Last night I was thrilled to head along to the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton for Melbourne Fashion Festival Premium Runway 3 with thanks to the team at Farfetch.
Farfetch are our go-to online destination to shop luxury brands and boutiques from around the globe. They secured me an incredible runway seat so I could be part of the VAMFF glam-scene, as Australia’s leading and emerging designers took to the runway to showcase their latest autumn collections.
What an incredible evening! Arriving at the Fashion Festival Plaza (at Melbourne Museum Precinct) is like arriving at a full blown summer festival. The atmosphere was electric and there was so much to see and do. I’m talking food trucks, a live DJ, a mirror-lined selfie chamber, coffee and cocktails a-plenty, a main festival bar (with gorgeous hanging origami florals), live beauty installations, the National Designer Showcase Exhibition annnddddd a lush green turfed wine garden.
Honestly I could have just sat there for 2 hours people watching, sipping an espresso martini and soaking up all the awe that is the Melbourne Fashion Festival in such an iconic Melbourne location.
Along ticked 7:30pm and I headed inside the Royal Exhibition Building for the runway show, with a designer line-up which included Dion Lee, Manning Cartell, Ginger & Smart, Macgraw, Yeojin Bae, Carla Zampatti and Romance Was Born.
Each of the Australian designers brought their A-game to the catwalk, with the individual collections featuring pieces from haute to ready-to-wear. The BIG autumn trends which noticeably flowed from each designer to the next were midi skirts, statement pleats & ruffles, pant suits, oversized belts and leather.
The colours were vast but white absolutely dominated, with a strong presence of black, navy, red, maroon and khaki. Also prominent in the collections were eighteen-century fashion influences, which included capes (they’ve stuck around from last year), waistcoats, stays (aka corsets) with lace-up detailing, military style buttoning, and ruffled front yoke/neckerchiefs. Overall a sense of romance and French colonial nostalgia dominated the styling.
Here are some of my favourites…
Dion Lee is one of my all time favourite Australian designers. His collection featured lots of white pieces including this amazing midi length pleated dress and this natural beige coloured, shoulder-less trench coat.
Manning Cartell also showcased a collection of incredible white looks, midi-length dresses and skirts, juxtaposed against a series of vibrant, red leopard and topaz brown pieces which screamed WOW! And those tie-back mules need to be in my shoe cabinet right now!
This beautiful, feminine collection included a series of pieces with military styled button detailing and corsetry belts. With hints of ostrich feathers and these to-die-for booties, I’ll take one of everything please!
MACGRAW
Neckerchief coming at you! Macgraw’s romantic, soft collection brought a new flavour of feminine to the runway. I loved the shorts and shirts combo and the overall intricate detailing demonstrated on every piece. The metallic loafers also added to the softened looks.
The finale was epic! In my 7 years attending the fashion festival, it was a first to see snow falling over the runway.
One of my favourite ever shows and a big thanks again to Farfetch for sending me along.
Head over to the Farfetch website to shop their amazing range of Australian (and International) designers here – www.farfetch.com
SHOP THE RUNWAY
This post is proudly brought to you by Farfetch.
