Alemais, Bondi Born, Maggie Marilyn present collections at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week
From shimmering sequins to silky cover-ups and slick swimmers, life really can be a beach sometimes.
Australian Fashion Week has kicked off for 2023 with a flash of bright tropicana prints, shimmering gold and plenty of flounce.
Alemais, founded by Lesleigh Jermanus in 2020, opened the week with a show that took inspiration from the 1985 dark fantasy film Return to Oz and was a kaleidoscope of dopamine-boosting colour and a disco-inflected feeling of opulence with tiered dresses, embellished and embroidered robes and blazers. There was a focus on strong shoulders and feminine finishes with bows and high voltage sequins (made from recycled materials).
in 2020, opened the week with a show that took inspiration from the 1985 dark fantasy film Return to Oz and was a kaleidoscope of dopamine-boosting colour and a disco-inflected feeling of opulence with tiered dresses, embellished and embroidered robes and blazers. There was a focus on strong shoulders and feminine finishes with bows and high voltage sequins (made from recycled materials).
For Jermanus, who has spent 20 years working in the industry at Australian powerhouse brands such as Zimmermann and last year won the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s national designer award, it was “exhilarating” to open fashion week, just three years after starting her brand on her living room floor as the pandemic was beginning.
This collection, she says, was an “explosion of colour, like a rainbow”. It embodied how Jermanus thinks of the brand — as a way of taking a dream state into reality. The vivid prints and fun music made it feel like a holiday.
As in previous collections, Jermanus collaborated with local artists, including Sydney-based Jedda-Daisy Culley, and had a focus on working with materials with less environmental impact, such as fabric made from citrus juice and organic cotton.
A holiday feeling was also to be found at Bondi Born. The B-corp and climate-neutral-certified resort and swimwear brand recently appointed a new creative director in Natalia Grzybowski, who sent slinky monochrome swimsuits, some with an asymmetrical neckline, down the runway at The Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability in Waverton. These were spliced with diaphanous dresses in silky, luminescent hues of bubblegum pink, grass green and chocolate brown with trailing ribbons and bows, and breezy linen sets.
Meanwhile, New Zealand designer Maggie Marilyn, speaking ahead of staging her first runway show at fashion week, said she looked to happy summer memories for her new collection, shown by the water at Darling Point.
“(It) pays tribute to summer nostalgia and the affirming goodness of sailing clubs and those who frequent them; fabrics that sparkle and mimic the way the sun hits the ocean on a bluebird day. An abundance of stripes akin to those hidden in the details of a perfect summer. Life jackets from the 90s, faded racing stripes on the side of a boat, beach towels lined up side by side.”
For those who prefer a little more drama, Yousef Akbar upped the ante with draped, puffed and pin-like, sequin-encrusted (some models even had sequins on their faces) evening gowns.
Australian Fashion Week continues until Friday