SYDNEY: The head of Sydney Institute Fashion Design Studio has fired back at media reports which alleged he slated female designer collections as "cheap and nasty".
Nicholas Huxley, the man responsible for tutoring Alex Perry, Lisa Ho, Akira Isogawa, Michelle Jank and Wayne Cooper, described a recent report by The Daily Telegraph as "grossly" misrepresenting his comments on female fashion designers. The article, which ran under the headline 'Why only men can save trashy women' and later drew media coverage throughout Australasia, quoted Huxley as saying he had little faith in the way women designed for women.
"It is for the way that women are dressing today," he was quoted as saying. "They are dressing to go out shopping for men. It is cheap and nasty."
Huxley, who spoke to Ragtrader Online at Alex Perry's spring/summer collection launch yesterday, said he was "disgusted" by the article.
"Why on earth would I attack female designers when over ninety percent of our students are female?" he said. "Some of the best designers in this country are female."
Huxley pointed to Lisa Ho, Nicky Zimmermann and Michelle Jank, all of whom he trained at the Institute. He said his comments on modern women's fashion were unrelated to female fashion designers and the journalist had drawn the link out of "thin air".
Huxley said his decision to choose only male designers for the annual Sydney Institute Fashion Design Studio parade, which kicks off at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week tomorrow, was based on talent not gender. Dion Lee, Guy Hastie, Christopher Eber and Spencer Webber will make up the all-male crew.