Cool wool fashion at AWI
A number of local designers helped demonstrate that Australian Merino wool can be cool in both senses of the word at the 2009 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW).
According to Australian Wool Innovation CEO, Brenda McGahan, this year’s RAFW saw an unprecedented number of Australian fashion designers using Australian Merino wool in their spring-summer collections. “This is the direct result of our continuing efforts to educate the fashion design community about the latest developments in wool textile technology and connect them with the supply chain here and overseas,” she said. “With their support, we’re getting the message to their trade customers and consumers about wool’s natural suitability for year-round apparel.”
Jayson Brunsdon’s collection was inspired by his mother Dorothy and was designed to represent the ‘undone’ glamour of Australian women and a sense of charming simplicity. It features classic shirt-dresses, shorts, sundresses, t-shirts and shirts, as well as Merino wool jersey halter jumpsuits, town dresses and gowns.
Friedrich Gray by Ben Pollitt was inspired by the David Lynch film Dune and the architecture of Zaha Hadid. It features digital prints on Australian Merino wool which, according to AWI, is an Australian-first.
Gary Bigeni’s Beside Ourselves range focuses on the many facets and elements of an individual’s personality. It features Sabine, a lightweight 150gm, 100% wool jersey from Adelaide-based Michell 1870. The line includes elegant wool jerseys that morph into tops and Merino wool high-waisted, wide leg pants, singlet dresses and jackets.
The Konstantina Mittas collection, named The Strangeness, celebrates a new modernity. The use of traditional couture hand-knotting techniques and high-tech wool development creates texture and provides an 'individualist and futuristic' dimension to the collection. The 19.5 micron Australian Merino wool pieces in the collection are intended to form part of an easy, yet glamorous, layering garment that can be thrown over a simple singlet, bikini or dress.
