Fashion Down Under

It wasn’t just an any old Monday in Sydney, this morning saw the start of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) with sibling design team Camilla & Marc. In its 14th year, the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay was flocked with fashionista’s from all the corners of the world. Albeit the fashion industry is in a grip of an economic downturn, 135 international delegates representing 95 organisations have made Sydney their home-away-from-home for the week.

Due to the current economic climate, the organisers had to cut some costs, which resulted in removing the venue known previously as ‘The Studio’ from the event’s floor plan. The dual backstage preparation areas, as well as a detailed production schedule of 'The OPT' and 'Cargo Theatre' are set up for quick and effective turnarounds to showcase Australia’s fashion talent. Production budgets that are now freed will be reinvested into the remaining showrooms and other areas of the event.

Many of Australia’s established fashion brands such as Ginger & Smart, Kirrily Johnston, Jayson Brunsdon, Lisa Ho, Nicola Finetti, Marnie Skillings, sass & bide, Wayne Cooper, Willow and Zimmermann will show on schedule alongside several emerging labels including Dion Lee, Ellery, Romance Was Born, Therese Rawsthorne and T.V. to name a few. The runways will present a varied line up of experienced Australian models with the likes of Myf Shepherd, Alyssa Sutherland, Emma Balfour, Alice Burdeu, Georgie Wass, Vanessa Milde and Stephanie Carta returning from the international runways. New faces to look out for are Monique Keenan-Norton, Sasha Dimitrevic, Emily Trimbole, Olivia Henderson, and twins Morgan and Aimee.

IMG Fashion, a division of international sports, entertainment and media company IMG, is the global leader in the management and production of fashion weeks and designer fashion events such as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in New York, Miami and Berlin, Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden in London and MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong.

Image: Camilla & Mark RAFW SS09/10