A masterful display of fashion

MELBOURNE: After over half a century in business, Australia's oldest bridal and couture talent contest still plays a key role in nurturing the country's onshore skills base, as Belinda Smart discovered.

Australian Masters of Fashion (AMOF) extravaganza has come a long way since its early days.
Founded in 1953 as "Australian Gown of The Year", the continued success of the awards show is largely due to the efforts of its director Guy Barton - who has held the position since 1975.
"It used to be run by the shop assistants' union, but now we've added a bit of glamour and made it more like the Logies of fashion," Barton said, adding a decision in 2003 to re-brand the event by dropping its 1950s moniker had "worked wonders" for the event.
"We re-named it Australian Masters of Fashion for its 50th anniversary; I've always hated that word 'gown'. It made me cringe. Who talks about 'gowns' these days? It's just not a word people use."
Barton described AMOF as "a niche event but a very important one".
"It's a big challenge for small businesses to get a sample range together and prepare for the competition, but it gives them something to aim for. It's also the only occasion in the year when bridal and couture businesses all get together in one place and it's great to see the camaraderie between them. We've even seen business partnerships emerge from past events, including the young designer Matt Lee, who joined forces with Maria Gonzalez."
AMOF was traditionally something of a star turn for the Victorian capital, he added.
"Melbourne has always been seen as the capital of bridal and couture and Australian Masters of Fashion is really meant to celebrate that."
With much of the fashion industry now based offshore, it was "more important than ever" to support specialised couture businesses, Barton said.
And if this year's event was anything to go by, the bridal and couture sector remained alive and well.
Held on June 30 in the glitzy surrounds of Melbourne's Crown Casino, AMOF 2006 attracted 130 entrants across a total of 200 designs - a 20 per cent increase on last year's event - as well as 600 guests.
The evening rewarded design merit across six categories including contemporary design, racewear, costume, contemporary bridal, traditional bridal and professional design.
The Contemporary Designer Award - which included a trophy and $2000 in cash - went to Benalla (Vic) designer Margaret Jackson, while Melbourne designer Linda Gorringe won Racewear with a prize including trophy and $2500 cash. Queenslander June Jarvis took home the Costume Award 2006 - including trophy, $2900 cash and Janome Memory Craft 9700 sewing/embroidery machine.
Melburnians triumphed in the bridal categories with the Contemporary Bridal Award - including trophy, $5000 cash and one year's internet exposure at weddingcentral.com.au going to Helen Manuell and the Traditional Bridal Award - including trophy, $5000 cash and one year's internet exposure at weddingcentral.com.au going to Dimitria Bridal Couture.
The Student Eveningwear Award - including trophy, round-the-world airline ticket and one year's free membership to the Melbourne Fashion Incubator - went to Box Hill TAFE (Vic) graduate Melissa Mahony, while Melbourne stalwart Craig Braybrook was the proud recipient of the Professional Designer Award - including trophy, $10,000 cash and one year's internet exposure at weddingcentral.com.au.
Following the Crown Casino extravaganza, Barton was knee-deep in the organisational challenge of a three-month national tour featuring parades of the finalists and winners. The end of the road promised a brief respite before he tackled organising a "bigger, better" event -- featuring more contestants and heftier prizes - for 2007.
While AMOF attracted strong gift sponsorship from leading brands including Wedding Central, Raymond Weil watches, Indulgence Jewellery and Australia Post, it was not a money spinner, he conceded.
"It just about breaks even, but with $35,000 spent on this year's lighting and catwalk alone, we don't skimp on the event."
But profit is clearly not the purpose of the event, which Barton hopes will continue for at least as long as it has been around in the past.
"The highest point for me is seeing young people coming up from their early student days to the point where they're really achieving a career.
"I've been doing Australian Masters of Fashion since 1975 and I've seen all the emotional highs and lows and backstage dramas. It's a great event. I could write a book about it."