Red hot Aussies wow European buyers

Three top Australian designers have secured a number of high profile European accounts after showing their forthcoming spring/summer collections at London Fashion Week (LFW) and at the Tranoi trade show in Paris.
Leading department stores and well-known top-end boutique retailers have been quick to place orders with established womenswear labels Zimmermann, Nicola Finetti and Wayne Cooper following LFW (September 18 to 22) where the trio presented an off-schedule event dubbed RED HOT 3: An Australian Showcase.
In addition, European buyers placed significant orders two weeks later at Tranoi - which specialises in showcasing top-end international designers, running concurrently with Paris Fashion Week.
Geoffrey Finch, sales manager at the London-based Australasian-specialist retail outfit Antipodium which helped organise the , said the response from buyers and press had been "incredible".
"Buyers now viewing the collections in Antipodium's showroom following RED HOT 3 include Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Selfridges, Saks 5th Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdoff Goodman and leading international buyers from countries including Japan, Greece, Italy, Dubai and Russia."
Nicola Finetti, which is already stocked by luxury department store Harrods and London boutique Cocco Ribbon, wrote out a $100,000 order from three top-end Greek boutiques - Ice Cube, Zilly and Tsantilis. It also took first-time orders from London boutique chain Matches and boutiques in Valencia and Barcelona in Spain and received interest from prestige US retailers Henri Bendel and Fred Segal and UK department store chain Selfridges.
Wayne Cooper also attracted buyer attention. Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols are booked into see the collection and Matches placed an order for the label which is currently only sold in UK stores Fenwicks and Austique.