Nevada Duffy set her models loose in easy silhouettes of vivid prints, patchwork, fresh stripes and rippling frills in downtown Clifton Hill marking another milestone in the celebrated independant designer’s life work. Voxfrock Rookies Atusa and Reannon were there for the party, a highlight of the Melbourne Fashion Festival‘s independants programme.
Words: Atusa Alexandra Mo
Photographs: Reannon Smith
“A lot of pieces in this collection were designed during Melbourne’s lockdown,” says Nevada Duffy at the launch for her new fashion retail store. “I usually go for darker fabrics, but with this collection I used a lot of bright fabrics and colours to project positivity.”
The launch party is in full swing as we speak and trust me, you’ll rarely see such colourful event in Melbourne. Her guests, many of them friends from Melbourne’s vibrant community of independant fashion designers who treasure quality make and originality as much as she does, have arrived dressed in prints and colours as vivid as the new Nevada Duffy collection.
Estelle Michaelides of Mickey In The Van for example, says she first became friends with Nevada 10 years ago when she stocked her brand in her Ivanhoe boutique. It was a connection bound to blossom in the close-knit local fashion community. “Nevada and I had a mutual bond, being independent designers in Melbourne.” Estelle says.
Duffy says she designed this collection specifically to celebrate tonight’s launch. Her inspiration? A range of 1970s vintage fabrics she sourced during lockdown from a furniture store.
She combined relaxed-fit silhouettes with colourful, patchworked designs; comfortable pieces for going out or staying in.
Asymmetrical cuts, tiny floral patterns, stripes and frills shared a footpath runway outside the new Nevada Duffy store.
Like a poem to lockdown’s lifted restrictions, models from Melbourne’s Body Electric Dance Studio emphasized emotion and movement, dancing and moving artistically, showcasing the ease and optimism of Nevada’s comfortable yet sophisticated and avante-garde collection.
Nevada Duffy, 171 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill
Meet the rookies
Reannon Smith is a freelance photographer specialising in fashion, architecture and product shoots. She often works in the manner of visual poetry, capturing the small moments and details which collectively depict the overall subject. For the Melbourne Fashion Festival 2021, Reannon has also been part of a small crew of Voxfrock Rookies selected to assist world renowned photographer Sonny Vandevelde and his team to shoot three digital fashion films and later, IRL runways on the festival’s physical programme. This is Reannon’s second turn on the Voxfrock Rookie crew.
Melbourne based writer, communications advisor and general manager of the FashLab creative industry community, Atusa Alexandra Mo (pictured below) has been an active member of the fashion scene since 2007. She’s done it all in that time: owned her own fashion label, worked for independent Australian designers, freelanced for digital fashion platforms, co-produced the Creative Essence podcast series with some of Australian fashion’s industry leaders for Voxfrock.com.au and is currently working on VoxChats, a new series of VidiChats under the mentorship Janice Breen Burns.
