Day Three RAFW

So day three dawned, less than bright and sunny, adrenalin kicked in some where after my second long black in an hour and Kate Sylvester bought all my senses back to my life.
It began with a charming invitation style card on my seat referencing style makers such as Loulou de le Falaise, Proust, Alessandra Colombo and Scott Schuman and of course Chanel. Ahhh what a breath of fresh air and Kate's simple tailoring and subtle colour palate was very refreshing indeed. The look was effortless chic and timeless simplicity, knotted with leather belts and finished with large pristine pressed white bows and checkered collars around the neck. Her collection A Charming Man was contemporary gentlemanly ingenue.
The next show to vibrate on my aesthetic radar was Manning Cartell, a label I have come to know and acknowledge as one of great texture, elaborate detailing and finely fitted forms. Their hand crafted lace and heavily beaded bib style tops confirmed this for me today. Outfits ranged from suiting to runway sweeping dresses all threaded together by their underling inspiration of old tales from the Scottish Highlands. Manning Cartell certainly has a unique point of difference and an armour of strong aesthetics.
The following show, was Bianca Spender's RAFW debut and her inspiration and overall look could not have been further from the deep history of the Scotish Highlands. Avatar style characters once again made their entry on the catwalk. Feather eyebrows and braided and teased hair were a strong beauty look that contrasted the finesse of her garments perfectly. Draping and folding featured throughout in silks of all shapes, lengths and styles. Bianca had the apparently simple yet deeply detailed look down to a fine art.
Ready to Wear was a mixed bag of mens and womenswear with an overall dark ambiance. The standout for me was a Concept whose designs were exactly that, conceptual. They varied from the strong to the outwardly daring with striking jackets that took the power shoulder to a new extreme. Overall it was a fashion editorial dream.
The evening began with Australian favourite, Jayson Brunsdon, who delivered his structurally theatrical forms at his usual high standard. There were strong elements of fifties style, which were spliced with contemporary cuts and alternate detailing. Jayson Brunsdon proved once again he is a master when it comes to refreshing, richly embellished, pure elegance.
Next on my agenda was one of my personal favourite designers Karla Spetic, who won me over with her dreamy style garments at RAFW last year. The look was once again, much to my delight, quite dreamy and dominated by the colour flavour of the season, pastels. Karla Spetic is one of those labels that has radical cuts with a classic simplicity sewn down to a T. Karla is definitely still in my good books and getting better all the time.
The final show down at Circular Quay and yes, once again, the best in my opinion, was Konstantina Mittas, who had me captivated from the moment I read the press release on my seat. Her inspiration included two of my favourite things surrealist art and mythical characters. The lights went down and the sound of sirens rose up, rock sirens, Jared Underwood vs. Flutter Lyon and Jessica O'Donoghue, who were staged in the back corner filling the OPT with strangely endearing sound. Models glided out with masses of teased and tightly tucked ringlets on their heads and splashes of colour around their eyes, the only colour to be seen. Konstantina's designs were a modern day myth turned textile art to wear. Textures were vast and varied and scintillating gold pieces added a notch of rock goddess charm. The one shoulder silhouette, traditionally associated with goddesses, was overarching throughout the show but was given a contemporary and unique structure in each garment. Konstantina delivered a collection, where no piece out did the other, even the one pair of jeans was armed with their own characteristic style and coming from a girl who is renowned for never wearing jeans that is saying something. The final line of her press was release was "The Night of Enitharmons Joy alludes to the awakening universal strength, beauty and mystery of all women," and her collection was certainly a pleasant awakening of each of these for me, both artistically and stylishly.
And it is with pleasant thoughts of this collection, which has been my favourite so far (although Aurelio still leaves me stunned,) that I bid you, so long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night
Rx