A Hot Minute at Melbourne Fashion Week

MFW 2018 / The Runway.

Anna Wintour’s quintessential behaviour in the frow is upheld with little to no of the following: emotion, fangirling, movement, champagne, visible pupils, and liberal HUJI cam-ing. All of these aggressively marked my sitting at this week’s Runway 2 of M/FW in Melbourne’s iconic Town Hall. With pink bubbles in hand from the M/FW Bar (debatably the best initiative of the whole thang), I spent the countdown of the runway’s commencement fulfilling some highly important people watching duties. Socialites, Insta-doyennes, presenters and other lifestyle parakeets were seen to be in full flight around the perimeter of that snow-white catwalk.

Models were preened to immaculate standards with a high-gloss Kevin Murphy ponytail that travelled from neck to tailbone, and playful light fixtures revealed the occasional smatterings of Mecca Cosmetica metallics on the face. Out of all the mise-en-scene working to fuel Fashion Week, the electric use of heavy bass tracks and cleverly-curated videography stole the show and created a palpable sense of a superlative show.

But being a rather commercial runway, the Aus fashion labels were shimmying a lot of frocks already on their shelves and in their online inventories. A bit of a lull ensued after innumerable seen-before tailored suits, puffy sleeves and monochromatic ensembles swathed the room. However, disenchantment was quickly abated as Dion Lee saw a Mexican Wave of shuffling in seats and craning of necks. With tennis-chic-meets-intergalactic-warrior visors, netted dresses and cut-out, silky jumpsuits in shades of powder blue and dusty pink, DL ensured order (or rather, disorder) was restored. After all, FW-goers don't brave trams in heels to see what they can scroll through on Instagram or caress on a rack in the CBD. They come to see a diverse parade of fashion that is aloft, alive and alluring.

MFW breeds a kind of magical energy, excitement and degree of seriousness that is often dismissed in the realm of Melbourne fashion. With such intensely passionate creatives, journalists, industry sensations and city-dwellers playing a week-long game of dress-up with their nearest and dearest, it is (and will continue to be) a congregation worth celebrating.

Following the fash binge, we were pleasantly surprised with an ‘After Dark’ series in which Garden State Hotel handed out a free champers to every Runway ticket holder after MFW runways. So, off we trotted into the night, dousing ourselves in more bubbles than one should consume on a responsible Tuesday night.

I’m writing a petition to make it Fashion MONTH after hitting publish on this post.