OPENING NIGHT: PRESENTED BY AMP CAPITAL SHOPPING CENTRES

The Telstra Perth Fashion Festival has entered its 20th year this and there’s a huge week lined up for us! Telstra Perth Fashion Festival opened a show of so many top Australian designers. Dion Lee, Romance Was Born, Scanlan Theodore, Viktoria & Woods, Morrisson and One Fell Swoop.

We started the night in the Optus Stadium River View Room with champagne and Campari, spotting people we knew in the crowd and admiring everyone’s outfits. I was so impressed with the looks on show for the evening, everyone had put in a huge effort to wear their best and most interesting pieces on Opening night. Yet again, I wished I was a street style photographer.

Lining the windows in the River View Room was a L’Oreal Pro Hair Lounge in collaboration with Maurice Meade for VIP styling, Glamour Nail Bar for manicures, a makeup touch up bar by Artists at Play and a Mosman Spa and Cosmedical Clinic Beauty Corner. The main attraction of this space was definitely the AMP Capital Shopping Centres Floral Photo Booth! There were long lines of Perth Fashion Festival-goers waiting for a moment to snap an outfit shot in the beautiful booth.

Everyone took their seats, ready for the show to start. We were welcomed to the festival by none other than Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan the Festival Founder, Executive and Creative Director for Telstra Perth Fashion Festival. We then heard from a few other speakers and Mark McGowan. It was great to hear him say that we do a lot more than just mining in Perth and he’s so impressed with the creative space and spirit we have in this industry. He believes that TPFF gives people confidence, empowerment and provides young people with opportunity and that’s so important!  

Beginning with Morrisson, a label established in Fremantle in our very own Western Australia. The latest collection breezed along the runway. Flowing fabrics, ruffled pleats, oversized hats and bright colours of yellow, red and polka dots zoomed past on Perth's up and coming models. Morrisson always focuses on relaxed silhouettes with intimate details, I felt like this collection was perfectly on brand and something I need to add to my Summer wardrobe.

Viktoria & Woods walked out next, one of my most favourite labels! The pieces are always so effortless while remaining as those long-lasting perfect wardrobe staples that you’ll wear over and over again. This collection screamed Summer and Spring to me with white fabrics and lightly coloured fabrics in flowing form and suits, pieces patterned with crescent moons all while complementing both feminine and masculine shapes along the runway. Mixing girly with masculine is my favourite way to style and I just adored everything about this collection.

The latest Scanlan and Theodore collection were absolutely beautiful on the runway. The pieces were simple and wearable with a few stand-out statement items. I could feel the confidence of the clothing in this collection and I love that the label is self-described as “The Scanlan Theodore woman is confident, intelligent and complex – for it’s all the layered facets of life that make a design, an image and indeed a woman, a timeless beauty of memorable quality”. I can’t word it any better than that! The collection consisted of patterns mixed with zebra print, cool tones paired with warm, suiting with pale pink details, a glossy black vinyl look trench, off shoulder pieces and 80’s style puffed up sleeves.

Dion Lee is one of my personal favourites. I love the experimental and structured flow in every collection I’ve seen. The pieces are so wearable but statement styles at the same time. Known for being especially exceptional at blocked monochrome (thinking MBFWA 2017!) we saw so much of this on opening night.

One Fell Swoop always captures the audience with flowing, tied up and wrapped silky dresses. The thin spaghetti straps and mid length dresses are signature styles in the One Fell Swoop collections. Paired with structured bags, strappy shoes and small on-trend sunglasses, these formal and cocktail dresses became your perfect piece to style up or dress down.

The most storytelling pieces from the night were from Romance Was Born, a loud combination of fashion and art. I saw the collection by Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in 2017 and I’ve been blown away by their designs ever since. Described as “fashion dreamscape exploring vast themes of fantasy steeped in vibrant imagery”, each look was perfectly this. Walking down the runway was adorned with busy prints, embroidery and hand sewn appliqué, an immense amount of beading and sequinning. Romance pieces leave me to scoop my jaw up off the floor with their beautifully artistic garments. I will always admire the creative processes that must go through with their own designs and collaborations with artists.

I am so excited to see what the rest of the week brings to the Perth Fashion Festival. The festival opened with a bang this year and it can only get better! I will be at shows for Aje, Empire Rose and the Closing Night.

Invited by Telstra Perth Fashion Festival and granted access to shows with a Media Pass.