Fashion Week Warms To Va-Va-Voom

The MELBOURNE Spring Fashion Week's first public event appeared to be a cold fizzer. A vicious little wind whipped around Bourke Street Mall yesterday morning, pecking at models' silk frocks and keeping onlookers to a minimum.

"Ooh — ya just wanna give 'em a coat, dontcha?" one shopper clucked cheerfully from a nearby tram stop. But the six models valiantly ignored goose bumps prickling under fake tans and posed against the GPO's elegant stone facade. Their outfits will be included in two free lunchtime shows tomorrow.

A chic black-and-white pencil skirt and frilled blouse by Nicolangela adhered to the season's va-va-voom glamour theme. A pale satin mini, draped and pinched into a fluttering sheath by Lisa Ho, was typical of spring's art deco styling. And a lean gunmetal suit by Arthur Galan, worn with low-cut white V-neck T-shirt, showed the importance of mixing casual and slick tailored components in men's wear.

At Federation Square, veteran milliner Waltraud Reiner demonstrated how to "torture" pheasant feathers into exotic decorations. She held a quill and a froth of netting against a simple disc of woven sinamay, creating an instant "hatinator", a hybrid of hat and fascinator. Reiner will run workshops all week in the Champions gallery at Federation Square. "You can make a hat to suit anyone," she says. "Some, you just have to work harder than others."

Melbourne has tried hard for 11 years to connect Spring Fashion Week with the city's racing carnival, and this year it appears to have paid off. Last night's opening parade, Collins Street Fashion Right on Track, championed fully groomed glamour for men and women from Harrolds, Henry Bucks, Bettina Liano and couturiers Keon and Linda Gorringe.

Source : www.theage.com.au