Melbourne Fashion Week (MFW) takes over the city this week for its 23rd outing. And while it pulls Australia’s fashion elite with it, you don’t need to be one of them to join in the fun. Nor do you have to spend up big on tickets to runway shows to get a front row seat. The MFW program boasts a swag of free events, which means plenty of ways to indulge your sartorial side, sans splurge. Here are our picks.
Strike A Pose Retrospective – Sat, Sept 2
Take a stroll back in time and maybe embrace a few of your own past fashion mistakes, at this illuminating retrospective by award-winning Australian photographer, Rennie Ellis. His snaps of Aussies out on the town date back to the 1970’s, offering a rare insight into the evolution of our country’s style sense and unearthing some serious gems in the process. Catch the good, the not-so-good and the downright daring moments of local fashion, as shared by a panel of industry experts.
Creative Collective Exhibition – Sept 1-8
These days, a lot more goes into creating fashion than simply top-notch sewing skills and pretty fabrics, as you’ll see from the diverse talents showcased at MFW’s Creative Collective Exhibition. This revolving exhibition explores the various creative disciplines that give today’s fashion its edge, through a series of inspiring displays, performances and talks that all evolve throughout the week. In the mix, there’ll be on-stage discussions with artists giving insights into their design processes, mixed-media displays by four local florists, alternating walk-in-wardrobe installations and a jewellery cabinet featuring a different designer’s work every 24 hours. A must for anyone in search of a bit of creative inspiration.
Fashionmasters Student Designer Exhibition – Sept 2-8
Get a glimpse of what’s on the fashion horizon, courtesy of Melbourne’s emerging design talent. Before students from the city’s top design schools show off their wares at Thursday night’s Student Runway, you can take a peek behind the scenes and enter the world of the fashion designer, at The Fashionmasters Student Design Exhibition. Running across seven days, the exhibition showcases runway pieces from four of these fledgeling talents, while displays of their journals, photos, multimedia footage and toiles (mock-up garments) give an insight into the inspiration and technique behind each design.
Ethical Clothing Showcase – Mon, Sept 4
Australia’s kicking some big goals in the arena of ethical fashion, as shoppers grow ever conscious about the impact of their wardrobes on the rest of the planet. Leading the charge is accreditation body Ethical Clothing Australia, which has put together a MFW showcase of its own, celebrating some of today’s top local ethical fashion labels. See the latest designs from the likes of Nobody Denim, Manning Cartell, Anthea Crawford, Lara Pallini and Cue, as they take to the runway gracing Melbourne Town Hall’s forecourt. You can even catch the 1pm showing in your lunchbreak.
Image Source: Fashion Journal.
