Designer, illustrator, highstyle influencer and regular guest Voxfrocker Estelle Michaelides trawls the streets and plazas of New Zealand Fashion Week, radar pinging for its inimitable, artful mavens and men of Auckland.
Estelle on the concourse, New Zealand Fashion Week, wears her own label, Micky In The Van.
Words and photographs: Estelle Michaelides
I’ve been to fashion weeks in Paris, Melbourne and now New Zealand and it’s clear to me our style is, to a degree, coloured by our cultural landscape. I’d also like to immediately contradict this comment, believing only I dictate my style. But, I have to concede; there is a certain bone of “Melbourne” in my skeletal style.
So, what’s my take on New Zealand style? It’s uninhibited, free from media dictatorship but observant to making a statement. They’re more concerned about expressing motherland issues like homelessness and teenage suicide (and this is all passionately conveyed through their garb) than they are about carrying the latest Gucci embellished bag!
From an outsider, this is heart warming and refreshing. Having asked one of the local designers about New Zealand style he replied; “We really don’t have any idea what’s happening outside New Zealand so we just do our own thing!”
Well, if this is ‘your thing’ I’ll quite happily take it…!
