Only one solo show is offered every year by the Melbourne Fashion Festival on its premium runway programme. It can take months and many creative minds to nut out just who is a worthy enough designer, one with impeccable fashion credentials, an oevre that translates to “iconic” and a current collection that plugs, snug as jigsaw, into the NOW. This year, couturier Paul Vasileff of Adelaide’s legendary Paolo Sebastian atelier scored the festival’s most coveted show slot and Voxfrock rookies, photographer Joel Parkinson and journalist Erin Visagie, were there to capture the night, just for you. Scroll down to meet Joel and Erin, and click back one more time tomorrow for the final MFF update by our Voxfrock Rookie crew of future fashion journalists and photographers. Words: Erin Visagie Photographs: Joel Parkinson
Founder and head designer of Paolo Sebastian, Paul Vasileff has been known and loved for his ethereal designs in signature Italian tulles and French laces since 2007.
Every gown that leaves his Adelaide atelier is likely to have taken 800 to 1550 hours to craft. Every detail, every meticulously crafted embroidery, every bead, tells an elegant story, evokes the spirit of fairy tales.
It was a magical runway, a mix of archival designs and his 2022-2023 autumn-winter collection, ‘Moonlight Serenade’, an ode to romance and vintage dreams of a bygone era.
The runway’s big screen showed lush greenery and butterflies flitting behind the spring collection. Autumn’s was shown against a backdrop of leaves falling. It felt like stepping into a secret garden or a wonderland moving along with the seasons.
From the front row, seeing every sparkle, every swish, every embroidered flower up close was an unforgettable experience as onlookers exclaimed, loving every hypnotizing design.
Exquisite designs were inspired by different motifs: fairy tales, Disney stories, the Nutcracker ballet, Botticelli paintings, family heirlooms, swans, moonlight, Greek mythology, Hollywood silver screen icons.
There was a sense of surrealism, dreaminess, and whimsy evoked by every dress, enhanced by the music, including tracks by Lana Del Rey and The Weekend.
We spoke to Paul Vasileff about the meanings embedded in his pieces: “We draw elements of a story and put that into our embroideries, fabric selection, and techniques,” he told Voxfrock. “That’s a really big thing for us; we always start with the story, create the characters from there, and then create the gowns for those characters.”
A collection named for Persphone, mythical Greek goddess of the underworld and spring was one beautiful example. “We actually told the story of Persephone through the embroideries,” Paul said. “So there are so many things that you can do with couture, and that’s why I love couture because we can use it to translate and draw from it.”
The evening ended with being whisked away to the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s VIP lounge where guests are offered a watermelon cooler as they arrive. As a first-time VIP lounge goer, it was a little daunting but incredible to meet so many lovely people who made a beautiful evening even better.
Meet Voxfrock Rookie photographer Joel Parkinson
Joel is a Melbourne based stylist and image-maker undertaking a double degree in Film & Photography and Fashion & Costume at LCI Melbourne. His work, he says, “Cultivates a cross disciplinary approach to image-making and styling, encompassing interests in fashion, art and design.”
Meet Voxfrock Rookie Journalist Erin Visagie
