Huffer's flag dance

Another day, another US flag-waving collection in Auckland. Following Trelise Cooper’s True Blood-inspired Cooper show on Wednesday, yesterday sportswear outfit Huffer wrapped one black model in a US flag and sent US-born, Auckland-based celebrity and Ralph covergirl Aja Rock out onto the runway in a US-flag-emblazoned birthday cake and itsy bitsy string bikini. Rock is the daughter of US music producer Bob Rock, who has worked with Metallica, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and David Bowie among many others. Dubbed “Golden Days”, the collection was supposedly inspired by the “Golden Days of Communist Russia” and also included Kiwi model Michael Whittaker swathed in a Soviet Union flag. Whittaker, whose nose was broken 30 times during an altercation following last year’s Stolen Girlfriends Club show, has clearly made a remarkable recovery. Some cute knit dresses, colourblocked anoraks, plaid shirting and platform brogues with crafty, colourblocked espadrille platforms (which frockwriter is dubbing espadrogues - dead ringers for a shoe done by Prada for Spring/Summer 2011), but the cheesy girl-in-a-birthday-cake stunt stole the show, which was presumably the intention in a bid to boost publicity and was so very reminiscent of Pamela Anderson’s 2009 sortie at the event.
 

Zambesi's World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is just a week from kickoff in New Zealand, so it’s hardly surprising that some of its athletic chic appears to have rubbed off on the locals. The focal point of Zambesi’s Autumn/Winter 2012 collection was an oh-so-sportif fluorescent yellow, that Zambesi patriarch Neville Findlay quipped to frockwriter backstage has seen his wife, business partner and the brand’s womenswear director, Elisabeth Findlay, move into “high vis Liz” gear for the season. He may not not be wrong on the collection's visibility factor. This was a strong collection from Zambesi, arguably one of its best ever. Deconstructed sportswear is the fulcrum of this brand’s DNA, on this occasion given a shot of adrenalin with a unisex vibe and the eye-popping palette, that also included an electric kingfisher blue. Opening with a slick, Mod-like black knitwear series slashed with fluoro yellow banding, then followed a fluoro yellow mens anorak – courtesy menswear designer Dayne Johnston – that will no doubt be equally coveted by women and a loose fluoro yellow and black womens’ sweater dress that looked like an oversized footy jumper filched from the bf. 

There was enough signature black to keep hardcore Zambesi fans happy, whittled down to much more streamlined silhouettes, together with a charming grey and taupe series of wrapped knitwear and drop-waisted sack dresses and shots of faded leopard print, all worked back with lace-up, chunky-knit cowl-neck scarves, two-tone floppy felt hats, mirrored sunglasses and Converse Chuck Taylor High Tops. 

There may well be a run on the short-sleeved bone-coloured trench which closed the show on hot Kiwi newcomer, 17 year-old Rosie Crawford (above). Given that several collections this week have featured shag coats reminiscent of Zambesi’s Chewbacca-friendly Bedrock coat from last winter, it’s clear that this brand is setting the New Zealand fashion agenda.   

Cooper's Lite

All backstage media were kicked out just as Trelise Cooper's show was due to start yesterday. So, given that our runway photo skills tend to be hit and miss, the best shots we managed to take were the first looks from Cooper's Cooper diffusion range which opened. Cute show, whose opening number - Jace Everett's True Blood theme toon 'Bad Things'- had everyone tapping their toes. The military jackets, denim blousons, nubby wool high-waisted trousers, prairie shirts embellished with smocking or bullion fringing and microshorts galore, in American flag-printed denim and crochet, seemed tailor-made for True Blood's feisty fairy Sookie Stackhouse, who is played by Canadian-born Kiwi Anna Paquin, even if the pretty, drop-waisted teadresses with fruit prints were probably a little too virginal for same. Frockwriter couldn't help including two shots from Cooper's palate cleanser in between the Cooper and Trelise Cooper shows: an army of models in black blazers and corsets/knickers. Minus the word "boardroom" printed across the models' derrières, it was a knockoff of Dolce e Gabbana's finale for the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show in Milan in February 2010. Here is a photo gallery, best viewed on the blog. The final Style.com shot is from the original Dolce e Gabbana show.  

Her name is Lola. She was a showgirl

Kia Ora from sunny/rainy/sunny/rainy Auckland, where frockwriter is, once again, the guest of the organisers of New Zealand Fashion Week. Due to other commitments, we only touched down yesterday so missed some early shows. Beyond the event's spectacular new digs at the newly-unveiled Viaduct Events Centre, what has struck us so far is the fact that while it's not at all unusual to see Oz models on NZ runways, on this occasion, they seem a little more prominent than usual. To wit, Krystal Glynn, the face of Zambesi's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 campaign and also the covergirl of New Zealand Fashion Week's official 2011 handbook (bottom). Glynn is already en route to New York so won't be attending. Another Aussie will be opening tonight's Zambesi show - Lola Van Vorst. The name sounds familiar? A contestant on Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 5, Van Vorst has barely done any modelling in the interim, moving instead behind the camera as a photographer. But she suddenly finds herself much in demand in front of the lens. 

Signed, coincidentally, to Glynn's boutique Sydney management, The Agency, Van Vorst recently underwent a little image revamp, bleaching her hair and eyebrows.  In fact the statuesque former brunette is almost unrecognisable in her new high fashion incarnation. 

Backstage at last night's Stolen Girlfriends Club show (above), Van Vorst told frockwriter that she has never previously set foot on any Australian or New Zealand Fashion Week runways.

She is, nevertheless, up for 10 shows in Auckland this week, opening two other shows yesterday. Stand by to see where her career heads next.

Speaking of the Next Top Model franchise, the live finale of the second cycle of New Zealand's Next Top Model is due to be filmed at World's show tomorrow night.  

Krystal Glynn for Zambesi Spring/Summer 2011/2012, designers line up for NZFW

We mentioned that new Australian face Krystal Glynn had recently shot the Spring/Summer 2011/2012 advertising campaign for New Zealand brand Zambesi. Above and below is a first look at the campaign, which stars Glynn alongside Kiwis Josh Skelton and David Kemp and was lensed by Marissa Findlay (makeup by Amber D for MAC, hair by Jason Chong Li for Stephen Marr). Expect to see Glynn front and centre at Zambesi's runway show at the upcoming New Zealand Fashion Week, which runs from August 29th to September 2nd at brand new digs, the Viaduct Events Centre. Zambesi is one of nearly 60 brands that NZFW organisers announced earlier this week would be joining their Autumn/Winter 2012 showcase. Other headliners: World (which frockwriter hears is closing the event), Trelise Cooper, Helen Cherry and Workshop Denim, Jimmy D, Stolen Girlfriends Club and Miranda Brown. Solo debuts include newcomers Celine Rita, Ingrid Starnes and Whiri. Hats off to the resilience of two Christchurch-based labels that are joining this year's lineup: the very well-established luxury eco label Untouched World and newbie MisterR, whose Christchurch store was destroyed during February 22nd's devastating earthquake which claimed 182 lives.  

photography: marissa findlay
hair: jason ching li for stephen marr
makeup: amber D for MAC


all images: supplied to frockwriter by zambesi

Stolen Girlfriends Club has ordered 1000 jam jars for its Sydney party, but there won't be any Stolen Generation T-shirts

stolen girlfriends club AW11/kent vaughan

Next Thursday, Auckland hipster collective Stolen Girlfriends Club will stage its second Sydney shindig in five months, this time to unveil a new short film shot by renowned Kiwi snapper Derek Henderson, to promote SGC’s new Heavy Metal jewellery line. The film stars photogenic Kiwi lovebirds Dempsey Stewart and Jasper Seven modelling the inaugural collection, We Are Ugly But We Have The Music (below). Frockwriter has previously documented SCG’s predilection towards serving alcohol in jam jars at events and next week will be no different with, we are told, 1000 jam jars ordered for the occasion. One thing we won’t be seeing at the event, however, is an “I belong to the Stolen Generation” T-shirt, as appeared on SGC's runway in Auckland last month. 

After frockwriter asked just how well the T-shirts would go down in the Australian market – where the term The Stolen Generation refers to the generations of Aboriginal children removed from their parents by the Australian government – co-founder Marc Moore later told us that he and his partners Dan Gosling and Luke Harwood had previously been unfamiliar with the term and were horrified to learn what it meant in Australia. 

 

According to Moore, he and his brand-mates had originally been inspired by the iconic American “non-smoking generation” logo, down to the same font. 

The Stolen Generation T-shirt slogan has been canned reports Moore. The T-shirts will now read “I belong to the Broken Generation”.

Says Moore: 

“We changed it because it would have been incredibly insensitive to run it. Australia is one of our main markets and it’s close to home, so we want to make friends – not enemies. Sure our brand can be cheeky at times, but only as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone”.

Well, as long as you don't count those two pesky assaults after the last SGC show in Auckland....

screen cap 'heavy metal' by derek henderson for stolen girlfriends club

backstage, stolen girlfriends club AW10 show, auckland, september 2009

front-of-house at the stolen girlfriends club AW11 show, auckland, 23rd september 2010

Sydney and Auckland street style in WWD

Street style photography is an enormous component of the fashion blogosphere, which has in fact launched blogging empires (The Sartorialist and Jak + Jil to name but a few). This photoreportage genre however definitely predates the net. Bill Cunningham’s first street style shots were published in The New York Times in 1978, but he first began documenting the fashion choices of ordinary people on the street during WWII. British style magazine i-D has a 30 year archive of its signature street style shots - aka “Straight-Ups” - on its website. And WWD, where Cunningham worked briefly, has had its own longstanding series of street style shots called They Are Wearing. As the paper's Australasian correspondent since 1996, I have shot quite a few “TAWs” in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Seoul and Taipei for WWD FAST and (Fairchild News Service's now defunct menswear paper) DNR. During the Spring/Summer 2011 show season WWD kicked off a series of global TAW galleries in the 'Eye Scoop' section and yesterday two of mine went up, both shot last month. Here is the Sydney gallery and here is the Auckland one, which was shot around Vulcan Lane during New Zealand Fashion Week. Not including this random shot, above, which was taken for WWD FAST at Sydney's Glenmore Road, Paddington intersection in May this year. Perhaps you might recognise some of your mates. 

Inside Sabatini

Frockwriter had always wanted to visit the head office of New Zealand knitwear brand Sabatini, which showed in a group show during New Zealand Fashion Week a fortnight ago. On this NZ trip we did finally made it out to the Mt Roskill factory, about 20 minutes outside of Auckland’s CBD. Founded 57 years ago by Croatian refugees Zarko and Sonja Milich as Sonny Elegant Knitwear Ltd, this third generation family-run knitwear business is unique in Australasia. From 1967, it was also one of the original partner’s of the International Wool Secretariat’s Woolmark program (and yes, they use Australian wool - most of New Zealand's clip goes into high quality carpets and rugs). Operated today by Zarko's and Sonja’s son and daughter Tony Milich and Margie Evans-Milich and granddaughters Anja Milich and Danielle Evans-Milich, Sabatini has been likened to Italy’s Missoni clan. It’s fascinating to see the beautiful jacquards being woven on equipment that includes some quite spectacular postwar machinery. The company’s stable of brands includes Sabatini and the highend Sabatini White, which is sold around the world. 

Click here to see frockwriter’s Posterous photogallery of images from the mini Sabatini White NZFW show plus those Kent and I took in and around the factory - including a shot of the first garment ever manufactured by the company in 1953, pictured above, which is framed in Tony's office. 

I would highly recommend any students interested in a rare insight into on-shore knitwear manufacturing to call requesting a go-see.

And I would also love to see this company do some one-off creative collaborations. Lots of fashion companies do them. Both parties benefit. And Areez Katki springs to mind here. The revelation of New Zealand Fashion Week 2009, this young, undercapitalised Auckland-based designer hand knits every last one of his garments. After the Huffer show on the closing night of New Zealand Fashion Week, he told me that he can’t supply any more than two boutiques. It would be interesting to see what just he and this great heritage brand might be able to cook up.

On with the shoe: Kathryn Wilson's showgirls put their best feet forward at New Zealand Fashion Week

kathryn wilson AW11 backstage/kent vaughan

A runway show dedicated exclusively to footwear is always going to be a tough call. Terry Biviano did it in 2003 and 2004 at Australian Fashion Week by teaming up with show producer extraordinaire Tony Assness, who created some of the most memorable shows that the event had ever witnessed. But while Biviano put the focus on her shoes by initially teaming the footwear with nude-coloured corsets and silk parachutes (later going over the top with horses, contortionists and bird suits, as you do), NZ's Kathryn Wilson kept her debut show dead simple by putting her girls in black leotards and dispatching them onto a raised catwalk. Precariously navigating back down the stairs in their skyscraper heels and booties - as so well documented by Kent throughout the show – there seemed to be more than a little Broadway musical going on backstage. I really couldn’t resist putting a selection of shots to some music to create this slideshow below. 

New Zealand Fashion Week (the rest)

jimmy D AW11 backstage/kent vaughan

Apologies for the delay in posting the remainder of the New Zealand Fashion Week coverage. Returned to Australia and have been otherwise occupied. So here is a series of last posts with a few bits and pieces. Just a reminder once again that frockwriter attended the event as the guest of New Zealand Fashion Week. An enormous thank-you to my partner Kent Vaughan – who provided brilliant photo backup this year, both at the shows I attended and notably, those I could not, while attending to all the backend management (and who nailed some absolute cracker shots). Thank-you also to New Zealand Fashion Week, for the very kind invitation once again, PR Anna Jobsz and our minder Tim Holmberg, lovely guy. I did a brief wrapup post of the event for Pages Digital, which you can read here. To see frockwriter’s complete coverage of the event, click on the “New Zealand Fashion Week” tag below or use the search box to the right-hand side (the new NZFW splash will also hyperlink through). There are shows covered on frockwriter's Posterous which were not reviewed on the blog. It was just too difficult to get to everything and on occasions, eg Huffer, which we did attend – a great little show and a fab way to end the week – we simply ran out of time unfortunately. Along with all the main shows already covered, new to Posterous are galleries for Huffer, Jimmy D, the NZFW retrospective show, Miramoda, Blak Luxe, Annah Stretton, Sabatini White, Kathryn Wilson and Michelle Yvette.

Kiwiana

Just back from New Zealand Fashion Week. Apologies for the lack of posts. Frockwriter spent the weekend about an hour and a half outside of Auckland at the beach - a divine spot called Pauanui - and there was no internet access. There is a lot of backlogged NZFW material coming up soon. Meanwhile, snapped a few iconic Kiwi bits and bobs in the local supermarché. Yes I know that Marmite originated in the UK, but New Zealand apparently put its own stamp on the product and claims this version as NZ's own. The last two items are not so well-known. But the beer should definitely be - the most delicious beer frockwriter has ever tasted. And who knew Kiwi blogger Isaac Hindin Miller was expanding his line of merch?

 

Fight Club - Stolen Girlfriends Club Autumn/Winter 2011

backstage at stolen girlfriends club AW11

Stolen Girlfriends Club is New Zealand’s Ksubi. Founded by surfers (Dan Gosling, Marc Moore and Luke Harwood), it’s a streetwear specialist and has a cult following back home, evidenced by the massive turnouts to its hipster magnet shows. Last night’s presentation at the Mercury Theatre, Auckland’s oldest surviving theatre built in 1910, was a case in point. Frockwriter had to negotiate a queue half way around the block to get in. Inside, platters of of jam jars awaited the post-show revellers, while in the claustrophobic backstage area, models were already drinking out of them. As they milled around, the hair & makeup team applied fresh sweet peas and cigarettes to the girls’ messed-up hair and bruisers and hickies to the guys’ eyes and necks. The theme of the show was ‘Last Night’s Party’ and the mood the SGC trio was trying to conjure was the walk of shame of a bunch of kids after a big night out. It starred a stellar Australasian cast that included top Kiwi names Dempsey Stewart, Ella Verberne and Michael Whittaker (above). 

The lilac flowers and cigarettes made their way into the collection proper in a signature print used on skinny jeans, shirts and one very smart mens’ car coat, with other cool jacket options including a colour-blocked velvet bomber jacket and vintage-look patchwork faux fur chubbies. Cute patchwork bellbottoms and skinny jeans were teamed with sheer ruffled white blouses with piecrust collars, studded dog collars and belts. The show closed with a pretty series of sheer white ruffled maxidresses.

It will be interesting to see how the “I belong to the Stolen generation” T-shirt fares, notably if worn in Australia - where the term Stolen Generation refers to the generations of Aboriginal children removed from their parents by the Australian government. After frockwriter used “Stolen generation” as the headline of last year’s SGC show review, there was some criticism of insensitivity. Update 22/10: SGC has pulled the T-shirt.

But SGC would probably love the controversy. They wound up with some unscripted drama last night, when backstage sources report a real punchup occurred between a photographer and a male model – necessitating a visit by the police.  

Update 10/10/10: And as it now emerges, several hours later, New Zealand's top male model Michael Whittaker  (who is pictured at the top of this post, backstage before the show), had his nose broken during an altercation at the SGC afterparty, necessitating surgery. Talk about life imitating art.  

There is a gargantuan streetwear market out there and with reportedly a 100K order from Urban Outfitters in the US, SGC obviously has the point of difference to tap into it. Check frockwriter's Posterous for a full picture gallery shot backstage and from two different angles on the Mercury Theatre stage during the show.

If genetic engineers like AgResearch had their way, the world could be populated by models

AgResearch is a taxpayer-funded R&D facility whose mission statement is to develop business opportunities for New Zealand's agricultural and biotech sectors. Yesterday it sponsored a group show which showcased the work of ten local designers using four new woollen fabrics: Stitch Ministry, Annah Stretton, Blak, Salasai, Sable & Minx, NYNE, Emma Ford, Michelle Yvette, Trix & Dandy and Alexandra Owen. Owen created a white fencing suit, using a new synthetic wool blend that’s been developed for martial arts wear. Joined the backstage lineup: a burly security guard, who kept constantly checking the monitor for signs of any anti-GM protestors. The latter formed a picket line outside the venue two years ago, when AgResearch last showed at the event. Considering that the organisation’s proposed “Frankenstein” genetic modification of six animal species using human genes has been met with criticism, this is hardly surprising. But there were no protestor dramas - or clones. The doppelgangers in the cute knits and suspenders were Australian identical twins Aimee and Morgan Hurst, joint winners of the 2008 Girlfriend Model Search. Check frockwriter's Posterous for a full picture gallery.

Miller's crossing - Nicole Miller presents a capsule collection at New Zealand Fashion Week

She came, she saw, she conquered jet lag. Two weeks after unveiling her Spring/Summer 2011 collection at New York Fashion Week, Nicole Miller bundled up approximately two thirds of the range to show again at New Zealand Fashion Week, styling it back with wintery accoutrements in the form of black ponte and leather leggings and cashmere hoodies. In fact she did such a terrific job with the transeasonal touchups, the collection appeared to bear little resemblance to the range just shown in New York. But Miller also gave the New Zealand audience a world exclusive preview of ten pieces from her pre Fall 2011 collection, including a charming black wool knit poncho dress with hood and some very pretty ruched metallic taffeta cocktail dresses. The bodycon silk jersey dresses with bondage backs were killer, ditto the crystal skull-embellished T-s and skinny jeans. Bumping in and out of the venue with grace and minimum fuss, with no backstage hysterics or makeup trailer – unlike the scenario with last year’s VIP guest Pamela Anderson – it was a slick show that added some professional polish to an event that really just keeps getting better every year. Frockwriter shot backstage before and during the show. Check our Posterous for a full gallery of images of the collection (pretty much every look) and below for the finale video. 

 

In the name of the father - Trelise Cooper's Autumn/Winter 2011 tribute show

Trelise Cooper dedicated her Autumn/Winter 2011 show to her late father Joe Neill. “Dedicated to my beloved father who passed away in July. I will miss seeing his face and love in the front row. He loved Fashion Week” noted Cooper in the show program. Indeed, frockwriter was sitting right next to Neill at last year’s show – where we snapped and posted the shot, below. A pretty enough collection that hit all the commercial notes – military jackets, animal prints, leggings, harem pants – at times it felt like we were watching a Spring show. Case in point, the sheer georgette series and the supersized reproduction of Botticelli’s Three Graces of Spring erected at the end of the runway. The latter was an extension of the main set design: a church-like stained glass triptych, elements of which were repeated in graphics and embellishments in the collection itself. But fashion is of course increasingly transeasonal these days and the closing series of ruffled and embellished teadresses in a barely-there palette of shell pink and nude was beautiful, notably when teamed with some spectacular black evening shrugs fashioned from layered shards of chiffon. Don’t have that many shots. Cooper kicked out most photographers from backstage before the show. But check frockwriter’s Posterous for a small selection. And here is a video of the finale, below. 

Night of the living dread - Nom*d Autumn/Winter 2011

In these cost-conscious times, more than one brand at any given fashion week will choose to do a static presentation over a full-fledged runway show. Margie Robertson, the mastermind behind cult Dunedin brand Nom*d, certainly put her imprimatur on the static show concept last night with her ‘Danse Macabre’ surrealist theatre presentation in-the-round. Staged inside an inner-city warehouse, it starred a mashup of models and professional performers in a series of horror tableaux that included an exorcism, with the performers playing with spooky props that ranged from a rope noose to a whip and an axe. Being horror aficionados, frockwriter loved it. Not that we stuck around for much of the performance. With tricky lighting and so many crowded around to take in the spectacle, you would really have needed to document a rehearsal to get optimum shots. But check frockwriter’s Posterous for a gallery of 30 shots we took backstage beforehand. And below, for a quick walk-and-talk video shot just before the models walked out into the auditorium. 


 

It's complicated - Alexandra Owen Autumn/Winter 2011

Due to a transport hiccup at the World venue uptown, nearly missed Alexandra Owen’s show. Piled in backstage to catch it in mid flight and what a beautiful collection it looked to be. In a rich colour palette of burgundy, sapphire blue and gunmetal, the closing pieces included ruched digital print dresses, longline tailleurs with silk maxiskirts and a series of intriguing jackets with heavily sculpted bodices and sleeves, some featuring intricate origami folding - with the fabric tufted together like furniture upholstery. Owen’s star is fast rising. Noted for her innovative tailoring, her first two shows were major drawcards of New Zealand Fashion Week and this season, joining her far better-established compatriot Karen Walker, Owen commenced showing at New York Fashion Week – albeit so far via a static showroom presentation.  See frockwriter's Posterous for more images.

World class - Autumn/Winter 2011

World promised a decadent spectacle and the Auckland-based "factory of ideas and experiments" more than delivered yesterday with a hugely upbeat, extremely well-edited show that left its audience gagging for more. On the menu over high tea at The Langham hotel: a high camp hotpotch of Forties-look womens suiting in leopard print and tweed, madras mens suiting, disco diva silk patio dresses in eye popping kingfisher blue, canary yellow and bubble gum pink – the latter colour picked up in a brilliant mens anorak - and adorable accessories and styling. The latter included wool-wrapped eyewear, woollen bow ties, polka dot umbrellas, patent pumps with ponyskin mohawks on the heels, detachable silk fringing and Bride of Frankenstein coiffures. It’s been two years since World last showed at New Zealand Fashion Week – with the previous show another four years before that - and the event has definitely been the poorer for it. The collection was called ‘Wasted Days, Wasted Nights’, but it was no wasted afternoon for World. The show earned a standing ovation from the table of American VIP delegates, that included Coco Perez blogger Clif Loftin and Real Housewives of New York City stylist Derek Warburton, with Warbuton later Tweeting, “Okokok HAUTEST show of week!!!!!! @world own it B&TCHES!!!!!”. See frockwriter's Posterous for a full picture gallery. And below, for a video of the final walkthrough. 

Catching up with Alice Burdeu backstage at Zambesi

Here is a quick backstage interview (below) I managed to grab with Alice Burdeu after last night’s Zambesi show, which she opened – one of 19 shows that Burdeu told me she is doing this week. It was noisy, so it’s a little hard to hear (and better with headphones). Great to see Burdeu back in action. She is looking really good. As she mentions, she has been taking a break to study psychology at Melbourne’s RMIT. Looking forward to seeing more of her later in the week.

A tribe called vest - Zambesi Autumn/Winter 2011

 

Zambesi has a kind of wild, vagabond aesthetic that perfectly sums up the dark intellectualism of New Zealand fashion. Yet while the brand has a very loyal fan base, often the runway collections, which rarely appear to be edited, tend to drift off into a blur of deconstructed layering. Hands down, however, this was their best runway show to date. The impressive, ascetic set design, which saw models emerge from an inverted ‘V’ fashioned from white cotton-swathed scaffolding, set the stage for a sophisticated collection that not only hit commercial high notes, but also had light and shade. The trademark layered dresses and tunics in variations of black segued into a series of fluid trousers and techno taffeta parkas in crisp arctic whites, while brocades and lace were deployed in more opulent eveningwear pieces, from chemises to quilted knickerbockers and cigarette pants. Anchored by a series of fabulous, glam rock faux shag furs in gunmetal grey and off-white, the coats were particularly strong. Here is the show finale, below. See frockwriter’s Posterous for more images.