day two air nz fashion week...

Day two starts off with a bang with Nom*d's amazing short film and collection back at the Sky City Theatre...

Nom*d - I always enjoy going to Nom*d's show - you can always be assured they will put on a show to remember, full of theatre and feeling - this show was no different, starting off with an amazing short film called "Turncoats" - also the name of the collection...the film was directed by Kirsty Cameron and was so beautiful to watch, you could almost hear everyone holding their breath. A group of beautiful, young things living a cult-like, dreamy existence, living in isolation, without society and with great Nom*d clothes layered against the cold of course! Stunning to watch...the actual show was short and sweet, with a smallish group of models parading around the theatre showing key pieces. Modest pinafores, suiting, big shirts, abit of military thrown in, leather, wool, jersey, re-worked Nom*d style, plush tie-died velvets, splashes of red and blue were refreshing in a sea of black, as was the amazing broken glass necklace.These young pilgrims are living in layers protecting against the elements and looking beautiful while doing it! I loved the bonnets, the bibs and aprons. Fantastic show.

Salasai - Entitled "Blu Colla Lovers", the collection was born out of "the process of collecting imagery, colours, textures, words", I found this really fun, directional and a collection that was wearable, but still alternative and wouldn't make you blend into the background! Early 90's springs to mind, with lace used, arm warmers, bold slashes into knits, statement t-shirts, busters and some paneled body con - but imagine all of this with a 2009 update - hemlines are shorter, shoulders are sharpened and fabrics are dip-dyed in stunning combinations. A blue and black newspaper print was used liberally in keeping with the multi media theme, as was the beautiful slouchy loose-weave alpaca knits in creams, greys and oranges. The black dress featured in it's many forms, short and chiffon, a knit dress with hood and my favourite - a very gothic, floor length satin number with peaked shoulders and cut out between the breasts. The satin mini with oversized bow also caught my eye, as did the electric blue body suit with sculptural shoulders. The rusty orange satin used throughout the collection was a really fresh colour to see - loved the dip-dyed over-sized jersey dress too. Kirsha requested M.A.C to do "A little bit dark, A little bit 80's, but always with a strong Salasai Architectural edge" makeup and that's what she got!

Cooper & Trelise Cooper - Trelise's shows are always an explosion of colour and so looooong! She shows so many pieces - not that this is a bad thing, it's just hard to take in multiple pieces and make notes on them! Cooper is Trelise's younger label and this year it was exciting, wearable and had many pieces I wanted to snap up. Based on a girl in the 30's but adding an element of crazy, acid colour and injecting some of the obsession for the shoulder and there you have it. The collection was a mix of floral, military themes, jodhpurs, leather in pink and in black, tweed cropped pants, stunning silk tea dresses with a twist in the brightest colours you can imagine - greens and pinks, a cute cropped denim jacket, ruffles, lace and stripes got a look in, knits, nautical, the dropped crotch was there again, slouchy sweaters and man-style shirts (these featured in many collections, will be big for next winter). My favourite pieces were an oversized grey sweater dress with a red sequin bow on, the navy silk dress with suspender belt details, the silk shirt in white, orange and brown with buckle print worn with orange tights and the black velvet, gothic dress with sparkly bow on the front and chunky zip up back. As you know Trelise's own namesake is her older label, more grown up, but pieces still are able to be worn by all ages - 18 - 80 she says. The theme was "The Modern Dandy" and "The Empowered Woman". Again colour, colour, colour, but this time with masculine splashes with a soft Victorian look in the mix. One of the first dresses that came out was a favourite - felted wool in that classic 40's shift style - in the most luscious lilac with a wacky chocolate bobble 'necklace' detail around the neck. Trelise always knows how to make a gorgeous, embellished coat and there were many on offer, as well as suiting in pinstripe and plain, ruffles, floral, again defined shoulders and nipped in waists, chiffon, an amazing gold body suit and stunning evening gowns literally dripping diamantes and sparklely bits. I loved the orange fitted dress with black roping detail and 40's washed out floral dresses. I loved the hair & makeup in this show, red lips, pale complexions and messy up do's.

Kate Sylvester - Kate's collection called "Diamond Dogs" was a love letter to Auckland 80's girl about town, Judith Baragwanath. I am just old enough to remember who she was and what a style icon she was to many back then. The collection was a wonderful mash up of lady-like, punk and everything in between! Judith was a rich rebel who hung out with the 'bad crowd' much to the disgust of her Remuera peers. I love the fact Kate has taken such a random muse for this collection and well, it worked and beautifully so. We saw military-punk touches, school-girl pinafores - which were favoured by punk girls in the 80's, tweed and check - a nod to the rich girls. A chocolate, plastic trench was a standout piece, stripes got a look in (I love stripes!), slips worn as dresses, comfy, but cool t-shirting dresses with hoods, pinstripe suiting, florals, a stunning, pretty pale pink dress with petal-like fabric (see left) and short shorts got a look in as well. My favourite pieces were the pink cardigan with monogram paired with the black pencil skirt, the cropped green army jacket which was almost an extra replica of one I used to wear in 1983 and an olive green plastic and plaid shirt. This was a really inspiring show - one of the week's best for me.