Photo - Lucas Dawson
For the first time, the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival held a Student Showcase called Metamorphosis - which I was lucky enough and thrilled to be a part of.
Last November, RMIT final year fashion students were invited to submit an application to be part of this show. For the application we were required to submit a selection of past works, as well as the six-piece collection we intended to show.
I saw this as an opportunity to expand and refine my graduate collection entitled ‘pleats and pixels’. For me this evolution involved taking the weaving element and developing that into a print, making some of pieces a little more affordable for my target market.
Initially, I don’t think any of us quite realized how popular the parade would be and that it would be a sell-out. Let alone how much media interest and publicity the parade would generate.
The evening in fact went far too quickly. I wish I‘d been able to pause and slow down the time, so
that I could truly appreciate everything that was happening. I remember realising after Nikolina’s elegantly draped pieces were paraded, that my work was actually next! I felt my stomach lurch!! I’m so proud of my fellow designers and their collections and it was great to see them have their work on the runway. Many of us had included new pieces for the parade and it was thrilling to see how our collections had further evolved.
Each collection was so different from the one before and after. Harmony’s and Sarah Mac’s concepts were conceptual and artistic; who would ever would have imagined that ‘losing your marbles’ or ‘holding on by a thread’ (their inspirations respectively) could be translated into such intriguing garments. I think Michelle’s collection was brilliant; especially considering the starting point for her pieces was a collection of under water biological illustrations. I still can’t believe how perfectly she cut out all those circles and hexagons by hand!
Following the parade, the feedback has been very positive. It was great to read other interpretations of our collections.
One question that people have repeatedly asked me is “Why so much colour, in such a bleak financial climate?” My answer is simply “Why black?” Originally, the decision for my colour palette was influenced by my trip to
Hopefully this will be the first of many showings of my work during the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. The opportunity and support we were given have been invaluable, and I’m so very grateful to Karen Webster for picking this year for the first Inaugural Student Showcase.
* You can see all the designs from the Metamorphosis Student Showcase here
