Stepping Out - Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE
Assia Benmedjdoub speaks to a current and former fashion design student from the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE about millinery.
Samantha Campbell can't recall the number of competitions she's entered into this year. There's the annual Do it With Denim contest, the Flair Awards, the Doomben Fashions on the Field gala...
"There's more," she says, adding that if she didn't take out top honours in the few she's listed, she at least cracked the finals.
"I think you can learn a lot from entering competitions and it's great for someone like me who wants to get involved in everything."
Campbell's hard work - she's also currently studying a Certificate IV in Clothing Production and a Certificate II in Millinery - has paid off. Earlier this year, the designer scored first prize in the Taree-based Flair Fashion Awards. Her design, which was co-ordinated back with a monochromatic shift dress featuring yellow piping, featured pheasant feathers on a yellow felt hat.
Ann-Maree Willett, a Brisbane-based milliner, later spotted Campbell's talent and offered her the opportunity to assist in her Melbourne Spring Fashion Week parade.
"It was such a great opportunity to work behind the scenes at such a glamorous event," she says. "It gave me a taste for the exciting world of fashion at an international level and a greater appreciation of the preparation needed from a designer's perspective."
This included a month of production and development work followed by a week of frantic preparations in Melbourne.
Not that the pace has swayed her enthusiasm.
"Next year, I want to continue helping Ann-Maree and keep focusing on my millinery work," she says. "It's a scary question to think about what I want to do in the long-term but I just want to get involved in as many things as possible."
Brisbane local Ann-Maree Willett better start brushing up on her Italian.
The 44-year-old designer, who graduated with a Master of Millinery in 2004, has spent the last two years courting the land of the dolce vita. It's time well spent because much like the renowned Italian-speaking lover Casanova, she's beginning to win over some powerful fans.
The first heavyweight fan - the Melbourne City Council - invited Willett to showcase her work a special 'Melbourne a Milano' event in January. Pitched as a celebration of the two sister cities, the event saw Willett haul over a $1 million opal encrusted headpiece to a high-profile fashion and design exhibition in Milan.
That invitation, along with her strikingly handcrafted headpiece, was instrumental in winning over her next big fan: 150-year-old Italian fashion house Borsalino.
"Part of what came out of that week was Borsalino sitting up and taking notice of Australian fashion," Willett says. "They just loved our energy and wanted to come down and see what was on offer at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week."
Not only did Borsalino executives fly down to the September showcase, they viewed Willet's work and later commissioned her to produce a limited edition collection for the brand. While negotiations are still underway between both parties, Willett says she hopes to have samples completed by the end of January.
"My major passion is art and this is an area that Borsalino understands well," she adds. "I would love to have my range stocked in all fashion capitals of the world including, of course, Milan. The plan is to take the family over in 2008 and hopefully live there for some time."
Willet's own collection of headwear ranges from $100 for a simple comb, $300 - $800 for more elaborate designs and a cool $1 million for the opal encrusted headpiece.
By Assia Benmedjdoub