Dear Madam Alexandra E.
When I think of Australia, words like sun-drenched, beach, blonde surfers, aboriginals and the Sydney Opera House come to my mind immediately. But while I love Aussie designers like Alice McCall, Sass & Bide and Dion Lee, the Fashion scene in Australia is quite under-exposed on my side of the Pacific. However don’t get me wrong, it’s changing and in the good way. For example, TopShop asked Alice McCall to collaborate on two successful capsule collections while Sass & Bide is becoming an established label in the country of her Majesty. A brand like Ksubi has found a large web of stockists in the US. And this is just a short-list to demonstrate that buyers and editors from the North are slowly and progressively turning their heads to the Australian fashion industry.
So, what does it mean? Why such interest now? The Australian lifestyle is usually described as laid back by most, and it translates into the clothes. To survive in the sun-drenched streets of Melbourne, my only hope would be to wear comfortable and stylish clothes for a complete sun-bath. However, having never been to Australia, my reflection is mostly based on street style snapshots taken through the lenses of Facehunter or The Sartorialist. Of course these people are probably among the 2% most stylish Australian but largely enough to give us an idea of what’s the Australian fashion in terms of culture and design.
Compared to other cities like Paris, Milan or NY where we seem to be more focused on sophistication, provocation and edge, Australian designers differentiate themselves with enthusiasm. My favorite designers are Alice McCall and Dion Lee, and I recently fell in love with Karla Spetic and Alexi Freeman.
Their enthusiastic approach to design outfits is recognizable by these modern and architectural cuts to ease and flatter the body, and by the punchiness of the colors and mix of colors that are used as if someone exploded the Jelly Beans factory. But what could come out tacky, is definitely not. It seems that the designers have a natural talent to design chic, playful, wearable day and night, and flirty outfits. Dion Lee, for example, is really having a fantastic year. No doubt he will end up showing next year either in London or in NY, perhaps, even Paris. His unique vision of sculpture and construction generates intrigue and attention. His work is both architectural and artful; innovating what is womenswear and actually making women desire to wear his outfits.
His futuristic-boho is well articulated with this magical palette of purple. And, it seems Australia has a large resource of pattern-making wizards.
Kevin, editor-in-chief of Tais-toi, sois beau.
