Peak Byron Bay moment for lifestyle label’s fashion week debut

On the runway at Australian Fashion Week, there are countless versions of how the nation’s women should dress, from tradwife to Married at First Sight contestant – but only one example of the Byron bae wardrobe.

“Byron is a beautiful community with a lifestyle where I can live, breathe, dance, surf and be my most creative self,” says Nagnata creative director Laura May Gibbs. “But I’m always ready to dip into the cities.”

Following a successful New York pop-up store in December, Nagnata introduced urban denim pieces in rich reds, mossy greens and dusty beige to the runway for their fashion week debut.

Model Jessica Gomes (left) and Nagnata founder Laura May Gibbs at Australian Fashion Week, held at Carriageworks, Sydney.Credit: Steven Siewert

“The jeans are an extension of the philosophy we have with our knitwear,” Gibbs says. “After decades of wear, you can cut the waistband off and place the jeans in compost because we are working with organic dyes and natural fibres.”

Since launching her brand in 2014, Gibbs has cornered the market dressing women ready to drop into a downward dog at the sudden sounding of a gong. The sustainability-focused designer developed a knitting technique with superfine merino wool to create seamless shorts, tops and sweaters that have been adopted by those who prefer shots of wheatgrass to tequila.

The peak Byron Bay moment came when sound designer Gary Sinclair bathed the room in the undetectable key G major, to open the senses to the visual experience.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of her business, Lee Mathews offered a more mature version of the Australian woman in washed-out checks inspired by artist Nina Walton, and ruffled picnic dresses with trailing straps and relaxed ribbons.

A puritan austerity was modelled by Sydney florist Saskia Havekes from Grandiflora in a schoolmarm black skirt and flowing white shirt.

These women looked as though they were drifting towards a ceramics class or upmarket restaurant rather than a hot yoga workout.

“There were certain things that reminded me of what my mother would wear in the ’60s,” says celebrity cook Nigella Lawson, sharing a front row with fellow foodie Maggie Beer and actors Miranda Otto and Isabel Lucas. “There was Victoriana mixed with the schoolhouse.”

“I’m not a fashion person, I’m a food person, darling, but it was a painting that had come to life.”

The Frontier show, organised by fashion week’s new operators, the Australian Fashion Council, focused on designers who prefer hardcore fashion to foodies or compost bins.

On a canvas runway that would have had occupational health and safety officers sweating in their seats, Courtney Zheng, Amy Lawrance, Paris Georgia, Matin, Wynn Hamlyn, Esse and Amber Symond’s label Common Hours broadened the scope of Australian dressing.

Draped leather tops over barrel-leg pants and a sequinned sheath dress shimmering like Saudia Arabian oil, from Esse Studios’ Charlotte Hicks, offered an ageless polish.

Hicks’ caped trench in muted brown was essential for trips to the heart of Australia, if you’re travelling first class. A Byron Bay stopover is optional, but pack your knitted shorts just in case.

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