WEEKEND A PLUS
I JANUARY 11-12, 2014
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WEEKEND A PLUS
www.theaustralian.com.au
6 STYLE
FASHION & STYLE EVERY WEDNESDAY IN PERSONAL OZ
theaustralian.com.au/fashion
I JANUARY 11-12, 2014
I
www.theaustralian.com.au
7
Winter wrap: London men’s collection
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GTN
FASHION
KEN SAYS
SPELLS FASHION Two visionary winners
. . . Shady Characters!
FOR the past three years, the Australian Fashion Foundation — made up of talented Aussies working in the fashion industry around the world — has been offering six-month placements to talented industry beginners in the Big Apple. Last year, they extended the reach to add a European placement. At a small cocktail party in Sydney last month, the fourth round of recipients was announced after a day of judging in front of a panel including Malcolm Carfrae of Calvin Klein, Anthony Kendal of MyTheresa.com and Michelle Lee of Woolmark, which supports the award. Talisa Trantino, a womenswear design graduate from Melbourne’s RMIT, and Amie Jones, a creative director/graphic designer from Sydney’s Whitehouse Institute, took out top honours, which includes a $20,000 grant to live abroad. According to Carfrae, the standard of entrants was typically high this year. ‘‘There’s an abundance of strong fashion talent in Australia,’’ said Carfrae after the announcement. ‘‘And I think some of the best fashion schools are doing an amazing job of turning out students who know how to present themselves, market themselves and articulate their vision. That’s really important.’’ He said that the two winners in particular had ‘‘a 360-degree vision for themselves and for their futures’’. Trantino not only showed her design work, but had also done her own shoot and produced her own book. ‘‘She knew how to publicise herself; she was the whole package,’’ said Carfrae. Jones created her own magazine in digital and hard copy. The placements will be decided in the months to come, but as to who will go to New York and who will go to Europe remains to be seen. ‘‘I said to them they’d better figure it out,’’ said Carfrae. ‘‘I want them to be part of that decision.’’
AFTER a gloriously rainy grey London Christmas, I was perched on my stool at Glider Cafe in Potts Point perusing the gluten-free friands when I realised how cool Sydneysiders looked. Victoria Street had the most fantastic sunglasses on. Not since the last Burberry show have I witnessed such an explosion of savoir froid. The American Hustle look was in full force with ladies sporting huge octagonal metallics the size of small Fiats. Blokes had adopted the John Lennon meets Giorgio Armani petite rounded frame in inky black. Earl Grey inhaled, I was determined to update my look and buy some new shades to slice a few years off my visage, or at least disguise it. My motto for 2014 is this: make summer last all year long and wear shades even on the gloomiest of winter days. KX
Super impressive women MEETING fabulous women is always a pleasure, no matter where it happens. But it so happened that Lauren Hutton was at the Chanel Metiers d’Art Paris-Dallas collection show and was wonderful enough to make me want to start a journal of Super Impressive Women I Have Had The Pleasure of Meeting Through Fashion. The non-drinker admitted that she may have had a bourbon and branch (according to Wikipedia, ‘‘branch’’ is plain water, nothing sinister) in honour of the 1950s drive-in that started off the night. ‘‘I was born in the 40s,’’ Hutton, below, told Weekend A Plus, ‘‘and it was so 50s fab, so I instantly drank bourbon and branch and ate popcorn.’’ When quizzed about the show itself, the famous American model noted the blending together of cowboys and Indians and referred to her current reading, Moral Tribes, by Joshua Greene. ‘‘He’s saying that, basically, all animals have evolved to be either selfish or co-operative, and what happened to humans is that being co-operative is better than being selfish. This (show) reminded me of it very much. Because we’re all going to die, the world’s been on fire for 20 years — I haven’t slept in 15 years — so this (show) is hopeful.’’ It’s not often that I leave a fashion show with a new reading list, but I’m happy that it came from Hutton. In addition to Hutton, I had a quick chat with French actress and one-time Coco Chanel portrayer Anna Mouglalis. Between her honey-overbarbed-wire rasp and Hutton’s reading list, those are two interviews I’m not erasing any time soon. GLYNIS TRAILL-NASH
SAVVY, SPORTY, CHIC ■ Workout gear that pushes style to the limit ■ CARLI PHILIPS
SHORTLY after launching her brand Lucas Hugh two years ago, Anjhe Mules received a surprising phone call. ‘‘It was Trish Summerville, wardrobe designer for The Hunger Games. She googled ‘futuristic sportswear’ and my label came up,’’ says New Zealander Mules from her base in London, where David Beckham’s assistant has just dropped by to get a gift for Victoria. Until recently, the words style and sportswear were barely used in the same sentence — let alone the same gym. Glammed-up basketball tanks and track pants paired with heels have strutted the runways for seasons, but now the reverse has occurred — fashion-influenced sportswear is becoming ubiquitous. ‘‘Women no longer want to wear frumpy, unattractive, cheap-looking or masculine outfits when doing sport or exercising,’’ says Stefani Grosse, who launched her luxury tennis label, Monreal London, last year. Indeed, the treadmill is the new catwalk, with tie-dye tanks, artwork-printed crop tops and seamless leggings. ‘‘Performance compression tights with black leopard panels’’ from Australia’s Vie Active will set you back $150. It’s workout gear doubling as daywear and it’s just as acceptable to wear at cross-fit as at coffee. Says Mules: ‘‘As someone who works out a lot, I felt there was a need for something edgy that could cross over from a workout to daily life.’’ It’s a sentiment echoed by designer and TV presenter Jodhi Meares, who launched her leisurewear label, The Upside, last year. ‘‘It was largely born out of personal
necessity,’’ she says. ‘‘I practise yoga daily so was in yoga gear all the time and having difficulty finding anything cool that could be worn during and after. I just thought there was a major gap in the market.’’ Today’s multi-tasking, time-poor culture and fitness industry boom means it is more acceptable to dress casually. It’s also return for investment, says Marshal Cohen of global market advisory group, NPD. ‘‘Women feel that they are getting more value when investing in activewear like yoga pants which they can wear to the gym, in the gym, and from the gym.’’ According to NPD, US Sports market sales increased 4 per cent from January to August last year compared with the same period in 2012. Activewear sales outgrew the general apparel market, rising 7 per cent January to August last year, compared with a year earlier, while general apparel only grew 1 per cent . The seeds for chic athleticwear were sown in 2000 when the grassroots brand that is now Lululemon Athletica launched designer yoga apparel, transforming the practice’s shanty, low-key identity into a booming, billion-dollar business whose cult ‘‘Wunder Under’’ pants retail for $130. Two years later, Adidas collaborated with avantgarde Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto to form Y-3. ‘‘We created something that did not exist before and completely projected the future,’’ he says. ‘‘My desire was and is to make sportswear elegant and chic.’’ Adidas Originals also collaborates with Opening Ceremony, Jeremy Scott and Raf Simons, while Puma’s Black Label has partnered with high-fashion designers Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen and Mihara Yasuhiro. Yet it was Stella McCartney’s Spring/Summer 2005 range for Adidas that pioneered fusing stylish aesthetics with cutting-edge innovations catering specifically to sports performance. ‘‘With that comes a lot of little alterations and challenges but I enjoy them,’’ says McCartney. ‘‘You can put pretty much anything down the runway and give an excuse for having it there — whereas with this range, if it doesn’t perform, it’s not in it.’’ Sydney sisters Sali and Julie Stevanja stock Adidas for Stella McCartney in their e-shop, Stylerunner, the first of its kind to specialise solely in ‘‘fashion forward activewear’’. In under a year, Stylerunner has 47,000 Instagram followers and for some months growth rate as high as 300 per cent. Its success encouraged the sisters to form StylerunnerMAN. ‘‘We were career girls living an active lifestyle but also loved fashion and shopping.
Ken Thompson is fashion director of The Australian’s monthly Wish magazine. kthompsonstylist@bigpond.com
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There wasn’t anything catering to that,’’ Julie says. Now even mega-brand Uniqlo (opening its first Australian flagship this year) markets itself as a ‘‘LifeWear’’ company. According to Kensuke Suwa, the company’s director of global marketing, it sits in ‘‘the middle between fashion and sports’’. Vikram Kansara, managing editor of The Business of Fashion, says this could redefine the brand. ‘‘Seen this way, Uniqlo’s true competition may not be fast fashion companies like Zara and H&M, but sporting giants like Nike, which appears to be coming at the opportunity space, between sportswear and casual wear, from the other direction.’’ Grosse, an avid tennis player who cut her fashion teeth at Calvin Klein and Donna Karan, plans to tackle the golf industry next. Using hi-tech Italian stretch fabrics devoid of polyester, her tennis whites are tweaked with oversized zips, black mesh panelling and embroidered sweatbands with prices ranging from $14 for a
FRENCH luxury brand Hermes adopted a sporting theme last year. As artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas put it: ‘‘By ‘sporting’, we mean, of course, sport the Hermes way: sport as it has inspired, nourished and rejuvenated our style from the start . . . It celebrates the heady pleasure of play; it magnifies the beauty of the moving body.’’ This hand-sculptured boomerang in solid Java rosewood is an appropriate Australia Day gift for those who like their sport and art. $730; australia.hermes.com
‘It’s one thing to make the garment look good, but it’s another to make it perform’ novelty tennis grip (hearts, skulls, polka-dots) to $345 for a shift dress. It resonated instantly with exclusive sporting clubs, while MatchesFashion.com and Yoox.com picked up the brand in its first season. ‘‘I think it’s one thing to make the garment look good, but it’s another to make it perform and support the body with practical features,’’ says Mules, who researched for two years before launching Lucas Hugh and produces at one of the most technologically-advanced sportswear factories in the world. ‘‘We really invest in the technology behind athleticwear; material responses to the body, temperature and movement. That’s why we have a premium product.’’ Lucas Hugh doesn’t come cheap at $320 for leggings, and its fans include Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large at Vogue Japan, and Madonna’s personal trainer. Oh, and Gwenyth Paltrow has ordered a bespoke outfit. Stylerunner is hesistant to take brands that are ‘‘too on trend’’. ‘‘We want products that have been tested for durability like moisture-wicking fabric, four-way stretch, lateral movement and breathability. There’s a difference between a performance tight and a tight that’s purely a fashion item,’’ Julie says. Meares agrees.
‘‘Being functional is the first point of call. We have a fashion identity, but ultimately we’re a sportswear brand, not the other way around.’’ The former swimwear designer’s leopard print collection debuted on Stylerunner and sold out within the first hour. At her impressive S/S 2014 presentation at London Fashion Week, McCartney showcased models cycling, swimming and running in precision cut minty-rose gear. If this isn’t enough motivation to keep a new year’s fitness resolution then it might be time procrastinators got a new outfit. ‘‘We work with top athletes and even they tell me they perform better when they feel like they look good,’’ says McCartney, who will dress tennis players Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Kirilenko at the Australian and French opens. She might be right, according to a study from Northwestern University based on the concept of ‘‘enclothed cognition’’. Researcher Hajo Adam concluded that what you wear can affect your psychological behaviour. ‘‘I think it would make sense that when you wear athletic clothing, you become more active and more likely to go to the gym and work out.’’ The last word goes to Team Stella: ‘‘You don’t have to sacrifice style for sport.’’
Fashion statement, clockwise from far left: Adidas Originals by Jeremy Scott, Monreal London, Lucas Hugh, Adidas by Stella McCartney (2), The Upside (2)
stylerunner.com monreallondon.com lucashugh.com theupsidesport.com adidas.com.au/adidasby-stella-mccartney puma.com/blacklabel adidas.com.au/originals
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