The rule of thumb

Australian fashion may be making great strides internationally, but despite its new found confidence it is still reluctant to let go of the apron strings, as Tracey McEldowney discovered.

Australian fashion needs to find where it fits in the global marketplace or run the risk of international brands stealing its thunder, a panel of industry experts has warned.
Speaking at The Fashion Group International of Sydney's (FGI) bi-annual Fashion Flash Forecast breakfast last week, the panel sounded a cautionary note that differing climates and demography meant that what worked in one country did not always translate to another.
For that reason alone, designers here could not afford to rely too heavily on what was happening on runways across the big international markets of Paris, Milan, New York, London and Los Angeles.
Panelist Nikita Papas, the editorial director of Fashion Trend magazine, said it was up to retailers and buyers to shape their own perceptions as to what they believed would work in the Australian market.
"First and foremost we need to express that the international runways of Paris, Milan, New York, London and Los Angeles represent a source of inspiration for an Australian audience. But while key trends are defined on those runways, we need to proceed with caution and embrace those trends that we can apply to our Australian audience to our own demographics."
Myer womenswear business manager Mark Bingemann argued the problem with Australian design was much more complex that detailed above.
Bingemann said the industry had a number of challenges it was facing and one of the biggest ones was seeing itself in terms of how it fits into the global marketplace.
"The sooner we can understand and take advantage of that opportunity, the sooner can continue to produce great quality Australian designs in fashion where we're not being driven in terms of what Marc Jacobs does or what he [and others] do in terms of the global market."
The warnings came amid an early morning breakfast, which brought together more than 150 FGI members as well as other fashion industry representatives to preview forthcoming Northern Hemisphere autumn/winter 2006/07 trends.
The event featured a visual presentation of ready-to-wear collections drawn straight from the catwalks of London, Paris, Milan, New York and - for the first time in several years - Los Angeles.
At the conclusion of the presentation, the panel - featuring Papas and Bingemann, together with designers Alex Zabotto-Bently (from Fashionassassin), Arthur Galan (AG Clothing) and Joshua Roberto Scacheri (Subfusco) - was asked to interpret the trends and debate their relevance to the Australian market. Included in the list of toAmong the key trends to emerge from the European and US showings was the dominance of black in the collections with around 75 per cent of the 100-plus slides featuring the fashion staple.
While Bingemann felt the market would continue to revolve around black, and its first cousin grey, Scacheri argued what it really needed was an injection of colour.
"I think the navys, the blues, the reds are coming through quite well. Regarding shape and volume, the lady is becoming more of a relaxed image where as in past seasons it's been quite fitted clothing.
"As for black, yeah, black is always in but black is black, I mean we've got to liven up a bit and give it a bit of colour. It is winter, but I think it would be good to see a bit of colour coming through."
For Zabotto-Bentley, the biggest trend to come out of the showings was not colour but texture.
"Fabrication textile stuff is probably the biggest key trend that I see at the moment. We're diffusing a lot of colour into fabrics. So it's woven on a woven and layer on a layer. We're seeing a lot in terms of layering of different fabrics all with the same colour block."
Galan agreed.
"It's all about texture, I think it's about mixing it up, mixing up textures, not just knitwear but black leg-warmers, black arm-warmers all that sort of texture mixing actually gives it a bit of life."
Bingemann said despite what the US and European catwalks were saying, in the end it all came down to the newness of the product - no matter which country you were in.
"The question is how long will it stay new for? If you continue to drive newness into the market then you're going to make mistakes, but at the same time the whole difference is logistics - finding out what a customer wants and giving it to them as quickly as possible.
"In regards to caution? Caution on last season, this season, this winter's best sellers? Don't repeat them. And anything that was classified as too early, have another go."


The word from the fashion capitals
After seasons of exposing the body, designers in all major fashion capitals are now putting the figure - and in some cases the face - into hiding.
Touted as a protective custody kind of look, the key looks of the new season involve capes and maxi coats. More is once again more when it comes to volume with balloon, bubble, puffball and blouson hemlines all proving popular. This theme is continued in the dress category with shifts, sacks, egg shapes, trapezes and tents adding extra weight.
Leggings are the big key item of the season via leg-warmers, tights, opaque hose, knee-highs and anklets. The militaria look is also expected to attract attention with odes to Napoleon and officers' coats, cadet jackets and paratroop gear also part of fashion's salute to the uniform.
In terms of accessories, the big bag is big still and chains are everywhere - even on clutches. Knitted tams, stocking caps, ski hats, beanies, berets and helmets are also expected to be hot ticket items.

FGI best bets:
* The Cap
* Volume
* Layering
* Fur
* Metallics
* The little black dress
* The Blouse
* The Jackets
* The early '70s
* The early '80s
* The sweater
* The mini
* Leggings
* Plaids and checks