September 13, 2009
The Gold Coast has long been Mecca for sun seekers, but the recent influx of international students has created a burgeoning clientele for the fashion industry. Easy access to education has created easy excess by drawing the image conscious offspring of the West’s affluent with the promise of quickie MBAs and JDs soaked up with plenty of UVs. Add the leggy bronzed locals, the Riviera-weary jetsetters and mix well for a potent fashion cocktail.
Tara Rose Hyman, one of the top stylists on the Gold Coast, created a Night of Fashion to bring to life the shelves of Designer Forum, the pre-eminent Australian boutique and fashion consultancy firm. Although the party stopped being fun around midnight, the guests achieved effortless chic. Well, the ladies at least.
The room was a forest of sexy sky-scrapers, easily tossing hair and aussie bucks. These girls are more than stylish; they know how to work a trend. Strapping on aggressive heels, more apocalyptic than dominatrix, with neck-slung diaphanous frocks in blues and creams, they showed that innate ability to recklessly accessorize which only works in your 20s.
As for the boys (there were no men in attendance) most looked like they needed a good scrubbing. Outnumbered 5 to 1 at least, they managed to take graphic Ts and processed jeans to a new level of banality. Their crassness culminated as one guest, in the middle of the runway presentation, urbanely shouted “Show us your fucking tits!” Ah, Queensland…
The collections were hit and miss. Karen Walker showed some impressive jackets, but the accentuated shoulders felt de rigeur for the season and somewhat derivative. Zimmerman’s attempt at avant-garde draping made me yawn outwardly. The shutter pleating on some of the dresses was simply wrong in terms of proportion and position, and made some of the models look positively dumpy. Sass + Bide did not disappoint, striking a fine balance between structure and flow; this label is very right now. Sretsis, a last minute addition to the lineup, stole the show. With an unapologetically pretty aesthetic, this Thai label gave us frills, thrills and bows with origami precision. Using two-ply fabrics in contrasting colours, the garments emphasized internal lines and shapes, particularly in the first look out, a black and white cocktail dress that I’m sure is on every guest’s must-have list.
Designer Forum can be contacted through their website at http://www.designerforum.com.au/ or in their retail location at the Robina Town Centre, Robina, QLD.
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