Walking towards the towering Malvern Town Hall and seeing a sleek black bus emblazoned with ‘Shop The Runway’, it’s clear that this event was more retail-oriented than most other shows in the festival so far. Sure, it’s a good way to boost the local industry, but will watching models strut the runway in fashionable clothes be enough to make you want to purchase the goods?
Even so, as the show was set up with a bit more theatrics than most shows at LMFF, the High Street Edition show certainly made the experience seem like a (more) fun version of window-shopping.
The show started out with 1960s French vibes, think Bande A Part and Funny Face. First on the runway was Arabella Ramsay’s collection, which had a distinct ‘French school girl’ feel to it, with models donning long stockings and velvet-panelled oxford shoes, there were Peter Pan collared shirts, drop waist mini dresses, and short jackets in cheerful colours not typical of winter collections.
The look was made to be a bit more grown up with some matching leather shorts and blazers.
Next up was Moss and Spy and John Cavill, who stayed with the French vibes but added a bit more grown up pizzazz to the show, with long gowns worthy of Bond girls and femme fatales. Fur (perhaps faux?) shrugs seemed to be the order of the day, as well as sequined and beaded gowns.
They were ushered in with some expertly chopped segments from old Hollywood and French movies, cutting in shots of old-world fashion icons the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and Audrey Hepburn.
A rather abrupt change of style brought along Et Al, which was “so Melbourne” with their signature women’s (though easily unisex) pieces mainly in black, with long silhouettes and plenty of drapes. The collection was certainly more everyday than the party dresses shown prior, however the edgy bleakness of the pieces added a little something else, reminiscent of what a modern day Morticia Adams would look like.
The show was mainly dominated with womenswear, but menswear tailoring label Hemden seemed to be added to the show as an after thought.
The male models adorned in crisp suits were the epitome of classic tailoring, but they were merely accessories to the female models, at one point popping up in a slightly daggy set-up pose, akin to James Bond.
When they did come out, the Lisa Ho’s gowns with Angelina Jolie-esque thigh-high splits stole the show from the impeccably tailored suits.
And sure, it was all a pretty glam way to spend the afternoon and everyone from the bloggers in the front row to the fashion-conscious mums getting their dose of style of the day seem to enjoy the show equally, but the most important question is, will anyone actually ‘Shop The Runway’?
With the lack of response to a girl ushering audiences into a bus headed toward Chapel Street’s shopping strip, it did appear like most fashion enthusiasts present needed more than a free bus trip to get them to buy up, but perhaps the experience at least left them with some ideas they could bookmark for when they needed a party dress in the future.