Always Sometimes Anytime and Catalogue Magazine are collaborating on MBFWA 2013 coverage. Head over here to check out Always Sometimes Anytime's coverage.
I woke up three hours ago and am already exhausted. I’m not physically or mentally exhausted, I’m Sensory Exhausted and yes, this is a thing. Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week began this morning and new venue Carriageworks was awash with the animalistic ritual of The Fashuns: hundreds of street style photographers shooting the myriad buyers, media and (the many, many) well turned-out hangers-on. Camera flashes, metallic, sequin, peroxide: so much shine, so little time.
Camilla and Marc are well-versed on the fanfare of Australian Fashion Week. Their 2013 presentation coincides with their ten-year anniversary, confirmed by a bold, gothic ‘X’ projected onto their runway backdrop. Over this decade the brand have become synonymous with Australia’s reputation for slick, structured fashion and the show notes suggested summer 2013-14 would be a retrospective of this: “a sharp showcase of Camilla and Marc’s signature styles and silhouettes, updated with a modern viewpoint”. Said modern viewpoint, the notes explained, was inspired by the “the Russian Matryoshka Doll” and thus I sat – for around half an hour due to the show’s late running time – in my seat anticipating bold colour and floral print, akin to Alice McCall’s Summer 2012-13 collection.
Camilla and Marc’s Summer 2013-14 couldn’t have been further from the aforementioned. They took a far less direct interpretation of the iconic doll, referencing its symmetry, layering, and humble, earthy nature instead. Julia Nobis, Ash Walker and Ruby-Jean Wilson opened the show all wearing pieces from the first story: a fiery red print employed across a drop-crotch pant and cut-out dress. Each successive colour story followed the same rules: a primary bright (red, then blue, then orange) formed the base of a print that in some way referenced nature (fire, water, broken earth). Some of the styles were impressive on their own – a voluminous orange strapless dress stood out – but for the most part these wild, earthy references – that were re-enforced by a throbbing, percussive eastern-infused soundtrack (instrumental new wave, akin to Talking Heads' freakier moments) – didn’t mesh with Camilla and Marc’s slick aesthetic. If they had utilised the serious, untameable side of nature further there could have perhaps been a meeting point between the brand’s slickness and nature’s ruthlessness – both have unsympathetic, industrial connotations (and have that reflected by a Krautrock soundtrack, for example) – but instead these two prongs fought for attention throughout. It was the former that shined brighter and provided some of the collections most impressive pieces. A white leather biker jacket and panelled midi-skirt were stand-outs, followed closely by an elegant gold sleeveless blazer overtop a black lace dress. But to the monochromatic end there was also a frilled skirt that bore striking – read: too much – resemblance to those in Nicolas Ghesquiere's last collection for Balenciaga.
Over the past decade Camilla and Marc have developed a definitive style and this collection should be applauded for highlighting this, there just wasn't much to suggest what we can expect through their next era.
Photography by Hugo Garay
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