear just sat there and we could not, for the life of us, move it. So we pulled back our knitwear purchases this time around and actually noticed that all the collections we saw had less knitted pieces too. Maybe the designers themselves are finding it tough to shift?”
Online fashion retailer Kath Purkis, who specialises in Australian designer clothing, also noticed a decline in knitwear offerings, but for different reasons.
“I would’ve liked to see a cashmere knit mini dress with a bold shoulder but I didn’t see anything like this,” the leblackbook.com.au owner says, believing the trend should extend beyond the ‘it’ jacket. “A dress is much more accessible to buy online than a heavy knit that may be oversized and very expensive.”
Heavy garments didn’t rate too highly for frockaholics.com director Sarah Pavillard and head buyer Roslyn Wright either, who pumped most of their budget into statement dresses for the autumn racing season, Easter weddings and winter balls.
“We are picking up lots of evening jackets and day jackets to complement the dresses,” says Pallivard, who stocks brands such as Ginger & Smart, Galliano, Hudson, Jayson Brunsdon, Hussy and Nicola Finetti as well as more value-end brands like Vallen. “It’s no longer the single jacket for every occasion so [there’s] military and embellished jackets, denim, winter white, cream; and leather and fur also feature strongly for next winter.”
Like Purkis however, Pallivard believes designers may have focused too heavily on the ‘it’ jacket at the expense of other categories.
“There was not enough variety in the pants or top styles that were offered across the board,” she says. “Roslyn felt that some of our suppliers played things a little safe for next winter and as usual, black featured too heavily.”
Perhaps that’s why high-profile retailer Belinda Seper, who operates independent womenswear chain The Corner Shop, describes her autumn/winter 2010 season as “‘80s Indian American and Chic Ballerina”. In keeping with the former theme, Seper and her team of buyers are still scouring the local and international market for brilliant turqoise jewellery.
Strong silhouettes will inform The Corner Shop offer – which includes a broad range of upmarket brands such as miu miu, Vanessa Bruno, Fernando Frissoni, Josh Goot, Via Roma and Saint Grace – but not dominate.
Nonetheless, Seper believes the strong directional offering by Australian designers for next season will go a long way towards breaking the nation’s spring/summer focus.
“Australian fashion can traditionally be assessed as very summer-centric but this season we were excited to see really strong and dynamic winter collections from local designers, collections with a clear message that will sit well alongside international brands.”