Interview with Tessa-Jay from blog CIRCA NOW on MBFWA 2013

As I didn't make it up to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sydney this year, I thought I would interview some creative and talented fashion peeps about their time there. Firstly I asked the beautiful Tessa-Jay from blog CIRCA NOW. Being one of the very first Aussie bloggers, starting back in 2008, she has great insight into the fashion industry and super cute/cool style to match. I had to share some photos with you below of some of her outfits worn at Fashion Week! 

In outfit one, described as Tessa's favourite from the week, she is wearing print on print- a definite trend we are starting to see more of. Not only this, but ANIMAL PRINT! So good! At first it may seem quite full on to be wearing the same print twice in one outfit- like denim on denim- however, the right kind of girl can pull it off! And yes- Tessel definitely pulls this off.  I've chosen to show you a few photos of the outfit- as it is such a winner! (All the photos taken below in this outfit have been sourced through Circa Now).

Both the top and pants Tessel is wearing in the first four photos are available from Grace Boutique. Then she is wearing shoes from Tony Bianco, which I must say have some amazing shoes at the moment and for such good prices!! Her bag is Dylan Kain who I absolutely love!! I could easily buy a fair few bags from their latest collection! Last, but certainly not least, her jacket is Thurley, who make the most beautiful, desirable clothing! If you haven't already- click through to their website to see some of their stunning collections. After this Tessa is wearing a stripe dress, bought from Topshop (link to their page in the UK), with a Ksubi tee over the top and boots by Acne - so hot!! Want and need in my life… Then she's also wearing a Dylan Kain bag to complete the look. Love it!! Such a cool cat :)! In the third outfit (standing with Jess from Tuula Vintage), Tessa has a blue Witchery dress on, RMK shoes and a Dylan Kain bag. Loving the dress- such a cute style and perfect in the blue I think! Then in the last pic she's with Liz from Street Smith who looks amazingggg in Willow! 

Anyway, heres the inty and enjoy the gorgeous pics all supplied by Tessa and from CIRCA NOW. 

Interview with Tessa on MBFWA 2013:

A) What was your highlight from MBFWA 2013?

The overall experience, meeting new people and getting dressed up!

B)  Is there one particular designer, or maybe a few in particular that stood out to you?

Love By Johnny, Manning Cartel, Ginger & Smart, MaidenLove, RWB, Christopher Esber & Ellery! I unfortunately missed the Alice McCall show - it looked amazing!!

C) Were there any trends you noticed coming through from the Spring Summer 13-14 collections in terms of colours, fits or maybe patterns/prints?

Pastels, cut out and sheer, crop tops, matching sets, metallic

D) What show did you find the most entertaining and amazing?

Romance was Born was AMAZING!! It was like a production and all the colours, lights, glitter and designers was mind blowing 

E) Are there any MUST-HAVE items that stood out to you from any of the designers collections?

By Johnny - every dress!! And MaidenLove's metallic bikinis

Mary Katrantzou at David Jones

Today I attended an intimate event at David Jones with Mary Katrantzou, the well known Greek designer who is only 29 and has already made it big internationally with her statement print designs, which are beautiful and technical. Each design is engineered precisely to each size of dress, so that it looks the same on a size 6 to a size 16. When designing, she thinks about each womens figure so that the prints she uses compliment them, so they look and feel amazing. It's a skill not many designers have and it may be due to her background in architecture, which makes sense. Edwina McCann, the editor of Vogue Australia interviewed the 'queen of prints' in front of a small group of guests and I was really impressed with the way she spoke. She is very approachable and talks about her incredible designs so naturally, that it makes it seem easy, when it is far from. She mentioned that some prints can take up to 6 months to complete. Women all around the world, of every age are wanting to wear her designs and I am one of them. The colours, prints and textures are stunning and we were lucky enough to be up close to a range of her designs which I took some photos of to share with you below. One day, I will own one of her dresses! It's definitely something on my wish list!! Enjoy xx

LMFF and Mary Katrantzou.

So this morning (Monday 4th February),was the official program briefing for the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. It was held at the picturesque Trocadero restaurant, situated on the Yarra river within Melbourne's iconic Arts Centre, Hamer Hall. Much like the festival itself, the restuant is modern, sophisticated and accessible and as Graeme Lewsey, CEO of LMFF said  "from the minute it opened we knew this would be the place for this mornings briefing." It was such a great morning catching up with the team from LMFF, the girls at AMPR, my fellow Devotees Jasmin, Chelsea, Davis and most recently Megan Castran. We are all so diverse and yet all link in together nicely which is amazing. 
Anyway, LMFF, together with David Jones announced this morning that the award winning Mary Katrantzou will be attending the Festival as a special guest! OMG!! So excited! Her designs caught my eye a couple of years ago and she is definitely one of my favourite international designers. Her business has grown tremendously from her first ready-to-wear collection which debuted at London Fashion Week in spring/summer 2009 where she picked up 15 prestigious stockists such as Browns, Joyce and Colette, to now boasting over 250 stockists worldwide including Selfridges, Barneys and David Jones, where she is stocked exclusively in Australia. 
Mary has based her collections on perfume bottles, artisan blown glass, interiors and objects of Art, while keeping the printed image central to her aesthetic. For Spring/Summer 2013, the collection is inspired by postage stamps and obsolete banknotes, a world history 'Tour de Force.' Luxurious texture is also at the heart of the collection making her designs highly sort after. She says, "I wanted to play with unique fabrications that created new textures and aesthetic qualities. For me the most important factor when designing is creating something new, something innovative and something that people will appreciate for its intelligent design aesthetic, as well as its function. It's important to be in sync with your times and create something that is relevant but also can shape how people want to dress in the future."
Mary will be attending the Opening Event presented by David Jones and supported by Vogue Australia on Tuesday 19th March, and her collection will open the first and largest runway show of the week. Other David Jones top Australian designers including Dion Lee, Ellery, Collette Dinnigan, Rachel Gilbert and many more will also be apart of the show. This is one event you MUST NOT miss! 
Not only that, but on Thursday 21st March, Mary is speaking at the highly acclaimed L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival Business Seminar presented by the State Government of Victoria, Westfield and supported by WISH Magazine. Other speakers at the seminar include media pioneer, Marc Worth (UK), store designer Ron Pompei (USA), fashion illustrator Bill Donovan (USA) and digital and fashion film expert Quynh Mai (USA). Presentations run from 8:50am-4:00pm, with the doors opening at 8:30am. Set in the Grand Ballroom at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, tickets are $450 per person and include lunch & refreshments throughout the day. Networking drinks then begin at 4:00pm. In 2013 the event focuses on business and creative with topics including 'the emerging digital trend of social curation,' 'evolving patterns in global consumer behaviour,' 'transformational store design' and 'fashion illustration' among others. I would highly recommend attending this if you have the chance, as the speakers are world class and I can imagine it will be extremely inspiring!
So this is only the beginning.. I have soooo much more amazing information to share with you that I couldn't fit it all into one post. I was just so excited by the fact that we are going to be blessed with Mary Katrantzou on our shores, attending the Festival, that I had to tell you ALL ABOUT IT! If you haven't already heard of her, then click on the link above (hover the mouse over her name to click through to her website). Her site is currently 'under construction' so to speak, however click on the 'Press Book' to see a collection of images of her designs throughout hundreds of highly acclaimed publications. We are all in for a treat! Below is an image of Samantha Harris and two other models at the Program Briefing this morning wearing Mary's beautiful designs (I'll take one of each, thank you!) and also a photo of CEO, Graeme Lewsey, and the girls next to the new BMW (a sponsor of the festival). How amazing, right!? xx

Isabel Marant

In 1994, Isabel Marant (born in 1967) founded her label, named after herself. She has 10 shops worldwide in the cities of Tokyo, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid, Bejing and more. She is also stocked in more than 35 countries world wide. Hailing from the beautiful city of Paris, she is commonly known as 'the French girl with the just-rolled-out-of-bed, can't-be-bothered look', yet she always looks amazing and women around the world want to look just like her. Along with celebrities such as Sienna Miller, Alexa Chung and Rachel Weisz. My beautiful French friend Marta of Life of Boheme actually works at Le Bon Maché in the Isabel Marant section of the well known department store. Marta is known around the world from her blog as she has that same style and certain "thing" about her that makes her style so unique and eye-catching. I definitely recommend checking out her blog, 'Life of Boheme.' Anyway, Marant blends her bohemia style with her tomboy street chic effortlessly and I am in love with her 'Pre-collection Spring Summer 2013' designs, in the photos I've shared with you below. I have just picked my favourite of the bunch but click HERE to see some more of the collection. A lot of her fashion is quite expensive making each item special and I intend to save up to buy a few of her pieces! They are well worth it! Anyway, the first photo below is of Marant herself, and was taken by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin which was published in Vanity Fair, January 2011.

I believe it was the high-top wedge sneakers that made fashion headlines worldwide with photographs of Miranda Kerr, Beyonce, Gisele Budchen, Petra Ecclestone and Rihanna all wearing the 'must-have' item of the season, making Marants a 

household name to those who had never heard of the designer before and were a little late 

off the band wagon. 

Anyway, from now on I know that Marants label will only of from strength to strength as 

women and girls across the world want to be just like her. A definite cool cat and one to 

always keep an eye out for! 

Aila Wang.

Look out Suri Cruise, (not that she's ever really been a fashion icon in my eyes) Aila Wang has arrived. She's caught the eyes of the fashion world and even has her own Tumblr. If you don't already know and haven't yet guessed, she is the little 3 year old niece of Alexander Wang. Aila was spotted at the Wang SS13 show in NY wearing her own custom made dress by the designer, accessorised with blackout shades, her own Chanel purse and mini Nike trainers (photo 2). What an outfit! I would totally wear the same if it was available in my size. In saying that, she does not look silly wearing an outfit that could be worn by an adult (as some young girls do when they dress up way to old for their age), in fact she looks perfect and stylish which has led to her photograph being splashed across social media, especially on the many fashion blogs out there. She is also the owner of the cutest pair of creepers and her very own mini Alexander Wang bag (photo 7 and 8)!! Oh Aila, I love you! enjoy xx