SYDNEY: Fashion Exposed and co-located preview attendees look set to sample some serious French chic this year.
Continuing its series of international exhibits, the trade fair, which runs from March 9 to 11, will play host to a suite of French designers through the French Designer Showcase.
For at least one participant –- Paris-based designer Virginie Neumann –- the visit will be something of a homecoming. Launched in Paris in 2006, Neumann's Virginie Castaway label was inspired by a year living in Sydney and now sells on four continents, boasting a raft of elite outlets, from Gallerie 66 on the Champs Elysees to New York’s Saks and Henri Bendel.
Prior to alighting on these shores Neumann spent seven years with a major Paris fashion company, rising to chief buyer before leaving it all behind in 2005.
“It was the year I quit everything and everyone to start a new adventure in Australia,” she said, adding that despite having landed in Sydney with limited English and few contacts, she was soon living her dream at Bondi Beach.
The first Virginie Castaway range was informed by her experiences in Sydney – "the nature, the light, the people I met," she recalled, adding that the Australian lifestyle continued to be her prime inspiration.
Neumann will join five other French talents –- including Paris icon Chantal Thomass, Martinique designer Michaelle Merlin and the Lejaby, Cannisse and Syryzy labels –- at The French Designer Showcase.
The showcase will be presented via preview’s French Pavilion and two runway shows; one devoted to ready-to-wear and the other to lingerie.