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.

When I met with Mitch in April to discuss his collection for Fashfest 2014, he hinted that he would be offering a mostly monochrome collection based upon a well-known childhood object. As it turns out, the object in question was the childhood craft staple, the Googly Eye. 

A collection of garments based around a childhood craft object could have been garish, or contrived, or frankly unwearable. It is a testament then to Mitch’s skill as a designer then, that the clothes the he showed for Perpetually Five were stylish, engaging, and well cut, without being in any way clownish.

The collection was highly wearable. Each item worked would work by itself in a wardrobe, but looked phenomenal in the looks that Mitch sent down the runway. The cut of the garments was as interesting as the googly eye design inspiration, and the pops of neon orange used as an accent throughout the collection were stunning and perfectly jarring.

Perpetually Five showed four men's and three women's looks, however as Mitch explained when I met with him, his clothes are designed so that they could realistically be worn by men or women depending on what the individual's style is.

Of course, the spectacle that we were waiting for came not just from the collection, but from the bouncing choreography, the models shooting holographic streamers at the audience on their final lap, and from Mitch taking his bow ON ROLLER SKATES around the runway, making for a fittingly playful end to Fashfest Night Two.

You can get your hands on Perpetually Five T-shirts throughthe website, or a more extensive range should be available at the Hustle & ScoutMarkets in July.

Finally, a huge thanks again to Ash from Silque Photography& Design for these beautiful pictures.