Trend setting at Fashion Week

Fairfax

TOP BILLING: Rachel Hunter, centre, with models Elizabeth Gray and Paula Newlands at the launch of Hunter's swimwear range 'Lola' - Hunter is in Auckland for Fashion Week.

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All eyes will be on Air New Zealand Fashion Week, which starts on Monday, for a hint of next winter's styles, writes Josie Vidal.

As summer approaches and shop windows flashback to the '80s, the fashion industry is gearing up for a look at next winter's styles.

Will all those bright colours that we are filling our wardrobes with last? Are there any more slogans left to put on oversized T-shirts? Will we actually be able to have warm ankles when our feet are in tights, or will leggings prevail? All will be revealed at Air New Zealand Fashion Week, which starts in Auckland on Monday (September 17).

It is the seventh New Zealand fashion week and 60 designers will show their collections for Winter 2008 over four days and nights of catwalk shows.

This year marks a shift in the offerings, and while fashion-week favourites Kate Sylvester, Zambesi, Nom D, Trelise Cooper, Tanya Carlson and Adrian Hailwood will be there, a lot of fresh young things are taking the catwalk for the first time, or breaking out from group showings to do their own thing. Already the rumours have begun, with talk of one young label "stealing" another young label's sponsors. Given the similarity in the label names, perhaps the sponsors just got confused.

Fresh from wowing fashion week in New York again, Karen Walker has an event scheduled for September 21. She tends to throw up surprises but will need to pull something out of the hat to excite a fashion pack in the final throes of exhaustion.

An interesting first-timer is Ricochet. Designer Tatjana Windhager sells Ricochet from its own stores in New Zealand, but is looking to expand the label across the Tasman.

Exciting young Aucklanders Juliette Hogan and Michael Pattison have moved from group showings to their own events, while two hot up-and-coming labels, Sera Lilly and Love Lies Bleeding, will show for the first time at a joint show.

Sera Lilly has a shop on Auckland's Ponsonby Road favoured by fashionistas and Love Lies Bleeding designers Rachel Easting and Anjali Stewart are garnering plenty of attention for their unisex collections.

One of the highlights of fashion week is the foreign imports who swan into front-row seats with enviable style. Top billing is Rachel Hunter, who grew up in New Zealand but frequents the world's glamour hotspots. Hunter will be showing her swimwear collection, Lola by Rachel Hunter, as well as hosting VIPs. The supermodel will take the catwalk to model the swimwear range she designs. OK, so it's not winter, but we know we are going to love it. And supermodels probably don't do winter anyway.

The line-up of international media who will pass judgment on our style includes luminaries from United States style bible Paper; Collezioni; French, US and Canadian Elle; the UK's Dazed and Confused; and Taiwan Vogue.

While the fashionistas would rather keep the public at bay, fashion-week organisers have to pay for all the free stuff that gets dished out to the demanding ones and consequently have added a strong public component to the tail-end of the week.

Set to take place on September 21 and 22, Air New Zealand Fashion Week 4 U combines fashion shows, entertainment and access to the Designer Garage Sale for those prepared to pay the $30 ticket price ($25 for early birds).

The Designer Garage Sale was a huge hit last year, giving bargain hunters unprecedented access to top labels at the best possible prices.

This year, 18 designers have booked their spaces including leading labels Caroline Church, Hailwood and Doris de Pont; Sakaguchi from Christchurch; edgy young designers Cybele, Sera Lilly, Sable & Minx, Pattison Steele and Stolen Girlfriends Club; top fashion knitwear from Sabatini, Caroline Sills and emerging designer Euinton.

Tickets for Air New Zealand Fashion Week 4 U are available through Ticketek. For more information, go to www. nzfashionweek.com.