The big wow

DONNA WALSH/Waikato Times

FASHION WALKS: Waikato's own Annah Stretton featured prominently this year.

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It might be doom and gloom when it comes to the economy, but on the catwalk at New Zealand Fashion Week it was bright, bold and beautiful, reports Kate Monahan.

They said it was going to be a quiet year for Air New Zealand Fashion Week 2009. The recession was impacting the industry, and the number of designers presenting collections was down.

But last week's explosion of fashion, colour, glamour and celebrity eclipsed previous years on many fronts.

Over the four days of Fashion Week, from Tuesday to Friday last week, 36 designers presented their collections at the Viaduct in Auckland, among them many of the industry's top names, including Nom*D, Zambesi, Huffer, Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Trelise Cooper, Annah Stretton and Adrian Hailwood.

Designers dug deep, showing some of the most outstanding collections I have seen in covering the event over the past five years.

The first show on Tuesday, from Coromandel-raised designer Cybele Wiren, was a beautiful way to begin. Her winter 2010 range, Virtue, was inspired by sculptural qualities of flowers and insects, with moth-wing prints and lilies, long cape-like coats, sheer fabrics and elegant pleats and folds on dresses and sleeves.

Although inky indigos, creams and neutral tones were seen, there was also lots of colour to take the edge off a rainy week and depressing economy in many of the Fashion Week shows.

Sable & Minx showed off a collection of wearable pieces, in mossy greens and deep purples; colours you just wanted to reach out and grab, and steal for your own wardrobe.

Annah Stretton's Envy collection had flash (half-naked gold-painted models) as well as substance (a 1940s-inspired feminine range of frocks and jackets, with ruffle details and floral prints).

Trelise Cooper impressed with her show, which included bright greens, pinks, blues and florals. Each piece was different and desirable, and had the front row foreign trend spotters busy snapping photos with their digital cameras.

Sera Lilly's The Impossible Princess collection was full of youthful enthusiasm, with rich colours, including blood reds and olive greens, and her signature glam gowns. There was a 1950s silhouette to dresses, with nipped-in waists and full skirts. A favourite piece was a brown crocodile leather cocktail dress.

Other collections during the week referenced the 1980s, especially with an emphasis on shoulders. Epaulets and shoulder pads made it on to the catwalk, while others played up shoulders with ruffled and pleated details on arms, and mutton-chop puffed sleeves.

Alexandra Owen's equestrian-inspired show was one of my favourites of the week, elegant but playful. Models went down the runway in beautifully tailored crisp white shirts, jodphur-style pants, tuxedo jackets, pleated skirts and dramatic floor-length coats. The huge sculptured collared jackets were bold and beautiful.

Among the great clothes, there were lots of celebrity faces creating a buzz in the front row, including teenage actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, of Whale Rider fame, who turned up at many shows, each time wearing a different designer outfit. Television identities such as Petra Bagust (What's Really In Your Food), Marcus Lush, (South) Robyn Malcolm (Outrageous Fortune), Samantha Hayes (Nightline), Susan Wood (former presenter, now running her own PR company) were also in the front row. Among the international VIPs was former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, in town to promote the launch of A*Muse, her eco-friendly label with US designer Richie Rich, who, fully made-up, posed, winked and pouted in front of any camera pointed at him, whether it was clicking or not.

Rich was said to be so "warm and real, very sincere and very funny" by New Zealand Fashion Week's own blog. "He was anything but pretentious," the blog went on. "And as someone said 'You could take him to Hamilton.' I don't think he WILL be going to Hamilton though."

Anderson, dressed in very little, made an impression on the catwalk on Friday, although it may have been more for her famous assets and skimpy attire than the designer garb she was wearing. But it brought an international celebrity appeal to the event - which, for good or bad, will bring more attention to the event overseas.

So, flash, trash, glitter, style and fabulous clothes, it was all there at Air New Zealand Fashion Week.

For those looking for signs of a weaker fashion industry, perhaps the light goody bags indicated a lack of funds and sponsors in a tight year.

But when you turn your eye to the catwalk, the creative talent in New Zealand is strong, a good sign for next winter.