Katwalker:Only a little bit crazy

Recent months have seen a few home truths emerging about the link between fashion and mild insanity. It's always been there; I once worked with a girl who routinely bought unfeasible amounts of clothing, footwear and lingerie which she stuffed under her bed.

She rarely removed any of the articles from their packaging, much less used them. Instead she'd keep them for a couple of weeks, taking them out to look at them before returning them when her credit card bill got too scary. Weird. Of course, madness has many faces.

My concerns about incipient lunacy started earlier this year with the article about shopping rage in Ragtrader's March 23 edition, which proved that females in possession of a credit card and a subscription to Shop Till You Drop are more dangerous than a rabid shoal of piranhas.

As if to drive the point home, stories have now emerged that physical assault was the order of the day at Tarjay's recent Stella McBeattlesdottir launch, with one unfortunate mannequin even getting denuded in the scuffle. What really brings home the sorry truth about the mental state of our tribe is the tragic aftermath of Tarjay's Stella experience; rank upon rank of returned Tarjay Stella product, as consumers, those ficklest of creatures, realised how gullible they had been to get swept along in the first place.

The hype surrounding the whole exercise is starting to look almost as flimsy as that surrounding Australian Fashion Week, which recently broke its moorings from the shores of sanity by announcing a registration fee for all participants, including media. I ask you, IMG might as well just tell designers to go and stage their own fashion show, which of course many will.

Arguably anyone who goes near this season's styles, which are all about oversize smock blouses, puffed sleeves, non-existent waistlines and shapeless mini dresses, would also have to be deranged, but as I said, madness has many faces. However it's a relief to know that some labels appear to be making sanity their watchword.

One such is LA brand Viridis Luxe, which has taken global warming and sustainability to heart with its line of luxury hemp-based clothing. Sweaters, tunic tops, skirts, and wraps in cream, charcoal, and black are the staples of the collection, which will not reach these shores until later this year, sadly skipping the coming Aussie winter; but while the average shopper these days has the staying power of a chocolate teapot, perhaps they could make an exception and hold out for Viridis Luxe.

Why? Because in the U.S. some 1.4 billion cotton tees are sold a year, and if they were replaced by hemp tees, the energy savings would equal a year's worth of household power for more than 90,000 people. Perhaps next season will be the season of sane shopping. Word has it the other big thing will be flying pigs, but that's another story.