Melb fashion week: Student collections

Every year, my mum and I attend the M/FW Student Collections fashion show. This tradition of ours began when I was 12, when my mum gave me her plus one ticket as a birthday gift. Knowing I will be surrounded by like minded, fashion-forward individuals, to watch a show in which fashion students have no boundaries to create pieces that reflect their creativity, makes this show one of my favourite events of the year. Each year, I am always sure to take my notebook and my fully charged phone so that I can document my thoughts on each student's collection and take photos of their incredible work. So, according to my notes app, here are my favourite looks from this years M/FW Student Collections fashion show:

From the contrast of rigid structure and movement, to its incredible craftsmanship, this dress is the perfect example of fashion's future. The futuristic look characterised by the designer's use of grey, in association with the mixture of vertical straight lines that continue down the dress in contrast to the swooping horizontal ones, the basic mini dress has taken a modern twist for the better. Although the student collections don't necessarily need to be prêt-a-porter, I can definitely see this mini dress being worn on the streets of New York.

In all honesty, I am not a big fan of Harry Styles, however, what I do admire is his appreciation of androgyny. When I saw this look step onto the runway, I was immediately reminded of two things; Harry Styles and Zimmermann. In his recent tour, Harry wore a variety of outfits in which were all relatively androgynous, this outfit, is one that would definitely fit in perfectly with the rest of his closet. The high waisted pants and beautifully unique jacket, are pieces that anyone, man, woman or gender neutral, could pull off. All of this is encompassed by the subtle, yet striking mono-tonal, multi textural fabrics. It is this type of neutral, but far from boring colour palette that has been seen in Zimmermann's latest collection and I adore seeing it in such a cool, crazily structured look.

This stunning collection belongs to the winner of this year's Melbourne Fashion Week Student prize, Rubee Hay, whom I was lucky enough to hear speak to after the show. Her collection pays homage to her own personal vulnerability and is an introspection to her desire for protection. The collection is called "Broken body, silly little girl" with her garments representing a little girl shielding herself from the world in response to her own self-aware fragility. Each design holds within it a narrative, reflecting a belief that the way we talk about garments influences how we wear and care for them.

The deconstruction of basic, everyday pieces, is a concept I am obsessed with, in fact, when it comes to this collection, obsessed is an understatement. Each piece tailored to absolute perfection, this mixture of the everyday trench coat and formal jackets with the silhouette of corseted dresses celebrates the odd juxtaposition of two entirely different pieces in one full composition. This collection revisits traditional shapes with newfound modernity, experimental construction techniques meet formal couture procedures resulting in the phenomenal construction of these dresses. If I am lucky enough to ever attend an event formal enough, I know who I'll be wearing - Jessica Virk.

Honourable mention:

Sitting next to my mum and I at the show, were the magnificent Ginger and Carman! These two best friends have a TikTok account with over 350K followers, in which they post videos about their love for fashion, travel and art. Throughout the entirety of the show, the two of them were giving me their opinions on each piece that walked past us all the while whilst providing me with life advice. These two are wearing matching Paul McCann jackets, an Australian designer who up-cycles clothes he buys from op-shops and paints and embellishes his own patterns and designs on them. My goal in life is to be as cool as them when I'm older.

These designers are the future of Australian fashion, and I can't wait to be shopping from them in a few years time!