Designers reveal dirty secrets of dressing Melbourne influencers
Red carpet couturiers at the Melbourne Fashion Festival have revealed the perils of dressing social media influencers, with items returned “disgusting, dirty and covered in fake tan”- if they come back at all.
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“Dressing fabulous nobodies”.
That’s how one of our fed up homegrown red carpet couturiers at the Melbourne Fashion Festival described the problem of giving out their creations for free.
It’s long been a conundrum since the dawn of social media influencers – where does a designer draw the seam between exposure and giving out wanton freebies?
“The dresses come back disgusting, dirty, covered in fake tan. Some don’t even come back at all!” exclaimed a designer after the Glam Up Runway on Wednesday night.
One well-known starlet, who loves a freebie, has also made a reputation for not returning dresses loaned out to her, with designers now choosing not to work with her.
This is at odds with celebrities like actor Sharon Johal, who is tireless in her efforts to give the artist and designers credit and exposure for their work on social media, wearing their ensembles, sometimes up to three in one day at the Festival and working with the brands to garner plenty of attention.
Showstopping dress lights up the runway
Elsewhere on the Glam Up Runway on Wednesday night, all the talk was about the $1.2m dress which lit up like Christmas, sparkling in glory to close out the runway.
The showstopper which is covered in 96,762 Swarovski crystals and took more than nine months to create by Alin Le Kal weighed over 150kg, with the dress needing two guards to help manoeuvre it and fitted just before she took to the runway.
Meanwhile there was an audible gasp at the Student Designer Runway on Tuesday night when a model almost took a tumble in an eccentric ensemble.
Former Telstra chief shows off personal style
One of the best dressed men across the festival was former Telstra chief Andy Penn, who was spreading his sartorial wings and showing off his personal style.
No longer confined to the tie and suit wardrobe as the telco boss, Penn who is now working as Visit Victoria chair, was the perfect accessory to wife, the glamorous and divine Kallie Blauhorn in her role on the Melbourne Fashion Festival board. Blauhorn doesn’t mess about and is always serving when it comes to her fashion choices.
It is great to see our philanthropists getting into the street style spirit, with friends, richlister Anastasia and Ruslan Kogan also dolling up.
No matter she is almost about to pop, the heavily pregnant Anastasia wore a unique Comme des Garçons piece which she will later donate to a museum.
Stars and celebs jockey for front row access
There is always some front row debacle with stars and celebs all jockeying for a spot in Row A.
Some poor poppets were seen been ushered onto the front row only to then be relegated back to row c and then back again. The drama!
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