Tue 1 June •
Highlights from AAFW Day 2
From pastel pieces to relaxed tailoring, day two of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week offered plenty of style inspiration. Here’s our round-up from Tuesday June 1...
Ginger & Smart
Arctic early-morning conditions (well, arctic for Sydney) made Ginger & Smart’s resort collection— featuring fluid lines and floor-skimming hems—seem all the more appealing. Sorbet-coloured dresses, jumpsuits and trench coats filled the show, which married covetable, wearable pieces with more whimsical, ultra-feminine garments.
But it wasn’t all serious fash-un: in an arch nod to the fashion pack’s obsession with their phones, the show opened with a model striding confidently out onto the runway to pretend to film the crowd. He spent the rest of the show lounging around on a mirrored platform, snapping the dresses (and the crowd) from ever-more ridiculous angles... not that it seemed to bother the front row. Touché Ginger & Smart, touché.
Code, not cloth
It’s not simply the fashion shows drawing crowds at AAFW this year. At Carriageworks, attendees can experience Digi_Couture, an exclusive collaboration between designer Toni Maticevski and the world's leading digital fashion house, The Fabricant, who have created an augmented reality garment tailored specifically to the wearer. The result? A futuristic, personalised image ready for sharing.
Maggie Marilyn
Sydney’s bright young things descended on Centennial Homestead this afternoon to watch a fashion show with a difference by Maggie Marilyn.
The New Zealand brand—known for successfully marrying style and sustainability (and refusing to compromise on either)—eschewed a typical runway show in favour of a more environmentally friendly short film.
Midweek visitors to Centennial Park watched in confusion as a steady procession of cars spilled dozens of models, fashion editors and socialites—from Nadia Fairfax to Alyce Tran, Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Vera Blue—out onto the steps outside Centennial Homestead. Many of the guests wore the sky blue and pale lemon pieces from the new collection.
Presiding over the whole event was designer Maggie Hewitt who encouraged attendees to reflect on their impact on the environment and upon one another. Both the speech and the film received an enthusiastic result—further proof that green really is the new black.
Gender fluidity is the new norm
Fashion has always been a space for self expression, but, this year, more and more designers are skipping the idea of segregated ‘womenswear’ and ‘menswear’ in favour of shows that are far more gender fluid. Christian Wilkins stole the show in a lace wedding dress at Romance was Born on Monday, while up-and-coming brand Outfaced’s gender-neutral, non-conforming loungewear was a standout in the Next Gen show. Albus Lumen’s Marina Afonina—who like Maggie Marilyn opted for a short film in place of a traditional runway—also introduced unisex styles in the form of crochet shirts and soft blazers. Androgynous looks are popular with the street style set, too, with plenty of oversized tailoring on display among attendees yet again today.
Oroton
“We’re all feeling hopeful,” says Oroton’s Creative Director Sophie Holt. “It felt right to work towards a mood that is lighter, with a new kind of freshness, energy and happiness.” For Resort ‘22, that translated into easy, cool-girl staples: roomy maxi dresses in a single bold hue (pink, emerald green), pyjama-like separates and loads of low-key tailoring. Nostalgic springtime florals were mirrored in the set, as models wove their way around gold and mossy boulders wearing full skirts and paperbag-waist pants printed with daisies, poppies and thistles.
Much like Ginger & Smart’s collection earlier in the day, this is fashion that’s made to be ultra-wearable—and it’s sure to be a hit with famous fans Jessica Mauboy and Jodi Gordon, who we spotted front row repping the brand in chic, monochromatic looks.
See now, buy now at Bassike
“After the last 12-months we’ve all been through, I wanted to design a collection that was elevated, but easy to wear, ” says bassike creative director Deborah Sams, a refreshing sentiment we’ve heard more than a few times this week. “I’m always considerate of the functionality in a wardrobe—the focus was outfits as a whole, as opposed to individual highlight pieces.” Case in point: trench coats, chunky knitwear and relaxed separates in a neutral palette of grey, khaki, camel, denim, black and cream.
“So much of what we do is actually for our customer; to be able to showcase our collection and for them to be part of what we do is such a nice thing for us to share together,” says co-founder Mary Lou Ryan of the see now, by now format. We couldn’t agree more!
