Silhouettes of a week of high fashion
Air New Zealand Fashion Week, the country’s top fashion event was a most heady experience. In line with the best fashion shows in the world’s great fashion capitals, the Auckland show was fantastic despite the economic turmoil. Indian Weekender was there to take in all the glamour and the splendour. Correspondent Farida Master presents some snazzy snapshots.
New York, India, London and Paris – it's been raining fashion (week) all over the world. And with the Lakme India Fashion Week happening around the same time as the Air New Zealand Fashion Week, seems like all the devout fashionistas along with their stylish clan, decided to drop everything else and head towards the heady design fiesta. Where else do you get an opportunity to put on your fancy frocks and spend time flashing those coveted VIP passes, complete with champagne flutes in hand.
Don't know what it is about fashion extravaganzas that create this kind of electric buzz even if it’s wet, wild and windy – like it was though out the fashion week in Auckland. Certainly not the best climate for elaborate hairdos or neatly coiffed hair! However, all those fashion victims who wanted to see and be seen turned up in full regalia to watch the impressive line-up of shows that unfolded to display the best of New Zealand fashion from September 22-27, 2009.
One pin-up actress, who created a flurry of newspaper headlines during the week long fashion parade and had everyone in a tizzy trying to get an interview out of her, was Pamela Anderson. The Baywatch actress seemed to be a pro at creating a media frenzy of sorts by being quite inaccessible--which in turn built up a lot more hoopla. She even had the likes of the TVNZ’s outspoken newsreader Paul Henry wait endlessly for hours together only to have a brief exchange of words. Seemed like the Malibu girl knew exactly what she was doing.
What was even more funny was that while the media hype created, spoke endlessly about the animal rights activist being the muse for New York designer Richie Rich's beach wear collection labelled A*Muse, at the big show itself the Playboy pin-up girl finally came out wearing nothing but a white transparent scarf! A transparent white wrap that kept falling off as she happily played around displaying her twin assets and revealing a lot more skin than the audience expected.
Another actress who was a regular at the fashion week was Keisha Castle- Hughes who was practically living at Halsey Street, Viaduct Harbour Marine Village where the seven-day fashion extravaganza was held. She was a common fixture at all the shows and even had her tiny two-year-old daughter, Felicity Amore walk the ramp for Trelise Cooper Kids show. Only that with all those glaring lights her daughter got a stage fright and refused to walk. So the nineteen-year-old actress sportingly picked her up and
walked the runaway as she gently kept nudging her to face the audience. Can’t imagine any Indian actress of her calibre being oh-so-causal about it.
Talking of which, much as I missed the grandeur of Indian designers like Tarun Tahiliani, the exquisite embroidery of Radhika Naik, the natural fabrics that Wendell Rodricks cleverly uses or Ravi Bajaj’s spectacular design and cut, the Air New Zealand Fashion Week did pack in a lot of punch, panache and pizzazz. In fact there were a handful of Australian designers as well like Kirrily Johnston, House of EZIS and United Construction to name a few, who especially crossed the Tasman to test the New Zealand fashion market.
While nothing can beat the hysteria that the Richie Rich show managed to whip up, the other collections that wowed the audience were by the stalwarts of the industry like Trelise Cooper, Kate Sylvester and Zambesi who did a 30 year retrospective show which summed up their work.
However, this time the organisers, the dynamic mother-daughter team of Pieter Stewart and Myken Stewart had created a great platform for young designers who got an opportunity to showcase their talent in group shows. The ghd New Generation show gave eight emerging designers a chance to launch their labels and make their debut.
As did the Miromoda show where young Maori designers were selected from a competition held earlier and were provided a springboard to show off their skill and talent. The show began with a tribute to Sir Howard Morrison who passed away that morning--a beautiful operatic rendition of Tarakihi in Te Reo, was an apt beginning to a show that included designs which have been inspired by Maori culture.
But most of all, two shows that had the audience oohing and aahing was the Trelise Cooper Kids show where the adorable little ones were dressed up in tulle skirts, delightful dresses with frills and flounces, big bows and well cut jackets! The Carpenter’s Daughter show for large women was also a great hit with the audience. A complete breakaway from models who look quite spaced out with a dead look in their smoky eyes, it was refreshing to see the women with curves, smile and confidently walk the runway in a burst of bright colours and creations.
All in all, the seven-day fashion jamboree where style creatures of every stripe and strut made an entry, was a successful mega-event despite the recessionary times. Which is a major feat in itself.
As for the trend barometer, it pointed more towards feminine forms, eighties style military cropped jackets, zip dresses and a vast collection of body suits. But above all, the little black dress continues to rule the roost.
On a fashionable note, one hopes that next year the New Zealand Fashion Week has a sprinkling of high-profile Indian designers who have been participating in the Paris and New York fashion weeks over the years, make it to the land of the long white cloud. Avant garde designers like Manish Arora who has been putting a new spin to the Montana World of Wearable Art extravaganza (held in Wellington) two years in succession, and is showing at the Paris Fashion week as well.
It would indeed be a visual treat to see the finer intricacies of the waft and weave of Indian fabrics and designs, when the twain does meet.
Air New Zealand Fashion Week, the country’s top fashion event was a most heady experience. In line with the best fashion shows in the world’s great fashion capitals, the Auckland show was fantastic despite the economic turmoil. Indian Weekender was there to take in all the glamour and the...
Air New Zealand Fashion Week, the country’s top fashion event was a most heady experience. In line with the best fashion shows in the world’s great fashion capitals, the Auckland show was fantastic despite the economic turmoil. Indian Weekender was there to take in all the glamour and the splendour. Correspondent Farida Master presents some snazzy snapshots.
New York, India, London and Paris – it's been raining fashion (week) all over the world. And with the Lakme India Fashion Week happening around the same time as the Air New Zealand Fashion Week, seems like all the devout fashionistas along with their stylish clan, decided to drop everything else and head towards the heady design fiesta. Where else do you get an opportunity to put on your fancy frocks and spend time flashing those coveted VIP passes, complete with champagne flutes in hand.
Don't know what it is about fashion extravaganzas that create this kind of electric buzz even if it’s wet, wild and windy – like it was though out the fashion week in Auckland. Certainly not the best climate for elaborate hairdos or neatly coiffed hair! However, all those fashion victims who wanted to see and be seen turned up in full regalia to watch the impressive line-up of shows that unfolded to display the best of New Zealand fashion from September 22-27, 2009.
One pin-up actress, who created a flurry of newspaper headlines during the week long fashion parade and had everyone in a tizzy trying to get an interview out of her, was Pamela Anderson. The Baywatch actress seemed to be a pro at creating a media frenzy of sorts by being quite inaccessible--which in turn built up a lot more hoopla. She even had the likes of the TVNZ’s outspoken newsreader Paul Henry wait endlessly for hours together only to have a brief exchange of words. Seemed like the Malibu girl knew exactly what she was doing.
What was even more funny was that while the media hype created, spoke endlessly about the animal rights activist being the muse for New York designer Richie Rich's beach wear collection labelled A*Muse, at the big show itself the Playboy pin-up girl finally came out wearing nothing but a white transparent scarf! A transparent white wrap that kept falling off as she happily played around displaying her twin assets and revealing a lot more skin than the audience expected.
Another actress who was a regular at the fashion week was Keisha Castle- Hughes who was practically living at Halsey Street, Viaduct Harbour Marine Village where the seven-day fashion extravaganza was held. She was a common fixture at all the shows and even had her tiny two-year-old daughter, Felicity Amore walk the ramp for Trelise Cooper Kids show. Only that with all those glaring lights her daughter got a stage fright and refused to walk. So the nineteen-year-old actress sportingly picked her up and
walked the runaway as she gently kept nudging her to face the audience. Can’t imagine any Indian actress of her calibre being oh-so-causal about it.
Talking of which, much as I missed the grandeur of Indian designers like Tarun Tahiliani, the exquisite embroidery of Radhika Naik, the natural fabrics that Wendell Rodricks cleverly uses or Ravi Bajaj’s spectacular design and cut, the Air New Zealand Fashion Week did pack in a lot of punch, panache and pizzazz. In fact there were a handful of Australian designers as well like Kirrily Johnston, House of EZIS and United Construction to name a few, who especially crossed the Tasman to test the New Zealand fashion market.
While nothing can beat the hysteria that the Richie Rich show managed to whip up, the other collections that wowed the audience were by the stalwarts of the industry like Trelise Cooper, Kate Sylvester and Zambesi who did a 30 year retrospective show which summed up their work.
However, this time the organisers, the dynamic mother-daughter team of Pieter Stewart and Myken Stewart had created a great platform for young designers who got an opportunity to showcase their talent in group shows. The ghd New Generation show gave eight emerging designers a chance to launch their labels and make their debut.
As did the Miromoda show where young Maori designers were selected from a competition held earlier and were provided a springboard to show off their skill and talent. The show began with a tribute to Sir Howard Morrison who passed away that morning--a beautiful operatic rendition of Tarakihi in Te Reo, was an apt beginning to a show that included designs which have been inspired by Maori culture.
But most of all, two shows that had the audience oohing and aahing was the Trelise Cooper Kids show where the adorable little ones were dressed up in tulle skirts, delightful dresses with frills and flounces, big bows and well cut jackets! The Carpenter’s Daughter show for large women was also a great hit with the audience. A complete breakaway from models who look quite spaced out with a dead look in their smoky eyes, it was refreshing to see the women with curves, smile and confidently walk the runway in a burst of bright colours and creations.
All in all, the seven-day fashion jamboree where style creatures of every stripe and strut made an entry, was a successful mega-event despite the recessionary times. Which is a major feat in itself.
As for the trend barometer, it pointed more towards feminine forms, eighties style military cropped jackets, zip dresses and a vast collection of body suits. But above all, the little black dress continues to rule the roost.
On a fashionable note, one hopes that next year the New Zealand Fashion Week has a sprinkling of high-profile Indian designers who have been participating in the Paris and New York fashion weeks over the years, make it to the land of the long white cloud. Avant garde designers like Manish Arora who has been putting a new spin to the Montana World of Wearable Art extravaganza (held in Wellington) two years in succession, and is showing at the Paris Fashion week as well.
It would indeed be a visual treat to see the finer intricacies of the waft and weave of Indian fabrics and designs, when the twain does meet.
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