Kym Ellery (right) with model, backstage at New York Fashion Week. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
UK fashion house Topshop opened its first store in Sydney in the old Gowings building. Picture: Ross Schultz Source: The Australian
Edwina McCann and Sarah Murdoch. Picture: Filip Koniskowski Source: The Australian
Ruby Jean Wilson, left, features in the Louis Vuitton spring/summer campaign. Source: Supplied
FASHION is forever looking forward. Designers are already contemplating what we will be wearing next September and magazine editors are putting the finishing touches on their March issues.
"There's only the future," says Karl Lagerfeld. "I hate the past, especially my own past."
With designers producing bigger and better resort collections as well as ready-to-wear, and high street retailers chewing through trends rapidly, fashion is certainly moving at a breakneck speed.
Rather than revelling in the middle of a dominant trend such as the grunge of the 1990s, the mods of the 60s or the flappers of the 20s, we're spinning in an aesthetic, anything goes, vortex. While Lagerfeld shows extravagant tartans in Scotland for Chanel, Francisco Costa is producing streamlined nude dresses for Calvin Klein Collection.
Perhaps it's time to stop, take a breath and reflect on the year in fashion before its highlights are forgotten as we careen towards the future.
Designers
IN tough economic times an impressive number of designers are doing their best to steal the next-big-thing glory from Dion Lee.
The biggest surprise of the year came from Kym Ellery, who went from being a cool girl making clothes to an emerging designer with a point of view, balancing futuristic silhouettes and classic fabrics. At Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia in May, Ellery shed the artistic pretensions of previous shows and delivered a concise and slick range with baseball-shouldered jackets and metallic draped dresses that were focused on the international market.
Strong reviews from New York, where she presented her collection in September, showed the gamble paid off.
Soft-spoken but strong-willed Christopher Esber also joined the thinning ranks of ones to watch, taking out the National Designer Award at the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and impressing with a minimalist mindset expressed through tailored pieces that demonstrate a light touch.
The models
YOU could be forgiven for thinking Miranda Kerr was the only Australian model in the world, given her high-profile commitments for Victoria's Secret, Qantas, David Jones and Kora skincare.
But even Kerr must be keeping an eye cocked over one of those ridiculous angel wings she wears down the runway as the next generation of Australian talent quietly rise through the ranks.
Leading the pack is Ruby Jean Wilson, who went from catwalk chorus girl to leading lady after dying her hair platinum blonde and catching the fickle eye of Marc Jacobs. Wilson opened Jacobs's runway show in New York in September and landed the high-profile advertising campaign. She also appears in the latest advertisements for Louis Vuitton.
Other strong performers were Queenslander Codie Young, securing advertising work with Marc Jacobs, Jil Sander and Rebecca Taylor, and newcomer Jemma Baines, who appeared on the runway for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Rochas.
The trend
WHEN peplums appeared on the international runways last year at Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli and Proenza Schouler, some buyers scoffed at this wanton extra layer of fabric, offering a redundant skirt above a skirt or pants.
By the end of April this year the peplum was appearing in almost every show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia and on the hips of almost every woman.
Perhaps the peplum is popular because it's the most frivolous word in fashion since paillette, or because it allows women to indulge in a trend without drastically changing their wardrobe.
By the time a neon-beaded peplum dress took out the top prize at the Melbourne Cup Carnival's lucrative Fashions on the Field, peplums had run their course. Now it's time to brace yourself for a new year filled with mullet dresses.
The shops
THE tyranny of distance, an image constrained by Paul Hogan at a barbecue and fluctuating exchange rates have meant Australia was ignored by many international retailers until now.
Clicks from Australian customers demonstrated how hungry we are for high-street labels. The spending frenzy that greeted the opening of Zara in Sydney last year drew the attention of other brands.
Zara continued its calculated expansion this year, opening in suburban shopping centres such as Doncaster and Chadstone in Melbourne and Bondi Junction in Sydney. Topshop took over the old Gowings building in Sydney in October.
It seems that the excitement has shifted from department stores to these fast fashion outlets, with online stores such as Asos, Net-a-porter and homegrown hero The Iconic also encouraging spending. According to British e-tailer Asos, someone in Australia buys something from its site every six seconds, while The Iconic can deliver a Sass & Bide dress to a Sydneysider's doorstep within three hours.
Luxury stores continue to target Australia, with Chanel renovating its Sydney flagship and opening in Perth, Tiffany & Co opening at Bondi Junction on Christmas Eve and Dior busy setting up in Sydney's CBD for a glittering opening next year. Despite the talk of dress doom and gown gloom, Australian shoppers have never had so much on offer.
New directions
RAF Simons's move from Jil Sander to Christian Dior was greeted with wild enthusiasm, Hedi Slimane's appointment to Saint Laurent received faint applause and Alexander Wang snatching of the reins from Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga left people speechless.
A changing of the guard also occurred behind the scenes with Kirstie Clements' departure from Vogue Australia after 13 years as editor. The driven Edwina McCann quickly packed her bags at Harper's Bazaar to head Australia's fashion bible and made her mark with the title's first cover horse, Black Caviar. McCann is also focusing online, launching Miss Vogue at a slickly redesigned vogue.com.au, with Kendall Jenner of Keeping up with the Kardashians featured.
Former Grazia editor Kellie Hush moved to Harper's Bazaar and spectators are watching to see who wins the battle at the news-stands before Elle lands, with an expected launch in the second half of next year.
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