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Backstage at Australian Fashion Week
Date Added: 2010-05-21
The highpoint of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week came courtesy of Sydney-based fashion team, Romance Was Born. Designer duo Anna Sales and Luke Plunkett presented an extravaganza, themed around ‘Renaissance Dinosaur.’
Guests were greeted by velvet-cloaked attendants, who led them to a glittering volcanic wonderland where models strutted down the incense-misted catwalk to the howls and grunts of prehistoric creatures.
However, here at Salon Business Online we were fixated on the hair. To compliment the eccentric clothing the hair had to be equally kooky: rainbow coloured candy-floss hair reached to the sky with headpieces of horns, diamante hairnettes, feathers and fans.
The process leading to, what has been dubbed ‘the most spectacular show of RAFW’ by Australian Marie Claire, started 5 months ago when the team, headed by Artistic Director Lores Giglio, met for the first of many pre-production meetings:
‘We brainstormed and bounced ideas off one another starting a creative process using mood boards,” said Lores. “As the theme was ‘Renaissance Dinosaur’ we took prehistoric mythical creatures and combined them with dramatic Elizabethan designs. We had character names like: ‘Renaissance Bride’, ‘Dino Scale’, ‘Snake Guts’ and ‘Volcano Girl’ – with that your mind runs wild and the creative outlet can really unleash.”
“Two weeks before the show a team of 5 assistants created 11 one-offs and 2 ready-to-wear looks. The nearer it got (to the show) the more the pressure kicked in with garments still being finished and hair in the final approval stages.”
Lores, who is artistic director for Fudge, used all Fudge products with the hero products including Fudge Hair Gum which was used to set the pre-made pieces and Fudge Salt Spray to prep the hair at the show itself.
On the day nothing was left to chance, with each look bagged and labeled with the model’s name and the accessories chosen by the designers.
“Lores had every detail planned,” explained session stylist Leigh Mathews. “One of the main difficulties of a show like this is the lack of control we have over what time the models arrive from other shows.”
A strong team (25 hand-picked artists) was essential for creating the intricate styles which included a Queen of Hearts look complete with three gold fans in the centre; a model with a crown made up of precarious gold leaf and padded hair, Renaissance style, complete with chain detail.
“Some of the creations took almost two hours to build with four pairs of hands. We only had 4 hours to prepare 35 models and one didn’t turn up until about an hour after the show was meant we only had 15 minutes to do her hair, make-up and dress her – the pressure was really on,” said Lores.
“Lores was a great director to work with,” said Leigh. “She has a very calm and patient approach with everyone whilst at the same time a paying close attention to each detail before the looks hit the runway.”
The hard work paid off, with hoots and applause from the audience packed full of press and fashion lovers alike.
“Romance Was Born was a complete highlight (of the week),” said Lores. “It was an absolutely mind blowing show and it is so nice as it is not often a hairdresser gets to completely have so much creative freedom and go wild with their imagination.”
To view the full image gallery, click here.
With thanks to Lores Giglio, Artistic Director of Fudge and Leigh Matthews.
Images courtesy of Chrissie Hall.
