VoxFrocker Ru Elliott wraps the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s warring concepts epitomised in its opening runways, Joywear, “A bold celebration of colour, self-expression, maximalism and the mood-lifting power of fashion” and Noir, “Rooted in the city’s fashion psyche, where black is more than a colour, it’s a cultural signature”.
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Words: Ru Elliott Photographs: Theadora Violet
Melbourne has always been a place of dichotomies, a fact evident as people filed into the forecourt of Melbourne Fashion Festival’s opening night.
‘Joywear’ vs ‘Noir’. That was the conceit of opening night’s premium runways, named for Melbourne’s two fashion clans. One colour, one black. The clash of cultural titans.
But tonight they appeared to fall in, lock step, filling the Royal Exhibition Building like a mix of rainbow and night sky.
Inside, the runway setup was new to the festival. Gone, the long white track flanked by big projections. In its place, a grey carpet runway bisected by a towering distraction: a tree.
The new setup was impressive at first glance but by breaking the runway in half, the drama of the clothes was also halved.
“Joywear” was bright, exuberant, extravagant, grounded in a kind of cool nonchalance. Reigner’s glitzy garments styled with sunglasses and cowboy hats reminded me there is a Swanston Street style.
Nixi Killick’s intricately patterned and coloured bodysuits were as edgy as any Melburnian’s uber-cool all-black uniform.
After the sun set and “Noir” began, I thought about what a comfort black is to me. I am definitely one of those denizens of this city who took to it like a uniform and the examples in “Noir” certainly tickled that sweet black spot.
The Victorian-slash-Edwardian tinge of Gail Sorronda’s collection was eloquent as ever and, despite being Brisbane based, still perfectly suited to the fabric of Melbourne.
Hyph-n stood out. I likened its aesthetic to Ann Demeulemeester’s signature if she’d ever designed an expensive ski lodge collection.
I wished I had more time to take it all in but the new runway setup meant I had half the time to study the garments. The lack of big screens (a feature in previous MFF shows) also meant details were missed and designers’ names, hard to see. I found myself hazarding a guess and hoping my notes aligned with who had actually made the things I admired most.
It’s a shame because with more time I could more greatly appreciate how, despite the obvious differences between “Joywear” and “Noir”, vibrant colour and cool black, there was still an undeniable link: the individuality that shone through in the collections of both shows.
Meet the VoxFrockers
RUFUS “RU” ELLIOTT/JOURNALIST
Ru is experienced in both contemporary and vintage fashion, assisting on the curation of exhibitions and working with local ateliers in a variety of roles. Her journalism projects have featured in publications such as Alice.D magazine and in zines based in Melbourne, London and Paris. Ru recently returned to full time Bachelor studies.
THEADORA VIOLET, CREW MENTOR/PHOTOGRAPHER
