The best of times, the worst of times

If there is one thing that truly draws out the very best and very worst in human nature, it must surely be the international fashion show.
Fresh off the boat from attending the biggest event on our Kiwi cousin's fashion trade fair calendar - Air New Zealand Fashion Week (ANZFW) - this girl's jaw remains agape at some of the mind-blowing antics she bore witness to.
At best, some of the displayed behaviour was clichéd and overdone. At worst, it was inconceivable.
Otherwise articulate, intelligent women so intent on making their voices heard they shouted and screamed at hapless volunteers whose only sin was to have been misguided enough to offer assistance in the first place. Middle-aged, well-to-do attendees so focused on obtaining every last freebie on offer from the designers staging their own catwalk shows, they actually forgot that when they raided others' goodie bags, they were in full view of an dumbfounded public gallery. Buyers and stallholders so out of touch with the mammoth effort required to stage an international festival of this nature, they blamed event facilitators instead of a higher power for the fact the heavens opened. And, last but by no means least, some members of the media so misguided by their own pompousness, the very basics of polite etiquette - such as "good morning", "excuse me", "please", "thank you" and most importantly "sorry" - were foreign concepts.
Aside from all that, this girl remains determined to not let the aforementioned taint what was, in the main, a largely positive and enlightening experience.
The fact organisers are proclaiming the event's 2005 incarnation an enormous success - with more than 14,000 guests and up to 700 buyers from 14 countries attending - shows she is probably not alone in reaching this conclusion.
While there were some little blips on the radar, such as the odd ill-fitting garment and the occasional nervous model, on the whole, the degree of professionalism displayed at the event was vastly superior to that of shows operating from budgets three times the size. The obvious financial and logistical support of national trade body New Zealand Trade & Enterprise was clearly evident with VIP delegate list boasting some impressive names, including Cameron Silver, named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in fashion, fashion icon Diane Pernet from the US and Peppe Orru from Italian trade fashion bible Collezioni. Not to mention of course, the most important VIP of all, this girl.
A tight schedule of one show each hour, meant there was room for serious time delays. Yet despite this, only the Kate Sylvester and Westfield Style Pasifika shows ran behind schedule.
While it was no easy feat, the superb efforts of official ANZFW usher Riccardo and his merry band of helpers - all first and second year fashion students at tertiary institution AUT - meant guests were mustered and seated, often with drinks in hand, well ahead of start times.
And while the degree of divergence between the innovative collections of more seasoned campaigners such as Karen Walker and Trelise Cooper compared to the "been there, done that" offerings of some of their lesser-known counterparts was at times painfully obvious, the difference in the entertainment value of the different shows was negligible.
Insidious Fix, with its attention-grabbing use of a convoy of 30 Mini Coopers to transport guests to the venue and the unique Pasifika offering, complete with live band and clear shots of cultural infusion (proving of particular interest to the international delegates) were two of the standouts.
However, to this girl's mind the best overall show of the event was the AUT Rookie Show, the first time AUT's bachelor of Design (fashion) students have had their collections included on the event's official schedule.
The show broke all the rules, showcasing collections borne from students yet to find fulltime employ yet boasting a maturity well beyond their years. Raw talent, eccentric use of colour and the well utilised employ of happy, upbeat models clearly enjoying themselves proved the unexpected icing on the cake.
All in the all, the superb craftsmanship, the dollop of culture mixed with the right amount of innovation, the sheer, unbridled energy of it all, the cutting edge design and elaborate entertainment (both on and okay... off the playing field as well) meant this girl reckons ANZFW was an annual party well worth waiting for.