Perth Fashion Festival revamps

Perth Fashion Festival will shake up its program as it enters thirteenth year, with the introduction of capsule shows, national designers and stand-alone designer runway parades.

Event Director Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan said expectations were high for the latest instalment.

“For a Festival in its 13th year, we continue to raise the bar and deliver a unique program that is certain to pique the interests of the most discerning fashion followers.”

A one-off show in March with prominent Australian designer Kim Ellery set the tone for what Harvey-Hanrahan is deeming to be a “year full of firsts” for the festival.

“We have introduced capsule shows to increase the runway showing opportunities for young designers and for the first time in the Festival’s history will present seven stand-alone runway designer shows at Paramount,” Harvey-Hanrahan says.

The Western Australian Museum, which will be transformed into a runway venue able to accomodate 5,000 fashion spectators, will house Fashion Paramount. Fashion Paramount's three new concept designer capsule shows will feature the work of 10 designers as well as the popular WA Designer Collections shows.

Perth designer Aurelio Costarella is set to show his collection on home soil for the first time at the festival's VIP launch on September 21, while iconic WA fashion label Wheels & Dollbaby will mark its silver jubilee as part of the Festival's closing show, to be held at His Majesty’s Theatre.

The Perth Fashion Festival calendar also features a menswear show, a swimwear runway show, fashion lunches, accessory and styling workshops, an international model search and a variety of free fashion events around the city.

Fronted by international supermodel Nicole Trunfio, who recently was recently shot in New York as part of the event's campaign, the Perth Fashion Festival event calendar includes over 40 free, ticketed and invitation-only high fashion events and will showcase the work of 136 designers in total.