currently: in bed with a cold
What originally started off well, with the thought I'd be able to write blogs on time (for once!) ended up missing the mark due to a cold I've caught, somewhere between Auckland's bipolar summer/winter weather, the late night at Wednesday's Designer Showcase, and bus rides with people who don't cover their mouth. Colds can be the worst - tearing down my energy and my body's will to stay motivated and write. I've still yet to catch up with the NZ Anberlin concert, Food Tour Party posts, and I'm just going to ignore all the movies I had seen recently and planned to review...
Anyway, I'm going to momentarily skip talking about Designer Showcase and instead talk about the Miromoda show I went to see on Friday afternoon. If you don't know what Miromoda is about, it's a showcase dedicated to indigenous fashion design. This year they showcased nine different designers, with a mix of the established and up-and-coming.
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| Mitchell Vincent |
Mitchell Vincent was a nice opening to the show, with a collection of warm whites that you'd love to wrap up with in winter. I'm not one to ever wear head to toe white though, but it's still nice to have a fresh collection to start a runway.
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| Dmonic Intent |
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| Dmonic Intent |
One of my favourite collections had to be from Dmonic Intent, whose edgy monochromatic style, coupled with bangs of colour, is a collection that I'd love to wear. I remember their collection last year was very bold with colour, but it's great to see them going bold with the black/white scale. Their gorgeous textures and their structured hats were gorgeous too. It looks comfortable, yet classy and sophisticated all at once.
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| Dmonic Intent |
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| Dmonic Intent |
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| Lei Lei |
Not much can be said about Lei Lei other than it's perfect for crappy rainy weather. Her collection of capes, trenches and hooded jackets, all decorated with strong orange and green reptile scales, make some good conservative statement pieces (when you don't want to be
too out there in the crowd). I could picture quite a few females wearing jackets like this as they rush around Queen Street or Newmarket in wet weather.
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| Pia Boutique |
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| Pia Boutique |
While these pictures aren't of my favourite pieces from Pia Boutique (my favourite involved a set of adorable gold sequined shorts), I do love Pia Boutique's bright and colourful prints. If you're a modern girl who loves frills, colours and dresses, this label is for you.
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| Muka |
If you're Daniel Bedingfield, or if Daniel Bedingfield is your fashion icon, have I got the fashion label for you.
(Aside from the tartan, the leather pieces were quite cool.)
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| Adrienne Whitewood |
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| Adrienne Whitewood |
Another stand out for me was Adrienne Whitewood whose collection was like a toughened version of tribal clothing. With gorgeous dark blues, leather tasselled skirts, chainwork and fantastic Aztec prints, I would probably rock this stuff everywhere I went.
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| Mimi |
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| Mimi |
If Adrienne Whitewood was like a dark Aztec warrior, Mimi would be the opposite peace loving tribe (if that's not a strange comparison...). The natural colours, the more feminine style, the use of raw edges, knits and feathers, and of course lots of frills and pleats.
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| Grace Lee |
And this picture has to the one of my favourite photos I've taken from NZFW. Grace Lee's collection just looks like clothing you'd wear pool side on a tropical island. Dipped in bright colours and detailed lino prints, with gorgeous statement pieces like this aqua collar above, the clothing line just screams 'take me to the resort, now.'
Overall while the Miromoda showcase didn't have some of the same showstopper styling like it did last year, there were some great wearable pieces, and it definitely helped point out the ones to watch. Keep doing what you do Miromoda, there are some great indigenous designers that need to be looked after.
(Btw - side note: The Miromoda goodie bag had one of the most interesting things I've ever received in a fashion week bag. It didn't contain much, but it had hair spray, coconut water, and an apple. A small apple. Reinforcing the homegrown aspect?)
