This year the MCA showrooms at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week were home to designers seeking some quality one-on-one time with delegates. Erin O’Loughlin supplies a snapshot of those that exhibited.
Del Playa Drive
Speaking with Teena Zerefos, it’s clear this is one girl who had a ball throughout her university years. Rather than keeping the memories of the time locked inside her head, Zerefos has unleashed them through the designs that make up her young womenswear label, Del Playa Drive. The label is named after her former Californian home address and her designs are inspired by her former Californian life: “riding my beach-cruiser bike to school, going for a surf after class, bands on the balcony and kegs in the bathtub”. Zerefos’ 32 piece spring/summer 2010/11 collection is infused with a broad spectrum of colour. Price points start at $59.95. Cotton and cotton-blends are used to create casual separates such as t-shirts and singlets, while hand-crocheted dresses and floral summer skirts round out the range. The brand currently has its own retail outlet in Sydney and 10 stockists across NSW and Queensland.
Thulie
“Having worked in a corporate environment I constantly struggled finding garments that were suitable for a day at the office that would allow me to transfer into a night out,” designer Thulie Ellis explains. Now with her own label, Ellis is working to remedy this problem. Her eponymous label is dominated by mix-and-match separates with added injections of occasional wear. Key pieces in her spring/summer 2010/11 collection include the Jane blazer and a halter-neck silk dress called ‘Stop It Lucy’. The rest of the 32-piece collection comprises an eclectic mix of singlets, skirts, boat neck tops, shorts, cropped jackets and more, and her price points start at $200. “Our main focus is to create long-lasting pieces that can be mixed and matched regardless of the occasion,” she says.
Natalie Chapman
2010 is only five months old and already Natalie Chapman has had quite a year. After first exhibiting in the G’Day USA New York Fashion Showcase in January, Chapman returned to Sydney to make her RAFW debut this May. Her eponymous label features only dresses, with the spring/summer 2010/11 collection made up of 19 designs ranging from figure-hugging mini dresses to free-flowing maxis. With this collection, Chapman has also graduated from using soft jerseys to a lightweight Italian nylon lycra blend, with aqua ‘Malayasian blue’ the key colour tone and price points that start from $150. With 15 stockists already secured across Australia, next year Chapman hopes to hit the RAFW catwalk.
Effigy49
Surf, street and beach – Jade Dockary designs to suit all three markets and more. With her label Effigy49 now five years old and with over 50 secured stockists, is would appear she is hitting that mark. For the coming summer season, Dockary has built on her staple of graphic print t-shirts with over 120 tribal, futuristic and music festival-inspired designs. Signature pieces include five styles of vests adorned with embellished necklines and 100 per cent organic cotton t-shirts. Bikinis and kaftans are also included. Jersey, cotton, spangle, silk, chambray, rayon and crochet are all featured, with selected fabrics printed with animal and tribal patterns. Price examples are shorts and organic printed t-shirts retailing at $64.95, dresses from $79.95 and kaftans and bikinis from $129.95.
Depiction
“I like to think of Depiction garments being like an old pearl necklace,” says the label’s owner and designer, Nikkie Lee. Like any classic string of pearls, Lee aims to imbue her creations with a sense of timelessness and femininity. Her first summer collection features 27 styles in silk chiffon, silk satin, crinkle chiffon and satin prints and – with the exception of her 100 per cent silk dresses – Lee works to keep her price points below $200. “I want my customers to experience designer clothes at reasonable prices,” she says. Lee’s favourite creations for next summer are her waterfall tier top and waterfall pirouette dress. A high summer collection is currently under
development.
Mimi Designs
Designer Mia Brennan can recall a time when people used to literally try to buy the clothes off her back. This Byron Bay resident began making her own clothes from second-hand and vintage pieces some years back, and it was only when the demand for her own creations failed to desist that she officially joined the fashion business and launched her womenswear label Mimi Designs. Her creations for spring/summer 2010/11 maintain her relaxed and simple aesthetic with the product offering including camisoles, shorts, maxi dresses and jumpsuits. The highlight pieces for Brennan are her wrap dresses. The label’s price points start at $80.
Dan Jones
The signature pieces from Dan Jones’ spring/summer 2010/11 collection are a beaded lace singlet and beaded lace pants, both hand- embroidered with over 2000 black crystals, glass beads and ostrich feathers. If you think the pieces have been designed for women, you would be wrong. Both of these pieces and much of Jones’ collection have been designed to transcend gender, appealing to both men and women who are prepared to make a statement with their clothes. With a colour palette of mainly black and white, much of Jones’ collection features sheer or mesh fabrics and lots of embellishment. There are 35 to 40 individual pieces in the collection with price points running the gauntlet from $200 to $3500.
Ku Shu Shu
An old battered book on the English countryside sparked a creative energy in lingerie designer Judy Anderson. In her latest collection entitled ‘Efflorescence’ – meaning ‘to burst into bloom’ – Anderson has made use of floral placement prints and contrast trims inspired by the book’s watercolour paintings. Imported stretch woven silk fabrics are constructed into an array of camisoles, underpants, corsets and kimono robes designed to be worn as sleepwear, underwear and outerwear. The proud creator of all bar one of the prints used in her Efflorescence collection, Anderson has also included pieces in block colours for those customers less keen on wearing floral prints. Prices for the collection range from $59 for bottoms to $270 for a robe.
