It's not that often you can call a designer a heady mix of alexander wang and josh goot with some christopher kane design sensibilities thrown in for good measure, and i feel that whenever you can you should praise everything that is right and true in the world of fashion. For whoever can channel these designers into a collection of stunning separates and dresses is verily a god among men.
Or women, for that matter.
I present Sara Phillips, insanely talented young Australian designer with and eye for quirky design elements, colours and prints, as well as a real talent for combining them all together into coherent and covetable clothes. Mmmm alliteration.
Her collection at RAFW was just flooring, though i didn't see it in person, i've attached a whole host of gorgeous pics of the skirts, dresses, jackets and swimsuits that she sent out on wonderfully unadorned models, sans make up and hair slicked back. The emphasis was on the clothes in deliciously light fabrics that floated and moved like a dream, with black and white brush-strokes prints a la josh goot, some absolutely gorgeous creamy pastels, cloud-like sheer overshirts and extra panelling, seeming to float around the skirts they were attached to in the manner of Kane's AW show, and all topped off with the 'i am so much cooler than you could ever be' alexander wang vibe with the thin grey tee shirts tucked into plain black mini skirts and studded belts.
As a collection it seemed to move collectively, speaking of Australian summer, of bright days and dark nights. With some collections you get an idea of the designer, or their muse, or their inspirations, but it is rare indeed that you get a clear and overwhelming sense of character. With this collection every piece of clothing looked like it had been picked from one girl's wardrobe, a girl with long, straggly hair, cat-green eyes, legs up to her armpits and a rockstar boyfriend. So basically Alexa Chung, just with longer hair. And as the models strutted down with the homogenising hair and make up you got the sense of a girl trying on outfits before she went out to a store opening/DJing at a club/friend's birthday party/cute dinner date, stomping around the house and trying to see which looked best. The answer was, of course, every single darn thing.
I feel that there is great merit in underrated and/or easily dismissed designers like Wang, Goot, Kane and now Sarah Phillips. They are often pushing the envelope in their own way, Wang redefining the meaning of midriff-baring, Goot taking tye-dye to a whole new level and transcending the inevitable new age hippie connotations, and Kane stands to reason. If you're not already on the Christopher Kane bandwagon you need to buy the tee-shirt, wave the flag, and clap your hands for the Scottish designer and his stylist sister RIGHT NOW.
Phillips is in this category too, for although she is newer and less recognised on the international scene, it will not stay this way for long. She is exactly the kind of talent that Julie Gilhart would love, she has a freshness about her design, and it's not just found in the crispness of the crepe de chine sheers, or the colour blocking back to front on a maxi dress, or the intriguing cut out or stencilled effect on an almost sickly sweet purple pastel mini dress and skirt. They're fascinating, just before you write her off as catering to the street-style masses you get a glimpse of a dress with a sheer panel extending from the empire line to the hem, or the use of a bodycon pattern on a dress that isn't, actually, bodycon at all. Her clothes are hip, offensively hip that is, and though i hate that word, just like Wang there really is no other way to describe her.
And just like Wang her designs transcend the bright young thing 20-something boho-convert, model off duty look to become something else entirely. Because you don't have to be a stick thin party girl to appreciate good design.
And, well, she's australian. residual patriotism rears its ugly head!
X
[vogue.com.au]
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