Australian Fashion Week 2023: Colour and quirk on show
Margot Robbie, alien mannequins and lots and lots of colour— Australian Fashion Week has kicked off with a bang for 2023. See some of the most chic and craziest looks here.
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To some it could look like a scene from the Capitol District 1 in The Hunger Games while others see it as a fabulous playground of flamboyant and artistic self-expression – ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between, Australian Fashion Week has arrived.
From alien hats to hot Pink fringe skirts, canary yellow pops of colour, sleek buns and beige trench coats, there was something for everyone at Australian Fashion Week.
Carriageworks in Eveleigh became the set of hundreds of individual photo shoots and TikTok stages as models, designers, socialites and hangers-on primped, preened and peacocked their best street style on day one of the week-long extravaganza.
And that’s just what was happening outside in the world of ‘street style’.
Alemais and St. Agnis kicked off the morning’s proceedings with spectacular shows, but some of the best viewing was of the professional clotheshorses and attention-seeking influencers battling it out for the most unique Instagram shot.
Model Natalie Roser has just three looks on her roster for the week.
“I’ve kept it selective this year to my favourites,” Roser said, wearing all black by the label Aaizél.
Others, like celebrity stylist Jamie Azzopardi, had three quick changes planned before 3pm on Monday alone.
“This is by Zara, Style Squad, Novo, Lady Powers, and Mulberry,” they said of their monochrome pink look. “I remember it allbecause I genuinely care. I have a deep love for what I wear, and I think it’s important for a stylist to only wear thingsthey really like.”
Bondi Born’s midday showing saw the crowds schlep into buses for an off-site, seaside production in Waverton.
The luxury and eco-conscious swim and resortwear brand made a splash stepping out of its tonal silk comfort zone to embracesome bold colours.
“It is the most important piece of marketing we do all year,” Bondi Born’s Dale McCarthy told The Daily Telegraph.
“We arestill a young brand and trying to get known, to raise awareness and credibility and this show takes us global. We get to buyers,media, fashionistas and it really allows us to showcase the brand and our collection on the one day when all of the world looks.”
TV sport presenter Erin Holland kept things chic and simple in a sheer black dress in the early morning, diving in for a quickoutfit change en route to Bondi Born for a canary yellow sundress.
“I think the best bit of advice that my stylist gave me was just take one thing away from whatever you’ve set out to wearfor the day, and it’s served me well,” Holland said.
In Potts Point meanwhile, Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie was photographed having lunch at hip eatery The Butler beforelast night being the guest of honour to launch her Papa Salt Coastal Gin with an exclusive invite-only cocktail party in partnership with Vogue Australia.
Indoors, at Carriageworks, the space has been transformed into an overwhelming confection of branded photo walls from various ‘partners’, each trying to lure influencers to pose, post, and preen for the maximum number of brand impressions.
This column overheard one influencer exclaim: “This is the first time I’ve walked a dog,” nervously, while trying to wranglea leashed pooch in matching designer threads.
Another media identity generously shared her tips for using wet tea bags on their bruised face after a nose job, and the mainconcern after a flash downpour was getting in line for the blow-dry tent.
Kiwi designer darling Maggie Marilyn hosted her show off-site too, taking over The Navy Bear boating hub for golden hour at Rushcutter’s bay.
“I’m always designing for a feeling,” Maggie Marilyn’s Maggie Hewitt said. “I want the Maggie Marilyn woman to feel as shemoves through the world. When she puts on a blazer, I want her to feel like she stands a little taller and walks into a roomwith conviction and courage.”
Closing the first day of Australian Fashion Week was top tier name, Michael Lo Sordo, who encouraged punters to go all outwith their fashion choices.
“Where would we be without people doing things that are not considered the societal norm?” he said. “We are in a society at the moment where we are so free, we are freer than we’ve ever been in our lives so lets roll with it.”
MORE LOOKS FROM DAY ONE OF FASHION WEEK:
TV star’s daughter follows her footsteps down catwalk
Real Housewives of Sydney star Krissy Marsh has given her full blessing for teenage daughter Milana to follow in her modelling footsteps.
Herself never having experienced any of the well documented industry horror stories, Marsh believes the modelling is far more inclusive and regulated than when she started out.
“It is very different to my day,” she said. “There is so much diversity now. It is such a great thing for them to go for auditions – they learn confidence and resilience. It is not an easy industry, they either want you on the day or they don’t and I have tried to teach Milana that.
“The whole Me Too movement has helped the industry, people are just so aware of the pitfalls of it and it is a lot more protected now.”
Business woman Marsh, nee Billinghurst, began modelling and acting at the age of just two, as did her three sisters.
The mother of three will be front row at the Mariam Seddiq show at Australian Fashion Week on Wednesday to support Milana walking her first runway as a model.
“You used to have to be a certain weight or this and that,” Marsh explained. “That is what I think is so amazing about modelling now is it is all shapes and sizes. Forget the standard model, and that is brilliant.”
Milana is in Year 10 of High School and plays representative basketball as well.
“I have big dreams,” Milana said. “I love the catwalk, being able to show your personality. I have been practising my walk every day, my dad is in there and everyone in the family has been giving me tips, even my grandma.”
Australian Fashion Week kicks off at Carriageworks in Eveleigh today with more than 50 different designers to show their wares through the week. The big shows today include Bondi Born, Alemais, Yousef Akbar, St Agni and Michael Lo Sordo.
From school drama to interplanetary adventure
If Josh Heuston’s frequent flyer points were stalled during Australia’s Covid-prompted border closures, they’re certainly getting a run now.
The Sydney-based model and actor has been jetting between home and Hungary’s capital city of Budapest, where the Heartbreak High star recently did a table read for future episodes of Dune: The Sisterhood.
The prequel to the big-budget film franchise “is basically set 10,000 years before Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet’s Dune,” Heuston said. “It’s everything that leads up to that”.
“’I’ve always dreamt about having a role like this so it’s pretty awesome to work with people of this calibre.”
The 26-year-old was cast in one of Hollywood’s buzziest new projects after Netflix catapulted the unknown cast to overnight global stardom.
“I kind of drift in and out,” Heuston said of landing in Sydney two weeks ago, ahead of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week.
He struggled to remember exactly what dates he’d been where, originally saying he’d been back in Sydney since November.
Heuston has been flown in by haircare brand Redken, who have taken charge of his locks at Koda Cutters in Bondi ahead of the runway shows he’s attending this week.
They are the latest in the queue of Aussie brands clamouring for a share of Heuston’s 712,000 Instagram followers, signing him as an ambassador after Nespresso, Heineken, and Rolex.
“I love Sydney and it’s home, so any work I can do here is a win win,” he said.
“Most of the Heartbreak High cast live interstate, but a few of them are flying in for Fashion Week, so that’ll be a good excuse to hang out.”
Between taking acting classes in Sydney, filming the second season of Heartbreak High, Dune, and influencing, Heuston is booked and busy until Christmas.
“My focus is more directed towards acting, but I still love Australian fashion so I’m always happy to attend and support our designers,” he said.
As for his character Dusty? “I just hope he has a good time really. I trust whatever our writers have in store,” and as in his own life, “I’m happy to come along for the ride.”
Originally published as Australian Fashion Week 2023: Colour and quirk on show
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