StageLabel Model Casting at Lucky's:

This afternoon Jiawa from Closet Voyage and I took a late-lunch and headed over to Lucky's Speakeasy, not for a liquid lunch, but to check out the Model Casting for Melbourne-based crowd-funded fashion house StageLabel.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review – Corr Blimey

Last but by no means least in both the Fashfest shows and my personal reviews of the menswear collections, we have Corr Blimey’s 2014 collection Berlin.

Hands down, this was my favourite collection of Fashfest 2014.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review - SZN

I won’t lie-I had really, really high expectations for Susan Dlouhy’s collection for SZN. Being Fashfest alumni and something of a prodigy on the Canberra Fashion scene, it was hard not to build slightly unrealistic ideas in my head about what would come down the runway.

Nothing could have prepared me to have my expectations so thoroughly exceeded.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review – Tuffys & Tuffetts

I'll be perfectly honest, I was not expecting to review Tuffys & Tuffetts at all for Fashfest 2014, because I had no idea that they did both men’s and women’s underwear. Tuffys & Tuffets were not on the list of menswear designers I received, so I just wrote them off as women’s wear I probably wouldn’t care about.

And, as it turns out, that was something of a mistake.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review – Perpetually Five

If there is one thing Canberra has come to expect from Fashfest Allumni Mitch Thompson and his label Perpetually Five, it is a bit of spectacle, and that is certainly what was delivered for the finale of Fashfest2014 Night Two – The Scientist.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review - Mont

Reviewing a line of Adventure Wear/Equipment, from the lens of a luxury and menswear blogger, was always going to be problematic.

To be honest, it has been really difficult for me to review the collection presented by Mont at Fashfest 2014 objectively. In fact, with all my reviews I'm really asking two questions: Is it wearable, and would I wear it? As I am not a remotely active person, and the idea of going and climbing a mountain, sleeping in a tent, and most of all having to invest in special clothes so that I wont get frostbite and loose toes or worse; well, it just doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest.

I will, however, do my best to keep the bias of my own sedentary lifestyle out of this review.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Review – Braddon Tailors

I am kicking off my in-depth reviews of the Fashfest 2014 menswear collections with Braddon Tailors, as this was the first Menswear collection shown.

The photos for this post were generously provided by the amazing Ash from Silque Photography and Design.

I really enjoyed meeting Pip and Tarun before Fashfest kicked off for the year, and learning about their business and what it offers Canberra was a highlight of the year so far for me. I was really excited to see what the boys had in store for their runway show.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Profile – Corr Blimey

Last week I had the very great pleasure of meeting with designer Louisa de Smet and partner Steve Wright, who together in 2001 formed the label Corr Blimey. Corr Blimey is a Canberra designed, produced and sold label with an emphasis on recognizable construction and aesthetics rather than adhering to a specific style genre. 

The first thing that you notice when you look at a Corr Blimey garment is the thought that has gone into its construction. It is readily evident that these clothes don’t just happen, they are meticulously planned, designed and created to Louisa or Steve’s precise calculations, and the result is unique, sculptural street wear that makes you think. Looking at the clothes that they showed me, I couldn’t help but pull the garments apart in my mind, trying to understand how they had sewn a particular form of a shoulder, or created feathers out of neoprene fabric, or set the yoke on a pair of jeans so perfectly.

Each Corr Blimey collection is individual, but there is a tangible thread that runs through each linking them together. The garments themselves are stand-alone artworks, but when viewed together as a collection, and paired with the theatrics of how Louisa and Steve present them, you have an immersive experience for the audience that is only heightened by wearing a Corr Blimey garment. 

I can understand how reading all that from me could make it sound like a bit of an art-school wank, and that Corr Blimey is a label that is taking itself a bit too seriously. Luckily, while they strive for perfection, Louisa and Steve never take themselves too seriously.

They are able to back up the rhetoric with which their garments are discussed with a solid ethos. Looking at the problem of the fashion system and of the individual's interactions with their garments, and supporting their approach with their own ethical production philosophy. CorrBlimey is a label for a customer who understands the importance of slow fashion and recognises the need break away from disposable fashion; but who does not want to look like they do. It is one thing to care about the disposable nature of fashion, it is another entirely to get around looking like you have cobbled together an outfit out of scraps of rag and litter at your latest Crafternoon.

So what can we expect from Corr Blimey at Fashfest 2014? Well, naturally, neither Louisa nor Steve were giving much away, and everything for the 2014 collection was packed well away by the time I arrived. I can say that Corr Blimey will have almost double the looks in 2014 than they did the year before, making for a really engaging catwalk presence. We can expect both men's and women's looks, and the whole collection is based around the city of Berlin. There will also be more colour in this collection than in the 2013.

2014 will be Corr Blimey’s second year at Fashfest, making the label official Fashfest Alumni. There is a really exciting edge to Louisa and Steve’s work, and I am really looking forward to seeing what they are offering this year. Especially in regards to what jeans they will be showing. Corr Blimey jeans are a little bit amazing, and I am kicking myself for not discovering this earlier.

Fashfest 2014 is just over a week away now, and will run over four nights from April 30 at the striking location of Canberra International Airport. Tickets can still be purchased at www.fashfest.com.au

Photos for this post were provided by Corr Blimey and Fashfest. Except for those two shitty detail ones. Those are my own :(

FASHFEST 2014: DESIGNER PROFILE – SZN

I was so thrilled to meet with Suzan Dlouhy, the mind and creative force behind Canberra based label SZN, earlier this week at the Three Birds and Little Boy Blue concept store in New Acton. In the time that I spent with Susan we discussed her work to date, and a little of what we can expect from her upcoming show for Fashfest 2014.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Profile – Braddon Tailors

On Saturday I was lucky enough to catch up with Pip Morgan and Tarun Charker, the minds and passion behind three-years-young made-to-measure and bespoke atelier Braddon Tailors, located right in the heart of the Canberra CBD.

Haven't heard of them? Neither had I, and yet Braddon Tailors have filled more than 400 orders for tailored and bespoke suiting since opening in 2009. As the boys explained, their relative anonymity has been a conscious decision, not advertising at all and relying instead on word of mouth and client referrals to build a stable of savvy customers who know what they are looking for in fine-cut garments.

Fashfest 2014: Designer Profile – Perpetually Five

Perpetually Five is a Canberra based and made Menswear label which challenges our conceptions of what is age-appropriate, and celebrates the ingenuity and freedom of a spirit that is young at heart. I was lucky enough to meet with designer Mitchell Thompson at the 'Three birds and little Boy Blue' pop-up store/studio this Tuesday past, and to gain a little more of an insight into what Perpetually Five is all about, and what we can expect for Fashfest 2014.