YAY! HERE COMES SUMMER!

 A BLAST OF SUNSHINE IS WARMING MELBOURNE SPRING FASHION WEEK’S SECOND WEEKEND AND – WHERE ARE THE VOXFROCKERS? – STILL SLOGGING IT OUT ON THE FRONT ROW JUST FOR YOU!

YOUR STAR REPORTERS TODAY ARE SIMONE POOLE AND ALEXIA “MISS ALEXIA” PETSINIS.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER IS LUCAS DAWSON

Spring Style at The Hub. Simone Poole reports.

I hope three quarters is your favourite fraction, because there was a lot of it on the Spring Style catwalk! Veronika Maine made three quarters spring’s hottest trend with culottes and middle-slit skirts and dresses after opening with a crisp white shirt and vibrant purple shin-grazing skirt.

Three-quarter pleated skirts also stood out as a key look for Saba, as well as boldly-coloured dresses peeking from underneath neutral short and three-quarter sleeved coats. Seduce continued the neon trend, opening with a sunray pleated, graphic print maxiskirt featuring neon accents and black crop top.

Fashion writer for The Age, Jess Wright particularly liked a brocade jacket and tuxedo jumpsuit shown by Cue, calling them “standouts” and “very flattering.” The brocade jacket was paired with black shorts and blouse, and the jumpsuit was one of those rare pieces suitable for any age.

Model and MSFW ambassador Ashley Hart was an extra treat for The Hub audience, seated front row in a green and bronze cut-out Jayson Brunsdon dress hot off the runway.

Windsor Smith at The Hub. Simone Poole reports

Iconic Australian footwear brand Windsor Smith hosted an entertaining runway with dancing male models doubling as prop movers, a live DJ and dramatic black and white theme. There was a mix of the chunky shoes we have come to love from the brand, in addition to sleek and classic heels. The brand’s black, three-strapped, lizard-print heel, for example, is a versatile office-to-evening must-have. Mules were interpreted in a chunky, Sex in the City-esque style, and shoe the slides trend, set to be a spring essential, was shown with a thick sole.

Men were offered a range of desert boots, oxfords and brown or black leather loafers, some shown by sharply dressed men with top hats and canes, a touch of old-school sophistication on the runway.

Runway 4 at Melbourne Town Hall. Alexia Petsinis reports.

The Rhythm of Life is a powerful beat. Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet. Fashion does that to you. Runway 4 captured that rhythmic pulse of Melbourne’s streets and laneways; a moody mix of sass and soul distilled in simple cuts and decidedly casual aesthetics. We’re talking weekend wear, chic playtime garb for the modern (Melbourne and beyond) flaneur. BÚL opened with a soothing palette of soft greys and white; effortlessly layering oversized tunics and bias-cut jackets. Upper body garments were refreshing variations on the darted bodice block, with fabric value-added towards hemlines to create slick ‘A-line’ silhouettes.

Chorus also offered soft nude tones in pleated wrap dresses and delicate slips, with feature plastic figure embellishments jingling from bodices with a rhythm of their own.

A customary brush with sports luxe saw Livia Arena’s collection harness the dynamic potential of ‘fabric displacement’; employing particular fabrics in areas of a garment we might not expect to find them. Dropped crotch shorts, for example, in silk-satin finishes exuded sleek feminine charm, while pro-mesh was layered over thick ponte-like knits giving form to broad skirt flounces. An ice pink coat with sprightly toggles was an effortless ‘throw-on-with-anything’ piece.

Above’s collection maintained a monochromatic palette, emphasising the body’s spatial relationship with each garment. Papery linens and poplins slung from the form in vests and a weightless trench, while broderie anglaise details unified the collection, offering delicate snippets of embroidered interest down panels and along hemlines.

Kuwaii’s Rationale collection incorporated blue hues and a strong graphic linear prints, repeated on skirts and shift dresses in playful proportions. Classic boat neck tank tops in white and coral were dainty spring staples.

Similarly, Tettmann Doust harnessed the lyrical properties of sheer white silks weaves in scoop-hem blouses and wide leg pants. The result? Dreamy barely there coordinates for your afternoons in the sun.

For the more playful spring spirit, Leonard St. delivered a host of beaming repeat prints on sundresses and singlet tops. Spot the deer? It’s back of course, with eyes only for you.

Want more? No spring subtlety for Matcho Suba, who quickened the pulse with pleather, netting and fringing. A lurex-y gold shift dress was a sparkler, especially with a pair of killer black heels.

 

Limedrop  above, and Gorman, below, both captured rhythm through pulsating prints. Limedrop featured sharp angles and azure tones of blue and purple adding an illusionistic wash to bomber jackets and smock-style dresses. (And, don’t forget those holographic glasses: I Heart You.) Gorman’s feature colour was a deep cranberry hue with no less wow factor than ’s ‘shocking pink’. Slashed across grid-like prints on pant legs and bodices, spring zest for a Sunday stroll.

Simone Poole and Alexia Petsinis, intern@voxfrock.com.au