The Experts Talk Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia 2012

14th OF May 2012

It’s hard to keep up with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia with so many trends to track, shoes to covet, bags to envy and beauty looks to decode. With every social media outlet working overtime on uploads, it can be quite a challenge to sift through the saturation of images. Luckily, RESCU was able to get the ultimate edit from the fashion week experts.

Lisa Smith from ausmode.com, an online shopping destination for premium Australian brands, shared with RESCU her hot picks of the week.

RESCU: What were your top fives shows of MBFWA?

Lisa Smith: “Kirrily Johnston. Kirrily's ranges just keep going from strength to strength – such consistency of brand and a perfect mix of edginess and wearability. My favourite looks were the layered printed maxis and the cotton/silk tulle dresses.

Ginger & Smart. Ten years in the business is a real achievement, so it was great to see Ginger & Smart’s 10 year anniversary collection. Stand-outs were the floating metallic finale dress and the lurex knits.

Michael Lo Sordo. Michael really showed his talent with tailoring and textiles in this season’s collection. The teal printed silk separates and floral print dresses were our stand-outs.

Zimmermann. Zimmermann does such amazing swimwear – one of the best in the world in my opinion. I also loved the summery pastel colour palette, which we’ll be seeing a lot of this coming season.

Ellery. Ellery has such a strong signature style and showed why it’s one of the hottest Australian labels, with her sculptural shapes and luxe fabrications.”

RESCU: Which emerging designers do you have your eye on?

Lisa Smith: “Sara Phillips. Graphic animal and floral prints were beautifully executed at Sara Phillips’ show. I’m very excited to see how far this young designer will go.

The Innovators. It was really refreshing to see such unbridled creativity at The Innovators show. The graduates really impressed – Kaylene Milner and Christopher Baldwin in particular are names to watch.

We Are Handsome. Their cool digital prints make We Are Handsome stand out from your usual swimwear label. We especially loved the crystals print maxi dress.”

During the week, RESCU also got the inside scoop from the experts on the ground. Sophia Banks-Coloma, the Sydney-raised, L.A.-based Hollywood celebrity stylist, chatted to our guest editor, Tali Shine, about dressing starlets in Australian designers, the wonders of ‘print blocking’ and the new fluoro colour palette.

Kate Waterhouse, Fashion Editor of The Sun-Herald and Australian fashion royalty, kept RESCU in the loop with her fashion week dressing strategy and her favourite shows of the week.