Been There, Bought The T-Shirt…

Reading Sydney Morning Herald's Maggie Alderson and her observations of "The Dress Moment" we've all had, is like sitting back in a comfy armchair, enjoying a good film we've seen a billion times before. ["... Every fashion season - which means the several weeks I spend looking at frocks going up and down catwalks in London, Milan and Paris - there is one outfit, or "look" as we call it, that comes to haunt my dreams. Last October it was a blue dress in the Chloe show. It was a very simple dress - the sort of airy sleeveless shape that..."]

Another One Bites The Dust

Just like a large number of singers/actors/models have done in the past, we’re about to see the results of another celebrity’s move in the fashion industry. This time it is progressive soul artist Macy Gray, who’s launching her first set of clothing – "Ghetto Chic". Having worked on the collection with musician Jill Scott and make up artist/wardrobe assistant Nonja McKenzie, the collection is due to be heavily up-market street focused. The clothing line will be available in stores later on this year. Good luck to Macy, but we can’t help but wonder who will be the next celebrity to nominate themselves as Creative Designer in the fashion world.

43 William Street...

... Is the address of The Corner Shop in Paddington, Sydney. And why is this important? Well, this adorable little shop has 50% off their full autumn/winter sale starting today. Their selection of labels is something that would get any Sydney fashionista to re-program their agenda as "fully occupied for the moment": Balenciaga, Pierre Hardy, Marc Jacobs, Ann Demeulemeester, Sophia Kokosalaki, Missoni, Lanvin, Marc By Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Dries Van Noten, Sigerson Morrison, Helmut Lang, Alice Mccall, Lover, Tsubi, Eley Kishimoto, Diane Von Furstenberg, Rebecca Dawson, Chloe, Allessandro Dell'aqua, Jimmy Choo, Vanessa Bruno, Marni, Temperley... Need we go on?

Ab Fab

Impressive to say the least; H&M’s fierce marketing technique with ultra glam launch parties, their choice of co-work with some of the best designers in the world, and now most recently, H&M's new store in Knightsbridge ... But their move to expand in an area where only the really posh ladies would go for their shopping sprees may very well be the start of a new era for H&M. To us, the company is the working proof of how success is spelt today, and for a label that delivers High Street fashion for each and everyone, we’re hoping to see an expansion of this Down Under...

Iconic Beauties

Put your vote on Handbag.com's nominees for the most beautiful woman of the 20th Century! The images are showing 15 nominees, and there's a good selection of real beauties. Some of them that both carried themselves well, had striking looks as well as interesting characters, [features that don't necessarily go hand in hand these days]. To mention a few there's Marilyn Monroe, Louise Brooks, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ursula Andress. Out of the lot, we'll put our definite vote on this beauty queen below.

Palazzo Versace Torremolinos?

All of a sudden it was there, and now it’s expanding. All Versace fans must think they’ve died and gone to heaven hearing this… Versace’s premiere launch of a super exclusive beach resort in 2000 at the Gold Coast, Australia, has been a clear success, and the announcement to open up a second luxury holiday resort was made yesterday. Dubai is the place where all of this is planned to take place, and in 2008 Donatella should be able to open up the doors to all mad Versace lovers. 215 suites and 204 villas will be part of the resort, all rooms decorated in a specially designed line of Versace home wear. Judging by the price range from the Gold Coast Hotel, it shouldn’t be too ridiculously expensive; with rooms starting at 340AUD/night (=205EUR), the Versace stay will seem like a budget stay in comparison to this place... Having said that, it’s clearly a move for those with an obsessive love for the Medusa head, or for those with a reasonable amount of money.

Atypical Lady

As much as she is a fringe character, she's also an amazing woman, who's managed to survive more than 3 decades of cruel working conditions in the fashion industry. Always delivering totally unique, ground breaking collections with little or no support, she made it through the tough years. Her colourful life is highly intriguing, but it's not until studying her biography we get to appreciate the full extent to her amazing life. Today she is a highly respected hot spot celebrity, who's chosen Prince of Goth, Mr Marilyn Manson to feature her most recent men's collection. Who else could this be but the grand dame and Creative Director Vivienne Westwood OBE?

1970. Vivienne Westwood and her partner, Malcolm McLaren, open the shop Let It Rock at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea in London, as a showcase for their ideas. The shop sells leather clothing with zips and chains, tee shirts with slogans and pornographic images.

1976. Punk style is born. The band The Sex Pistols choose to wear clothes from Westwood's shop at Kings Road, for their first gig.

1981. Vivienne Westwood delivers her first runway, "The Pirate Collection", presented at Olympia in London. The collection includes full sleeved frilled pirate shirts made from luxury fabrics. Copy cats steal her ideas of the theatrical brocade, hussar style jackets of velvet and silk. The shop at 430 King's Road is once again redecorated and renamed World's End, which is as it remains to this day.

1983. The collaboration with Malcolm McLaren ends. Westwood presents the collection "Witches". The same year, she introduces training shoes on the cat walk.

1987. Westwood brings out "Harris Tweed" - a collection based on traditional fit of English tailoring. Tweed and velvet are key attributes worn with fine knitwear twin-sets and 18th Century corsets.

1992. Westwood is awarded the OBE by Her Majesty the Queen.

1998. Her first scent Boudoir is launched.

2003. Along with Kate Moss and other celebrities, she joins the exhibition "On the other side of the lens" at London Tram Studios, to exhibit their own personal photographs. A year later, Victoria and Albert Museum in London is putting up their largest exhibition ever, covering some of Westwood's work (image below).

2005. Marilyn Manson features her men's collection - a move that clearly fits like a glove. Westwood starts up a campaign for liberation of people who have been wrongly imprisoned by the FBI...

Fashion Ration Extension

Sydney’s fantastic contribution to fashionistas doesn’t just end in the shopping mall. No, we are spoilt for choice, and the following months are going to be particularly busy with all sorts of activities. So if you’re anywhere near the region, you should definitely put some of these activities in your agenda...

Eyegasm is setting up a display of their fantastic photos at Spacejunk.

The Powerhouse Museum is putting up "Designtalk" by Wanda Jelmini, Art Director for Missoni Home. Now, don’t be misled - forget all about floaty Missoni dresses or traditionally stripy shoes. The patterns in Missoni furniture and textiles will make you want to book the next lounge set available just because of the familiar fabric patterns. Later on this year, the exhibition “Fruits – Tokyo Street Style” will be set up. This is a collection of photographs taken in Tokyo, displaying Japanese fashion subculture, that has inspired fashion designers worldwide. Looking at the photos makes us think of alternative designers such as Vivienne Westwood, a woman that has made a big influence in Japan’s street wear.

If you’re interested in Jewellery, the exhibition "Bedazzled" may be worth a visit. “The Hat Project” is held simultaneously. Both expos are on until 6 June, and held at Object Australia’s New Design Centre.

Kristen Lee & Kurt Geiger

There's nothing like a good doze of botox for the website! The observant reader will have noticed that Carlos Santana, Missoni and D&G have had to make room for other lovely items this week. This time we've fallen in love with a Kurt Geiger bag from Net-A-Porter, and the stripy Capri wedges from Kristen Lee, available at Style.com's online shop. Oh, by the way, go and check out all the other shoes they have in store currently - it's difficult not to fall in love with the full selection...

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in Cannes

Today she has the galaxy at her feet as one of the main characters in George Lucas' long-awaited sixth and final instalment of the Star Wars saga. Natalie Portman turned up for the Film Festival in Cannes, looking as cute as ever in her striking shaven-headed look. Samuel Jackson, Hayden Christensen, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aka Ian McDiarmid accompanied her, meeting up with Director George Lucas and the rest of the film crew gaining a lot of attention. Whether the film will be a major success should be interesting to see, but we always look back with joy at the days of Han Solo and Princess Leia. This film is the prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars and completes the story of how Anakin Skywalker was drawn to the dark side of The Force - all of which took place A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... The film has its UK premiere tonight, and the general worldwide release is on 19 May.

Define The Manolo

The source to an endless amount of wisdom that he’s happy to share with us every day. A walking fashion encyclopedia. Charming, funny, sensitive, and able to have us all in tears laughing. Ah yes, on top of this, he’s also a very nice guy! Ayyyy the Manolo, how does he do it...?

Define Genius

In this month's issue, American Vogue are presenting the story "Be Cool". The pictures, taken by Steven Meisel, are really beautiful, showing the brilliant work of Miuccia Prada's spring/summer collection for Miu Miu. These charming, multi-coloured pieces are, in our opinion, the best collection presented from Miu Miu so far. The animal patterned coat is from Michael Kors.

Ask us: Do we like this? Ask Beelzebub: Does he like being naughty?

One Helluva Lady

Red haired or green maned, fashion icon Zandra Rhodes never fails to impress us. Showing a history of guest names such as Kate Moss, Kelly Osbourne and the British Royal family, it makes us wonder how she's managed to reach such a broad clientele. But clearly she's a successful lady, as she's managed to stamp her identity on the international world of fashion. In addition to her designer skills, she's also the founder of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, where she's proving her strong involvement in the future for fellow young colleagues. The museum's aim is partly to celebrate innovative talents within the fashion industry, and help to encourage young designers to bring new ideas. But that isn't enough for Zandra Rhodes; she's now organising the spectacular event "My Favourite Dress Charity Ball" at exclusive Hurlingham Club in Fulham. The event is held on 23 June 2005, and is a collaboration with Rainbow Trust Children Charity. 600 guests are invited to join the fashion-led fundraising party, planned to raise a substantial amount of money for the charity. As the name of the event suggests, guests are encouraged to wear their favourite dresses/outfits, and have a 'right ball'. Well, for £175/head, let's hope the evening turns out that way...

Hats Off To Renee

Spring-early summer is the time to get married. Charles and Camilla's wedding not long ago was not an unexpected one, but certainly a wedding that got a lot of attention. Heidi Klum and Seal's wedding seems to have taken place today. This will have almost certainly guaranteed a stunning Heidi, in a tremendous wedding gown, as she's a lover for Vera Wang's famous wedding numbers. Yesterday was also Renee Zellweger's day. Zellweger tied the knot with her fiancée, the country and western singer Kenny Chesney, whom she's been dating since January this year. Renee wore a dress designed by Carolina Herrera, and the wedding ceremony took place in a beachfront paradise on St John in the Virgin Islands, where the groom has a house. With only a few wedding guests including Carolina Herrera herself, this seems to have been the ultimate romantic wedding.

The Shoe Must Go On

The Fashion Week has come to an end, and it’s with great excitement, a little nostalgia and sore feet we look back at highlights of the shows. But there are many other events lined up for fashionistas... If you’re a lover of exhibitions for instance, you’ll find Canberra’s Museum and Gallery’s current exhibition “The Shoe Must Go On”, the perfect place to check out. This is a display of Marika Harvey’s shoe collection, representing every decade from the 1920’s to current date. Marika Harvey is Australia’s own Imelda Marcos, and she’s lent the museum 130 pairs of her own shoes. The golden age of fashion in the 1950s is represented by shoes by Roger Vivier, creator of the first stiletto, followed by examples of Mary Quant creations from the 1960s. Now, unless you live in Canberra, this exhibition will be difficult to visit. But it’s a sign of the time that - along with Metropolitan Museum The Costume Institute’s Chanel Exhibition and many other fashion events we’ve covered - the interest for fashion and beauty is getting more commonly recognized. More international events are found at Fashiondig – check it out.

MAFW Day 5

Ten “New Generation” designers were showing their work in the Harbour Room today. The designers and their labels were Flamingo Sands, Curtis, Gail Sorranda, A.R.X, ZaneRobe, Zanthus, Nyou, Jeenanun, Stevie and Valerija. We’d come to see only a few of them, but those special items which caught our attention were some of the highlights of this show.

Flamingo Sands were showing a sparkling selection of hip beach wear. A.R.X. had a good mix of casual evening wear/going to the beach clothes. Gail Sorranda presented a great, retro chic collection to a background of Jim Morrison’s gorgeous voice, singing Riders of the Storm. Valerija had worked hard on her Gypsy collection, bringing in a multi coloured chiffon dress with a long back, a piece that completely stole the attention of the show. And finally the men got some well deserved attention in this week – Curtis, ZaneRobe, and Nyou presented some hunky collections that we'd refer any guy to check out.

Colourful Aspects

Billich Gallery, 1.30pm
On the last day of the fashion week, you really need something to go nuts over. Tim O'Connor must have sensed our need for this. What he had put together was a journey back to the 70's, where sun-bleached flower patterns met up with pure white hippie dresses, ornate with colourful hemmed embroidery. Pale denim was adding to the hippie trends, and judging by the models' hair styles, the girls looked as though they had watched too many Bridget Bardot films. Orange and brown were prevalent, as were fabrics such as cotton voile and chiffon.

MAFW Day 4

Harbour Room, 12.30pm
With an invitation card delivered in a tube, a poster wrapped with a silk ribbon, the message reads: "Natasha Gan introducing the Smoking Room". How can we not be charmed by this start? Natasha Gan's style appeals to modern women who like to dress with a rock 'n' roll attitude. With influences from underground music culture, Natasha gives the phrase "a breath of fresh air" a new meaning. Gone is the current trend for girly, romantic little numbers. Back, are cabaret girls in top hats, shredded tops, and details such as ropes and brushed jewellery. Being a successful debutant in the MAFW in Melbourne last year, we can now find Natasha's ground breaking collections at both Myers & David Jones.

The designers of Jtah (no spelling error...) had obviously taken a cue from their other silk/chiffon/satin colleagues. Stunning dresses and camisoles were shown in their collection. So many of the designers have been going in this direction, this week. But this does not in any way belittle the beauty of Jtha's designs. The colour range kept mostly within eye-shadow pastels with mother of pearl.

Bec & Bridge provided a grand old trip down memory lane. Extensive selections of bright cobalt blue and cerise tops were brought out (as shown below). They were combined with tiny, tiny shorts worn with very high heels, and that's how we'll remember them - kinda 80's. They did have a skinny pair of jeans with colourful embroidery on the side which were nice - kinda 2005. Clearly European fashion and Asia-pacific fashion, aren't completely synchronized. More images.

Rock The Kasbah

Billich Gallery, 1.30pm
Don't all super rich ethnic Goddesses go to Egypt in embellished silk chiffon? Well, if they don't Cohen et Sabine must have got it wrong. Delivering a collection consisting entirely out of sand washed silk, it was obvious that this was what the designer duo had had in mind. Dresses were mostly straight (20's style), rather than figure hugging as often seen in other shows. This provided that lovely authentic ethnic touch. Apart from a few striking blue dresses, most of the range included safe colours like sand, biscuit and black. The girls had tasselled tangly hair, most of them wearing flat ribbon tie sandals in contrasting colours. Wearing no jewellery and sparse makeup, the collection got its own well deserved focus, complimented by Ofra Hazah's beautiful voice.

Adam Ant Meets Alice Through The Looking Glass

Cargo Hall, 2.30pm
When Ericaamerica pull off their show, they're bringing us back to tea parties, secret gardens, and even a visit to a cowboy saloon. The reminder that girls are girls and boys are boys is their driving force, and this was still the clear message in their show today. Their collection "Dressage" for women demonstrated their hard work, via full-volume ballerina skirts and ruffed jackets with tapestry embroideries. Puff sleeves, lace and bask vests were evident throughout the show. Boys looked like they've just come off the hot rodeo stage, wearing tight stove pipe jeans, Buffalo Bill shirts and Liberty Valance waistcoats. An inspiring show with a clothes collection that will sell like hotcakes; for lovers of Victorian fashion, or for those with A Fist Full of Dollars. More images.

Seven (non) Deadly Sins

It’s all very well publishing one review after another, but we learn little about the “big picture”. Let’s just step back and reflect... What have we learned so far from the fashion week? Here’s what all you coolchiqs out there must know and memorize for your own good!

1.) Mixing several patterns in many colours, as well as just plain colours at the same time is a must-do for the Australian spring/summer 2005/06 season. Get inspiration from Nookie, Lorena Laing, Ed & Bek and WORLD on this!

2.) Get a textile or thin woven leather belt and wear this high on your waist. Lisa Ho will show you how.

3.) Remember what Paablo Nevada told us: There’s nothing more sophisticated, classy and feminine than a subtle coloured dress to go with your Martini Bianco on the French Balcony. Preferably worn with your hair done up like Greta Garbo.

4.) Simultaneously, if you’re a colourful, romantic fool that watches Grease and The Fonz all day long, how can you go wrong with Stephanie by Conley & Cranford?

5.) Seduce somebody in your shared washing room space. But don’t think for a minute you’re worth anything less than one of Dorian Ho’s or Alexandra Nea’s silky numbers.

6.) Turn into a ‘fine English lady’ and get yourself one of Camilla & Marc’s demure egg shell coloured apron dresses.

7.) And finally; Ditch your shoes, put flowers in your hair and turn into Ms Seattle (ok, well…ditch your shoes for one day at least). Think how that clever Joveeba woman presented it….

MAFW Day 3

Billich Gallery, 10.00am
Ever since that day in 1990 when Francis Hooper and Denise L'Estrange-Corbet were stood waiting for a bus in Auckland, life just hasn't been the same. The move into the fashion business has been a decision none of them have regretted. WORLD has been shown at official fashion weeks in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore etc. Their collection today included very strong colours, as often as safe ones such as sand, granite and black. Different patterns were often mixed or worn as separates with plain black, but the focus in each number was clearly the vibrant colours. More spectacular than the clothes were the hair creations by Kieren Street and co. from Valonz. Having a second look at this show might have helped us to a more positive attitude, but the invite "The Kung Fu kids at WORLD wanna stick a dagger in your ass!" doesn't particularly appeal to us. More images here...

Jade + Charlie = True

Harbour Room, 11.00am
Today Charlie Brown pulled out all the stops. Mother of pearl sequined evening bags were waiting for us at the front row seats, containing beauty products from Schwarzkopf and MAC. The collection included everything; spectacular one-off evening gowns in delicate ornate material, shorter dresses and beaded elegant kaftans, suits and long coats in patterns and striking colours. All this was combined with stunning golden high heels. Moving swiftly between evening gowns to coats and less gala glamour, the designer managed to coordinate the show extremely well with music that seemed perfect for the outfits. As Brown Sugar came on, Charlie Brown entered the room, inviting Jade Jagger from the front row to accompany her on the podium walk. Jade, being the true coolchiq she always is, had flown in to Sydney from Ibiza to give the collection an extra buzz. Brad Hick's images can be found here .

Antique Chic

Harbour Room, 4.30pm
Quirky, charming and with a romantic edge, is the best way to describe Ed & Bek's collections. To complete this, their website is presented as an old style fairytale book. The designers' love for antiquity was also evident in their show. Victorian ladies with super starched hair arrived looking very naughty and mischievous, displaying one unique costume after another. Apart from a generally charming collection, we particularly liked a yellow dress worn with a puff-sleeved mini-bolero and a green pleated dress with bright red accessories. Considering that this baby is only three seasons old, Ed & Bek can be very proud of their child today.

Vicious Threads = Vicious Shoes

Cargo Hall, 6.30pm
Imaging excruciatingly sore feet from spending 3 days in high, peep toed shoes. Add hunger, exhaustion and a 100 meter long queue of mad fashionistas ahead of us. Yes, the odds for Vicious Threads weren't the best. But listen to this: The catwalk was candle lit, creating a warm, welcoming feeling. Placed at the entrance of the podium was a massive Thai Buddha in stone. The choice to play a fantastic remix of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog when the models came down the runway, couldn't have been better. Vicious Threads is a cool street label, and there's nothing like combining wacky music with funky clothing. It worked very well, and we found ourselves tapping our sore feet along with the music as the girls and boys delivered the collection. The show was, as you'd expect, all cool denim and cottons. Nothing ground breaking at all, but a fun show to have in mind for our next purchase of denim. View more images.

MAFW Day 2

Billich Gallery, 10.00am
Designers have an amazing ability to be creative. The creativity that Betty Fong & Wayne Homschek showed today for Paablo Nevada, was not limited to their ultra glam collection in any way. A play had been set up, based on an ordinary girl's dream of being in the jet set world, living a life O'Reilly. Set in the Billich Gallery, 26 models did a spectacular job performing this act. Not only did they show off the very pretty pre-war style dresses, but they acted splendidly too. Perhaps it was the unusual 'non-catwalk' presentation, or maybe the beautiful hairstyles of the models, or perhaps the fact that (sans musique) we were able to hear the clicking of each camera in the room that made the collection so special... But looking at the photos again, makes us realise that we loved every bit of it. Antique pink, violet grey, mud and pale turquoise were colours much used in the show. Brad Hick's images from the show are here.

Harbour Room, 12.30pm
The boho trend continues into the Australian summer/spring season; this is Joveeba's very clear message. Alison Cotton is the brain behind Joveeba, and as much as we love to see dazzle and bling-bling, there's nothing that gets us going better than a fabulous, wearable, back-to-nature-collection mixed with a little jet-set attitude. The show took its start with cool Seattle grunge music, and in came girls looking like stunning rock chic babes. Wearing no shoes, but instead, funky ankle leather straps, and gypsy jewellery, this collection would have both Kate and Sienna in awe - just as we were. Mr. Hick's numbers continue...

Harbour room 12.30
The domino effect of time keeping is quite evident, when the first show of the day isn't running on time. This is not a reflection on Paablo Nevada's slightly off schedule time keeping, but a simple observation that this affects the other shows. As the Harbour Room was far from packed, back seaters were encouraged to take a closer position in the hall to view the shows closer up. Liza Emanuele is the energetic woman behind the label IT GIRL. IT GIRL launched in 2001, and since then the label has built up a great repertoire, from hand illustrated t-shirts to full dazzling collections. Today, IT GIRL showed a sparkling collection of whimsy dresses, figure hugging tops, and petite jackets with matching skirts. The designer chose to feature her collection with stunning jewellery from Coco Devine, a move that worked very well today. More of Brad's work...

Harbour Room, 12.30pm
Two hunks arrive on the stage bringing in two washing machines, and not long after a lady wearing a bathrobe, that she loses immediately. This is the introduction to Dorian Ho's show. His collection named "My Beautiful Laundrette", is as charming as the name is quirky (just like the ground breaking film with the same title). Today, Dorian Ho presented a dazzling range of startling, crystal ornate dresses, both knee and full length. There were seductive, slinky silk camisoles, as well as a fantastic looking ballerina skirt, combined with an egg shell coloured lace top. Dorian Ho, who's based in Hong Kong, takes his influences from Audrey Hepburn. This is a label we can look out for at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, or Pois in Singapore and Saks Fifth Avenue, NY. Impressive to say the least, and perfect for any coolchiq with a very special occasion in mind. Images from the show as always...

Harbour Room, 16.30pm
Stephanie by Conley and Cranford has been around since 2003. In the first half of the show, girls arrive, carrying ice cream cones with pastel scoopy ice cream to match their dresses. Beautifully cut, strap-less dresses with classic 50s inverted daffodil shape (a la Marilyn Monroe) in bright colours with white contrasts were dominating the scene. The second half offered a lot of nude, beige, and animal/snake skin print. A fantastic bright sky-blue dress was the item that caught our attention in the show.

Harbour Room, 16.30pm
What's the result if the French Navy get to organise a St Tropez yacht party in Australia...? You get Nookie! This label presented gorgeous flirty beach/casual wear, in a refreshing way that we loved. Patterns, stripes, paisley, and plain colours all carried by the same model were prevalent. The key to manage a pastiche of such different patterns is the genius of putting it all together. Seeing this, is like mixing a 1987 cocktail with maritime/sailor fashion influences (a la classique mode de Jean Paul Gaultier), shaken slowly with a 90's gold edge and finished off with the most recent bit of millennium style... In other words, a brilliant show that definitely gets our nod. More images here.

MAFW Day 1

Town Hall, 9.00am
Who else but Lisa Ho would be the perfect candidate to start off the week? Lisa Ho is a designer we've covered before, and in these circumstances, she needs very little introduction. She's been in the field for over 22 years, and is one of the leading designers in Australia. Along with the exclusive arrangement at the department store David Jones, her clothes are available at retailers worldwide. Ho's most recent collections have been a breathtaking range of romantic vintage textiles, all delicately put together. The show that she's just presented indicates that we'll carry on admiring her work. Held off site in Sydney's old Town Hall building, it was the prefect place for the show. A mysteriously lit main hall with live songbirds singing, and plunging green plants hanging off the ceiling, it appears they must have thought through the ultimate location for this show very carefully. The models came strolling down on a tiger patterned catwalk. Pure, shiny silk was the most commonly seen material in the dresses. Lisa has worked with exotic prints, to achieve an exclusive east-meets-west look. We loved the beautiful, tightly-fastened, round-the-waist woven leather belts. The models wore high, strappy sandals to show off their super bronzed legs, and big, big hair was on the agenda. "The nicest collection Lisa has ever delivered" was how our neighbour rated the show. For more images, check out MAFW's official photographer Brad Hick's photo gallery at this site.

Cargo Hall 11.00am
Camilla and Marc are the names behind the successful label and sister-and-brother team, who have delivered some of the most gorgeous, unique velvet jackets we've ever seen. Formed only last year, the label has a solid establishment in Australia, with retailers nationally. The collection, named "Dear Miss Lovely", showed a range of demure, innocent clothing. We had our hopes set very high for this show, but what impressed us in their previous work, was actually less obvious today. The "Dear Miss Lovely" collection has taken its cue from the classic film My Fair Lady. There was a lot of apron dresses, French tulle and crochet trims; a style we always admire if it's presented and put together the right way. Something we must rave about is their jackets. Camilla and Marc's jackets are absolute masterpieces; a lot of them short and wide and with charming, wide pleated sleeves as any 'Fair Lady' would wear. View the full collection here.

Harbour Room, 12.30pm
Having graduated from The Design Studio in Sydney 2002, Alexandra Nea has since produced three RTW collections. In this collection, she chose materials such as silk georgettes, pure silk satins, and fine, pale cotton voile. Colours in warm tones; antique pink, dark biscuit and pale orange were part of today's range. One of her signature pieces, a sequinned silk georgette bolero jacket was stunning, and the piece we loved most. View the full collection here.

Harbour Room, 12.30pm
Lorena Laing presented a truly majestic show. Little did we know about this woman's work to date, but what was presented here was a feast for the eye that left us craving for more. She presented stunning work with pure white crochet and cotton, with figure-hugging shirt and jacket-styles we've never seen before. She weaves together delicate pieces of fabric in an extremely complex way. This complements her charming 20's style hats, the silky, wispy, wide ¾ pants, and multi-coloured circular printed skirts. We'd be amazed if this label isn't snapped up by a major department store internationally by the end of the week. Until then, don't miss Brad Hicks images of this.