Rags to Runway

First time Voxfrock Rookies Victoria Gillett and Emma Gillet scored the plum gig among Melbourne Fashion Week’s offsite runways

Words: Victoria Gillett  Photographs: Emma Gillett

The bright eyed and bushy tailed students of Kangan Institute blossomed at Melbourne Fashion Week in a wild and wacky “Great Southern Style” themed runway. The event entitled “Rags to Runway”, between the blue stone walls of the Meat Market, showcased an assortment of Red Cross-donated threads they’d tweaked and upcycled into a patchwork of Australiana style.

More than 20 Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Merchandising students redesigned the second-hand garments and recycled materials into pieces aligned with the “Southern Style” theme. The designs were fun and clever, from floaty bridal styles, to firier red creations and slick black gothic leathers.

Against a home-grown indie pop backtrack, landscape was embodied in earthy outback tones accented with hot pink and rust red colour pops like desert flowers. Wildlife was conjured with frilled neck lizard scruffs and aqua tones paired with marine life signs.

Eucalyptus hair pieces and bouquets accessorised. Cosmopolitan and pop Australiana references abounded, with akubra hats and “Picnic at Hanging Rock” floaty smock dress vibes.

My personal favourites were student Akira Toyama’s stony pink and creamy orange cotton dresses inspired by rosy granite, and the giant parasols bedecked with spring blooms.

As student Megan Taylor put it; “We all seemed to interpret Australia in different ways.” Her pieces were inspired by Melbourne’s laneways; canvas dresses sponged with blackened paint water for grungy effect and encoded with graffiti. “Thinking of things that define Australia, the recent marriage equality vote came to mind,” she said. “The words on the dresses are direct quotes from people’s immediate emotional responses; expressions like ‘finally’ and ‘about bloody time’.”

Student Amy Butler  was inspired by the abstract aerial shots of Australian landscape, like bubblegum pink salt lakes. “Rather than just focussing on the earthy outback colours,” she said, “I decided to bring forward some pinks and oranges, inspired by the movement through the salt.”

This unbridled showcase of creative, sustainable fashion was scintillating at this year’s fashion week, and carries a vital message regarding the future of the fashion industry and its advancement towards sustainability.

“My shoes were all from Red Cross, even the paint had been used for other projects. Nothing was new or purpose-bought,” Megan Taylor said. “The whole idea was to focus on sustainability and not creating new waste, which is a very important message.”

One thing is for certain – their time and talent was not wasted!

Meet The Rookies

Victoria Gillett is London born, Melbourne raised, with a Parisian soul. She has an undergraduate diploma of languages in French, a psychology major and is currently undergoing her masters in journalism and international relations.

 

 

 

 

 

Film and photography lover Emma Gillett is a VCA film and foundations graduate, currently completing a Creative Arts Degree majoring in Screen Studies. Her passion for fashion photography led her to volunteer as a photographers assistant for Street Smith, where she learnt the subtle art of chasing fashionistas through the CBD to and taking their photos.