Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia wrapped up last Friday, held at its new home ‘Carriageworks’. Here is a wrap up of all the highlights (as seen in my Wentworth Courier Newspaper column below).

Designers showed their collections giving us an insight to what the hottest trends will be next summer and spring. Designer Alex Perry presented an exciting new direction for his label, showing sleek tailored separates and short dresses along with his signature gowns in a colour palette of white, black and metallic hues. This yellow Alex Perry gown was one of my fav looks.

Lisa Ho also dabbled with a new look, showcasing an edgy sport luxe collection of chic separates, dresses and swimwear. Loved the colour palette, lots of crisp whites, dashes of blues and reds (pic below).

The 4 key fashion Week trends were:

WHITE WASH
Get the fake tan ready as head-to-toe white and monochromatic looks were seen on the catwalks of Camilla and Marc, Manning Cartell, Alice McCall, Bless’ed are the Meek and numerous others.

MODERN
Designers such as Bec & Bridge, AJE and Michael Lo Sordo all looked to the future with ultra modern styles utilizing fabrics such as neoprene, mesh and featuring uneven hemlines, minimalistic clean lines and over proportioned shoulder lines.

PRINTS
Prints continued to dominate the catwalks. Designers By Johnny, Ginger and Smart, Vanishing Elephant, Suboo and We are Handsome all showed prints such as graphic, florals, geometic, stripes, animal and symmetrical mirror prints.

LEATHER
Leather appeared in various forms, as trims on garments, as caps, cute shorts as seen at the Flannel show or tops and dresses at the Kate Sylvester show.

Top 4 HIGHLIGHTS

1) CAMILLA
The Kaftan queen pitched a gigantic Bedouin style tent in the middle of Centennial Park, complete with a fire pit, lamas and exotic birds. The decadently decorated catwalk showcased her colourful designs lead by the stunning Georgia May Jagger.

2) TONI MATICEVSKI
Hands down the best show of the week, his collection titled ‘The Tomboy heiress’ oozed elegance and sophistication yet was strikingly modern. The draped neoprene gowns were a complete stand out.

3) CELEBRATION
Jayson Brunsdon celebrated his 10th anniversary with a sleek runway show (see red gown image below), as did Camilla and Marc. Aurelio Costarella celebrated 30 years in the game and opted for an installation that perfectly fused art, music and his signature embellished gowns (installation pic below).

4) ROMANCE WAS BORN

Took the entire audience on an astral trip to a fairytale wonderland that both delighted and fascinated. Every element of the show from the luminescent landscape setting to the extravagant sequin and heading detail on the garments was incredible.

Thank you to Anthony Habashy of AH Photography for some of the above images, his fashion photography is simply exquisite.