Fashfest 2014: Day Five at East Hotel

Today I headed to East Hotel in Kingston for Day Five of Fashfest 2014.

Day five, presented by Hustle&Scout, was a unique opportunity for people to meet with the designers who showed their work at Fashfest 2014, to get up close and personal with the huge array of amazing garments, and of course to shop the runway for anything that you saw and fell in love with.

There were 23 designers at the event today, with a steady turn out of Canberra's fashion-faithful stopping by to get their hands on the latest Fashfest looks. Feedback from designers was that it was a wonderful opportunity to chat to people face-to-face about their collections and also a lovely way for all designers to catch up, check out each other's collections and reflect on the whole Fashfest experience.

It was fantastic to watch the designers interact with one another, with Canberra being a small and tight-knit community a lot of them have worked or studied together before and are good friends. The design community looked tighter than ever today after such a huge week celebrating Canberra fashion. 

For myself, it was the perfect opportunity to get a look at the pieces that I most loved from the four days of Fashfest. this meant trying on a navy sequined cape from Character, surveying the amazing fabrics on offer from Braddon Tailors and planning when I can have a suit made, drooling over the amazing neckwear from Henry Carter (used in the Braddon Tailors show), chatting with Susan Dlouhy of SZN about her awe-inspiring denim patchwork pieces, and finally, colluding with Louisa and Steve from Corr Blimey about a pair of jeans and the amazing leather and metal harness pieces and neckwear, created in collaboration with Silver Atom.

And if you missed out on today's event, don't despair! According to Tegan McAuley, the creative force behind and founder of Hustle&Scout markets, it looks as though some of the designers who haven't yet showcased at Hustle&Scout are going to apply for the July 5 market! So you will have another opportunity to meet the designers and to get your hands on that dream piece.

Huge props to Tegan, who organised the day and was on hand to ensure that everything ran smoothly. A special thank you as well to East Hotel and OX Eatery, for providing both the venue and a selection of delicious food. (applications open now and close 18 may). And, finally, a congratulations and thanks to the designers for hanging in for one more day!