Collections from 12 of Australia’s most impressive fashion graduates, from University of Technology QLD, University of Technology NSW, Curtin University WA and RMIT VIC, were put on show as part of the L’oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

So much excitement comes from seeing work from such new and refreshing designers. The evening was filled with an atmosphere not alike any of the other events. Each collection was spectacular, and the audience was completely taken by the evident passion of each designer expressed wholly in their work.

Graduates featured: Ana Diaz, Celene Bridge, Genevieve Kulesza, Jason Hewitt, Jennifer Chua, Jennifer Nebel, Jessica O’Connor, Kate Sala, Kate Watson, Laura Anderson, Sangeeta Singh & Sarah Mok.

We look forward to seeing what these young designers will produce in the future, which should be great things, judging by these stunning collections.

For more information on where to study Fashion Design in Australia see the
Art & Design Education Resource Guide
More on LMFF here

All Photos – Lucas Dawson www.lucasdawson.com.au

Saturday 12^th and Sunday 13^th March
Opening 10 – 7pm daily
Free Entry & Entertainment

Shed 4 North Wharf Road Victoria Harbour, Docklands

PHM will be open to the public on March 12-13 for you to enjoy art installations from the likes of Kirsty Hulm, Dawn Tan, Kristin McIver and many more.

New collections from local designers such as Limedrop,  Trimapee and many more will also be on show for the public to purchase.

Grab a coffee from Cafe Lavazza or quench your thirst with a Coopers62 beer while you marvel at the large scale works at Shed 4.

Kristin McIver,  Photography – She Is Frank

Visit www.penthousemouse.com for more information on events at PHM 2011.

Log on to register for an invite to the launch party:
Friday March 11th at Shed 4

The Melbourne Design Market is a one of its kind event that continues to be the place to be and be seen. For stallholders it provides the opportunity to get your new products and ideas out to over 10,000 stylehunters in just one day. Since 2005 the Melbourne Design Market has been popping up twice a year and transforming the Federation Square Car Park into a design show presenting some of this country’s greatest creative enterprises.

For shoppers the Melbourne Design Market is the place to see a fantastic array of merchandise, acquire the latest must-have pieces and enjoy the party-like atmosphere. For successful stallholders it’s a day of sales, orders, and most of all, meeting new clients and receiving valuable feedback on your business.

Do you have a new product or idea that you want to get to the people who’ll appreciate it? Then go to www.melbournedesignmarket.com.au now to look through the FAQs and make your application.

Distinguishing the Melbourne Design Market from all others is a rigorous selection procedure for prospective stallholders to ensure the quality and diversity of the products on offer. Given that it’s such a successful forum to launch new products, the market receives many more applications than can possibly be accepted.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE 5PM FRIDAY October 15, 2010

More information here

Learn the inner workings of retail professionals at MSFW’s Business Breakfast SeriesMelbourne’s retailers, designers, fashion industry leaders and marketers can access a wealth of business expertise at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week’s (MSFW) Business Breakfast Series, proudly presented by the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Running from Monday 30 August through to Friday 3 September, the seminars will be based on the “Good Book of Retail”; hosting knowledge-focused, educational forums, drawing together retail experts, brand managers, designers, creative industry business leaders and marketers.Volume 2010 begins with Chapter One which talks about Melbourne as a customer service city and examines how Melbourne ranks in human factors, what dynamics and innovations are changing business outlooks and how consumer driven culture can make a difference to success. Chapter Two focuses on the description of retail, examining consumer changes and new retail models. Chapter Three notes that caring is the latest fashion statement, asking how the new feel good retail hybrid manifests infashion and retail, and what role retail can play in social conscience. Chapter Four invites guests to collaborate, highlighting the benefits of sharing recourses to inspire and offer a different look at retail possibilities. While the final event – Chapter Five – is all about the unexpected, it also discusses the evolution of retail,highlighting the consumer’s power to embrace everything from new innovations to limited edition, bespoke, artisan and handmade products. City of Melbourne Acting Lord Mayor Susan Riley said “Fashion, retail and design are synonymous with Melbourne and its stylish reputation rests on our ability to generate ideas and creative energy.’’The MSFW Business Breakfast Series offers a great opportunity for people to harness our city’s ideas and creative energy and putthem to good use in their own business endeavours.” The events will be hosted by some of the city’s most well respected industry professionals, see the full list here.

See more here

T-post works a lot like a magazine subscription. Every five weeks, subscribers from over 50 countries receive a new issue/t-shirt in the mail. The offbeat news story is printed on the inside back of the shirt. And a graphic artistʼs interpretation of that news story is printed on the front. For subscribers, the comment “Nice shirt” now becomes an invitation to tell the story behind the design and create dialogue about an interesting world event.
More than just an innovative social brand, T-post is also an environmentally conscience one. To reduce waste, T-post is only sold online to subscribers using the principles of on demand manufacturing, i.e. making only what consumer’s want. Additionally, shirts are sweatshop-free, often organic, and printed with eco-certified inks.

For more information:
See their site here, their YouTube, and Facebook

Semi-Permanent and Dosh Wallets launch search to find the next generation Dosh designer. 12th March 2010: Semi-Permanent, Australia’s leading design festival, has partnered with forward thinking wallet brand, Dosh, to find the next generation Dosh designer. The competition is calling for artists to submit a piece of work which will be printed on a wallet and sold from dosh.com.au and in stores globally.
Dosh has championed collaboration’s with some of the best contemporary artists from around the world including Jonathon Zawada, Stephan Marx and French, who have all used Dosh as their canvas.

Budding creatives need to log onto www.semipermanent.com or www.dosh.com.au to download the design template and submit their work to ken@dosh.com.au for judging before the 27 March. The winner will join the ranks alongside some of the leading designers in the world and will also receive 5% from every wallet of their design sold.

For more information on the competition and event, please visit www.semipermanent.com. The winner will be announced on the 30th April.

Semi-Permanent, Australia’s award winning design festival*, is pleased to announce additional speakers to its already awe-inspiring line up. Award winning filmmaker David Michôd, San Francisco based design community Fecal Face and Australia’s own frankie magazine, join this year’s event on the 19 and 20 March. Other speakers this year include the likes of award winning photographers Jill Greenberg and Ashley Gilbertson, graphic artists Jasper Goodall and Jessica Hische and the ABC’s celebrated broadcaster Craig Schuftan.

David Michôd – an Australian director who is currently building a solid reputation on the international film scene. His debut feature film, Animal Kingdom, was recently awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He was also the co-director of the critically acclaimed documentary, Solo, which documented the ill-fated journey of kayaker Andrew McAuley’s attempt to kayak between Australia and New Zealand. The powerful documentary won the 2009 AFI Award for Best Documentary Under One Hour. David is also well known to the Australian film community as past editor of Inside Film magazine.

Fecal Face – Making a welcome return in the web community space is San Francisco based Fecal Face – a leading online art based community site. Initially created to highlight and promote the art scene in San Francisco, Fecal Face has expanded to encompass work from artists and exhibitions world-wide. It’s an extensive directory of photos and interviews with artists, and the sites positive, down to earth and fun outlook on art makes it stand out from the crowd.

frankie magazine – one of Australia’s most popular magazines which combines interesting articles, beautiful photography and great artwork to make a cross between a fashion and art magazine that speaks to a wide audience. Founded by Louise Bannister and creative director Lara Burke, frankie is a creative voice amongst the multitude of magazines created for women that are basically catalogues for advertiser and to top it off, it’s a magazine that even your average male hipster is not ashamed to read!

Alongside the two day conference, Semi-Permanent also plays host to side shows which have seen the likes of Banksy, Shepard Fairey and 123Klan exhibit work for the Australian public. This year is no different kicking off with Mixed Business presented by We Are The Image Makers, the Opening Hours, Stupid Krap and Semi-Permanent. Taking place on the 18th March at the Ambush Gallery in Waterloo, the group show features work from leading artists including Numskull, Phibs, Beastman and James Jarat Patradoon alongside international talent, Mel Kadel and Travis Millard. The show will be open until 28th March 2010.

More information on the event, here.

March 2010 sees Australia’s design community come together for the 8th year for Semi-Permanent in Sydney. With a week-long celebration of all things aesthetic, Semi-Permanent goes above and beyond, bringing together the design community across a number of conferences, workshops, exhibitions and after parties.
Not to be outdone by last year’s roll call, the boys at Semi-Permanent have secured a raft of talented speakers spanning the Art, Film, Illustration, Photography, Visual Effects and Motion Graphics worlds with everything from Sesame Street to Gucci and Victoria’s Secret. Set to inspire and educate, world renowned artists and specialists in their field will come together to share their knowledge, excitement and passion for their work and impart wisdom and insight on Sydney’s creative population.

Held on the 19 and 20 March at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, speakers for the 2010 Sydney event include:
Travis Millard and Mel Kadel – LA based couple whose work is admired and sought after by collectors and brands across the globe.
Jessica Hische – designer, illustrator and photographer who has worked with the likes of Victoria’s Secret, American Express, Wired Magazine and Penguin Books.
Jill Greenberg – photographer whose work has appeared in the likes of Harper’s, Wired, Time Weekly and The New Yorker and whose 2006 End Times series provoked much interest and criticism across the world.
Ashley Gilbertson – Australian born, New York based photo-journalist whose most recent book, ‘Whisky, Tango, Foxtrot’, details his experiences with the Iraq war.
Jasper Goodall – highly influential graphic artist who has worked with the likes of Gucci, Nike, Adidas and Dazed and Confused.
T World – the guys from T World, the Australian magazine focused on T-shirt culture, who have recently collaborated with Sesame Street on the program’s 40th anniversary.
Tin&Ed – Melbourne based design team whose work spans a host of disciplines including graphic design, illustration, collage, photography and motion graphics. They have worked with the likes of Nike, BMW, MTV-UK and The Australian Ballet.
Craig Schuftan – Author and broadcaster based in Sydney whose books include The Culture Club (2007) and Hey! Nietzsche! Leave Them Kids Alone (2009). Craig recently assisted with curating the popular ‘The 80’s Are Back’ exhibition at The Powerhouse Museum and has been presenting The Culture Club on triple j, a radio segment about the history of art and ideas in rock and roll, since 2002. Craig’s involvement marks a new style of Semi-Permanent speakers, coming from a historical and philosophical angle rather than a personal journey through an individual’s work.

More information on the event, here.

Semi-Permanent Melbourne 2009 Montage from Semi Permanent on Vimeo.

Missed Semi-Permanent this year? See the video montage from Melbourne above, and click here for Sydney.

Via Semi-Permanent

COMME DES GARÇONS, Tokyo (fashion house) est. 1969, Rei KAWAKUBO (designer), born Japan 1942, Dress 1997 spring-summer, cotton, polyester, nylon tulle, 122.0 cm (centre back length) 47.4 cm (waist, flat), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Presented through the NGV Foundation by Takamasa Takahashi, 2005

Opening in December, the National Gallery of Victoria will present a spectacular collection of works in Drape: Classical Mode to Contemporary Dress. The exhibition will feature over 30 works primarily drawn from the NGV’s holdings of fashion and textiles, as well as key loans. Sculpture, paintings, decorative arts and photography, from antiquity to the present day will also be on display. Drape will showcase elegant gowns from the 19th century to more contemporary works including designs by Dolce & Gabbana and Comme des Garçons among others.

Paola Di Trocchio, Assistant Curator, International Fashion and Textiles, NGV said that bodies have been adorned in draped cloth since classical times. “After animal skins, draped woven cloth was the first means of clothing, and in Ancient Greece, was worn in countless configurations to indicate class, gender and social positioning. Over time, the wearing of loose cloth has become associated with elegance, timelessness, comfort, wealth, prestige, divinity and barbarism,” said Ms Di Trocchio.

Drape will explore the practice of arranging cloth on the body in two dominant modes, clinging drape and elevated drape. Clinging drape relies on direct contact between the body and the cloth, as in classical sculpture, while elevated drape shows fabric theatrically sculptured away from the body, similar to the gathering of cloth over crinolines and bustles.

Frances Lindsay, Deputy Director, NGV said: “The draped form has been a constant feature throughout the history of art. This exhibition will delight visitors with the myriad of ways in which artists and designers have produced timeless works with this fashion feature.”

This exhibition will include antiquities from classical Greece and Rome displaying the complex art of wrapping and cinching. These works will be shown alongside more contemporary pieces by designers such as Rei Kawakubo, Vivienne Westwood, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior, Balenciaga and Hussein Chalayan whose creations reference the history of drape.

Drape: Classical Mode to Contemporary Dress will be on display in the Myer Fashion & Textiles Gallery at NGV International, St Kilda Road from 2 December 2009 to 27 June 2010. NGV International is open 10am–5pm, closed Tuesdays. Admission to this exhibition is free.

Principal Sponsor:  Myer
Support Sponsor:  Sofitel

HUSSEIN CHALAYAN, London (fashion house) est. 1995, Hussein CHALAYAN (designer), born Cyprus 1970, emigrated to England 1982, Cast dress no. 2 2001 spring-summer, Ventriloquy collection (detail), polyester resin, (a) 44.0 x 39.0 x 20.0 cm (front) (top); (b) 45.0 x 40.0 x 22.0 cm (back) (top); (c) 60.0 x 95.5 x 34.0 cm (front) (skirt); (d) 60.0 x 88.5 x 30.0 cm (back) (skirt), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Presented through the NGV Foundation by Norma and Stuart Leslie, Governors, 2001