My first runway show: L'Oreal Paris Vogue Runway

It's a busy week this week for fashion bloggers around Melbourne, with the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) kicking off officially on the Sunday just past.

Tuesday evening was arguably the most anticipated runway show of the Festival, being presented by Vogue and featuring Australian designers ANTIPODIUM, Arnsdorf, Dion Lee, ELLERY, Friedrich Gray, Gary Bigeni, Romance Was Born and Therese Rawsthorn.

Unlike industry-only fashion weeks around the world, LMFF is more of a cultural program and offers ticketed seating to many of their events. While the front three rows are still filled with industry insiders and press, crowds of women and men poured into the venue on Tuesday all delighted to be a part of the festival on their own terms.

Arriving early to pick up my tickets, I walked past the L'Oreal Powder Room where, I assume, the queues of hot and sweaty girls waiting were being given touch ups before they stepped out into the heat again, only to be accosted by some poor fellow from a research agency who quizzed them on their experience and thoughts on L'Oreal products.

There was an astounding number of Festival volunteers, all young women hoping to gain exposure to the inside machinations of a big fashion event. I eavesdropped on one cluster who, after spotting a girl being questioned by a man with a clipboard, squealed, "Ooh, she's been spotted! Do you think she's a model? Wow, she's so lucky!" More likely he was from the L'Oreal research company, but no matter.

The runway was held at Central Pier in Docklands, and a purpose-built bar has been set up alongside to cater for the ever-thirsty fashion crowd.

As I waited for my plus one to arrive, I observed a mix of local government members, corporate types attending as part of LMFF sponsorship packages, well-dressed women of all ages, and the usual mix of photographers, journalists and bloggers.

The woman in red pictured above was well-shod with these babies on her feet, spotted before she entered the bar:

And on my way in I spotted Luke Sales from Romance Was Born. Sadly the camera didn't come out in time and I only got a shot of his colourful sweater as he was walking away.

Then it was time for the show itself. We found a complementary copy of this month's Vogue on our seats and grabbed a glass of champagne before the lights dimmed and the music started pumping through the speakers.

First up was Romance Was Born, featuring sequins, rhinestone embellishments and lots of glittery additions. They emphasised the shoulders and upper body volume, with paint splattered leggings.

Ellery offered a pleasing combination of long blazer jackets, shorts and ultra mini body con dresses. The colours were primarily pastels, with a vibrant watermelon asymmetric dress appearing towards the end.

Fredrick Gray wasn't as technically interesting as hoped, with sliced leggings, ruched body con dresses and torn knits featuring.

Antipodium channelled outback Australia with checks, tartan and a definite Pioneer Woman theme, emphasised by oversized toy goanna lizards draped around some models' necks.

Gary Bigeni chose an asymmetric,  slouchy theme featuring stretch jersey fabrics in white, grey and soft pink. Micro short hemlines were again the theme, although Gary did also feature the only maxi dress of the evening.

Arnsdorf's collection offered viewers oversized blazers, over-emphasised sleeves and high-waisted pants.

Dion Lee was the absolute highlight, and was deservingly awarded the LMFF Young Designer award for his collection. His panelling and structured approach to the bodices and shoulder pieces was technically inspired. There was a 1960s Space Age feel to the clothes, as the angular lines, strong shoulders and missing panels emphasised the torso and called to mind the images of Jane Fonda in 1968 cult flick Barbarella.

Therese Rawsthorn closed the runway with petal skirts emphasising the hips, long blazers and more slouchy fabrics in baby blue, cream and blonde.

Contoured dresses finishing just below the bottom were a dominant theme, meaning come winter we'll all be walking around tugging our hems down in desperation. Nude, soft pink, off-white and grey were the primary colour pallate, with splashes of watermelon, orange or dark red being the brighter shades of choice. Blazers and shoulders continue to dominate, so keep those shoulder pads working hard!

Afterwards, giddy with excitement, we went back into the Woolshed and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Candice from Super Kawaii Mama, and then Phoebe from Lady Melbourne, Alicia from Sea of Ghosts, and Fashion Hayley.

Me, Alicia, Phoebe and Hayley. Melbourne blogging celebrities! 

(The others, not me, obviously.)

For more fashion coverage of the evening, see Phoebe's write up in Melbourne Street Fashion. Also, if you are interested in viewing high quality images of each runway look, visit PicApp and search for LMFF 2010, plus the designer you are interested in. Thanks again to Akisa from Beauty Swatch for pointing me towards such a great reference.

Although the runway shows are likely sold out by now, have a browse through the LMFF Cultural Program for many more fabulous events throughout the city over the next couple of days.



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