The Ponder Room loves profiling people who are out there having a go at reaching their dreams or trying to make a difference. Likewise we’re always interested in organisations or events that foster new talent. One such event is the Perth Fashion Festival (PFF), particularly the Western Australian Designer Collections. With the PFF running from September 19 – 25 we took a peek behind the scenes to see what it takes to be deemed an ‘emerging’ talent in fashion.
According to Chelsey Wayte, Designer Liaison at the PFF, the application process was opened to all WA based designers who were in the ‘developmental stage of their careers,’ and have been ‘operational as a label for five years or less.’
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Inside the Museum last year © The Ponder Room
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Once you made it past that criteria your label went into the mix to be judged by an independent panel of industry experts drawn from ‘retail buying, media and design’.
The judges assessed each designer against a range of set criteria, the key ones being strength in ‘the quality of construction, design innovation, collection cohesion and runway appeal’ … easy.
Actually reading that list again I did ponder the importance of the last criteria, runway appeal …
Just as well they included that one, otherwise I could see an extremely creative young architect, with a penchant for the spotlight, trying to sneak in his highly innovative, quality constructed, set of cohesive … townhouses. Being on trend I’m sure he’d provide them in a range of pastels and brights, not black … although he’d still offer a little black option just for night time. Even if he did make it onto the shortlist, he’d probably have difficulty finding someone to ‘walk’ the runway for him. Can you imagine the size of heels needed to pull off that look? And the headwear, well that doesn’t warrant pondering about. But I digress …
‘We received an overwhelming amount of applications this year’ Wayte added, making my eyebrows raise in anticipation of perhaps one architect amongst them, until she added ‘I am thrilled by the calibre of labels that we have in store for WA Designer Collections 2012.’ …oh, eyebrows return.
In all thirteen Western Australian designers will have their work shown in the collection, namely; Ange Lang, Anna Excell, Catini Designs, Martini & Coz, Monster Alphabets, Wild Horses, Peppermint Milk, On A Whim, Forgotten Beauty, Alushia Sanchia, N&H, Little Gracie, and Betty Tran.
The Ponder Room has been lucky enough to catch up with a few of these local designers as they put the finishing touches to their pieces. We’re aiming to feature some of them over the coming weeks (around one a week) along with other information as it comes to hand. In the meantime look out for the WA Designer Collections at Fashion Paramount in the Western Australian Museum, Hackett Hall. The venue alone is spectacular (see picture). To get a feel for it you might like to revisit some of last years posts under the fashion tag e.g. nonsurgical facelift unveiled at PFF
Perth Fashion Festival runs from 19-25 September 2012. It is supported by the State Government through Eventscorp, the Department of Culture and the Arts and the City of Perth.
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I’m sure he could provide them in a range of pastels and brights not black……..
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