Debuting design
In an initiative aimed at supporting new talent in the industry, Fashion Exposed offered 20 young designers a chance to showcase their offerings at its Sydney event. Ragtrader profiles five of those attempting to make their mark.
Bilingual
Bilingual jewellery designer Marta Niegowska finds her inspiration in many unusual places - not least of which is the Sydney Rock Oyster. Intrigued by the beauty, texture and form of the bivalve, the Leichhardt-based designer recently launched a new unisex ring range, dubbed Ltd Edition, built around this theme. Having completed a bachelor of design at UNSW College of Fine Arts in 1999, Niegowska spent the first few years after graduating designing interiors. Yet while jewellery design was her first love, it was not until 2004 that she launched her own label. Specialising in "Aussie-made" items, Niegowska admits she has worked hard at designing original pieces that "offer something different. "It doesn't necessarily follow trends." Among the label's other offerings is a collection dubbed "Think of me" - a series based on the idea of matching rings that can be worn separately or as one piece. Prices range from $165 to $330.
Rising Phoenix
Awarded the title of Fashion Exposed Debut best avant-garde garment, Melbourne-based label Rising Phoenix is a brand quickly gathering pace. Having spent more than two weeks creating the piece that won him the coveted title, Kim now faces another serious challenge putting together a collection to show at his stand at the Melbourne Fashion Exposed - his reward for winning the competition.
Not bad for a label that was established less than 12 months after Kim graduated from Kangan Batman TAFE. Targeted at women aged between 18 and 40, Rising Phoenix specialises in embroidered and hand-woven pieces and sources all its fabrics from local suppliers in the Brunswick Street area. Price points range from $100 for a top up to $1,000 for a dress.
Slingflings
Self-proclaimed "pioneering sustainable fashion" label Slingflings is no ordinary womenswear brand. Taking seriously her responsibility to the environment around her, founder Rachel Bending hopes to spearhead a new era of fashion consumerism by using only recycled and reclaimed fabrics in her collections. In 2005 the brand became Australia's first climate-neutral business in recognition of the fact the carbon emissions created by the Slingflings showroom, car and freight of goods are neutralised by the label's support of pure solar and wind power energy projects. Today the brand has more than 20 stockists and has a flagship store in Byron Bay. Bending, who studied textile design in Scotland before heading to Australia to study permaculture design on the mid-north coast, used the Fashion Exposed platform to launch a sister brand to Slingflings, dubbed Birds. Targed at women aged between 25 and 45, Birds has price points of between $120 to $260.
Maya Kalan Fashion Millinery
Maya Kalan is something of an institution among Melbourne's fashion set. Now a seven-year veteran of the Melbourne millinery scene, Kalan began life as a dressmaker and forester, turning her attention to hats only after being hired as a milliner while working at Myer during spring carnival season.
In the intervening years, Kalan has steadily grown the business, taking her hat and fascinator range on the road to cultural trade fairs in China, Singapore and London. A former winner of Melbourne Cup's fashion of the fields event and a repeat winner of a similar event in Bendigo, Kalan sources all her materials from London and the Philippines and specialises in creating matching accompaniments for shoes and handbags. Her pieces are priced between $200 and $700.
Bask
Bask designer Meredith Barry is no stranger to the swimwear industry. Having firmly established herself as a designer while working for many of Australia's high profile swimwear brands, Barry launched her own label last summer. Priding herself on the originality of her designs, Bask has made prints from a New Zealand-based vintage wallpaper collection, owned by Signature Prints, her signature look. In what many would call an already-saturated marketplace, Bask met with instant success, attracting interest from an array of stockists including Beach Culture and UK-based online retailer Figleaves. Keen to retain production in Australia, Barry is now looking for a manufacturing partner to help take the label to the next stage. The collection is priced between $59.95 for a bikini top or bottom to $120 for a one-piece suit.