do you remember?

Photos from fashion week - remember that?? - way, way, way back when. What a week of highs and lows, of too many glasses of red wine and too many run-throughs and too many polaroid films and too many laughs because that's how we roll, we don't take it too seriously and we don't mind taking a breather, taking a pause, and taking stock of the week that was about three months later. Whoops. Working with these two has always been a bit of a dream, and at least for that week we could see each other every day and sing adele at the top of our lungs and pretend that it could always be this good.

All photos by Rachel Kara // Talisa hard at work in our beautiful room at The Cambridge Hotel, thank you! // Those perfect Surry Hills streets // Talisa, Estelle and me walking back from the Karla Spetic show // Breakfast at Mr Mo our fashion week regular // Rachel in the reflection // Estelle's amazing jewellery from her eponymous label, Estelle Deve // Lunch at The Foundry // I spy Laura at Christopher Esber // An incredible spread at Baccomatto Osteria, one of my favourite meals of the week // Keep it real

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instant fashion week

Marg // Sara // Vicki // Nicole

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Alice McCall

Photos by Rachel Kara, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton, Words by Hannah-Rose Yee

When designers go the oceanic route it usually involves stripes. Stripes and subtitles like "naughty nautical". Which is why it was refreshing to see Alice McCall's collection dig a little deeper - right down to the bottom of the beautiful briny sea, actually. Referencing everything from German botanism and French jewellery, the collection featured all of the McCall signatures - embellishment, embroidery and the-sweetest-thing silhouettes - tinged with the ice-cool hand of Neptune. The show was dominated by shades of white - ivory, champagne and bone were the major players - punctuated by brief interludes of deep-sea hues, like French navy or pink coral. It was a refreshing hit of chill for summer, a cold ocean breeze, and offset McCall's usual sweetness and femininity perfectly.

Where McCall succeeded in this collection was in the rendering of the theme. The playsuit embellished with miniature pearls in a lovely off-white was a standout piece, making waves because of its simplicity, and not despite of it. We also loved the pyjama sets - printed two-pieces worn open and carefree - perfect to fling over a swimsuit when you're still a bit salty and wet. The prints, as usual, were exquisitely composed, mirror-image digital manipulations of sea urchins, coral and polyps. Cast in a delicious array of blue - periwinkle, forget-me-not, royal and sea all made their centre-stage appearances - and set again a background of those plain neutrals the effect was almost ethereal.

What we liked about Alice McCall's show last year was its overwhelming sense of fun. It's what girls really just want, right? This collection was a little different. Not so much serious per se (we don't think that this is possible for the McCall girl, with her blue-tipped eyelashes and wet hair, she was born a good-time girl and she's going to stay that way) but perhaps a little more refined. These were clothes that you might wear to a fancy dinner at Icebergs, sipping cocktails and talking business in the early hours of the evening. Granted, they would look equally as perfect in those casual, everyday situations that seem to stick in our mind (brunch, brunch, brunch!), but there was a distinct air of sophistication and elegance to this season in those softly-flounced folds and those perfect a-line cuts. It was beautiful and it was elegant and it was almost untouchable - just like the sea.

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This is our first review of Day 3! See our other reviews for Camilla and Marc, Christopher Esber, Romance Was Born, Karla Spetic, Ellery, Manning Cartell and Vanishing Elephant.

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toko

Photos by Rachel Kara, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton, Words by Hannah-Rose Yee

Where did we find an oasis of calm during fashion week? Where did we find a few hours to sit down, away from the madness and unglamourous and tragedy (of parking tickets and forgotten memory cards, among other things), and be taken away to somewhere so perfect and simple, in the way that only good food and great cocktails can? The answer to that question is Toko, Sydney's best and most innovative Japanese restaurant, tucked into the heart of Crown Street, yet with the atmosphere and feel of a restaurant like nowhere else. 

Because it has such style. The cocktail list effortlessly blends Japanese flavours (there's a shochu caipiroska, and their famous bellinis add a dash of sake to the prosecco and peach juice mix), a sign of good things to come from the kitchen. We mused that it would be an excellent place to go on a date - streamlined and slick, how could it fail to make the best possible impression? - and we looked enviously over our shoulders at the family of six celebrating a birthday milestone with their signature dessert plate and sparklers. Toko is a restaurant made for celebrating - and celebrating in real style. 

The revamped and reinvigorated menu is a charming reflection of this. Featuring venison, baby squid and quail, tempered by Japanese flavours such as miso, ponzu and dashi, head chef Ben Orpwood has taken Toko back to its roots, with locally-sourced ingredients and exciting (surprising, even) flavour combinations. The slippery Garfish, rolled elegantly into a coil and seasoned with yuzu and ginko nuts was warily approached but swiftly embraced; the flavour a sophisticated play of fresh sea-water and fragrant herbs. One of our most-loved dishes of the evening was the spiced tofu squares, effortlessly partnered with an avocado salsa. We also made room for Toko's new favourite dish - pork belly with apple relish - well worth the hype. Even after plates of this (as well as maki rolls, seared wagyu beef, vegetable tempura and scallops) we indulged in one of Toko's beautiful desserts (well, when in rome!). The coconut pannacotta - all light-handed creaminess, pierced through with the lovely acidity of strawberries - was the perfect end to our meal. We started on the short walk back to The Cambridge Hotel, our base for the week, and back to reality (late-nights editing photos, writing reviews and putting together blog posts) but we felt refreshed, revived and, well, lucky. Not everyone gets to go to Japan for dinner on a Wednesday night.

We stole a moment with new head-chef Ben Orpwood to talk about fresh produce, new blood, and cooking at home. Thank you for having us, Cavcon and Toko!

one. How would you describe Toko's cuisine? I like to describe Toko's food as authentic yet not traditional Japanese... by this I mean we use authentic Japanese ingredients, authentic Japanese cooking and serving techniques, and we pair this with contemporary cooking and flavours to cater for the western palette while staying true to our Japanese roots. 

two. What can diners expect from Toko's new tasting menu? The tasting menu is notoriously hard to change, as it’s kind of a Toko favourites menu... we have added a Venison Carpaccio which has been received incredibly well. We did this to try and get people interested in new flavours and different meats. I grew up in the country side and Venison was a staple for us, so I like to introduce people to different flavours in a palatable way. The new pork belly dish with apple and wasabi is flying out of the kitchen.... It’s our version of pork and apple sauce, again a familiar flavour done in an authentic Japanese way. 

three. How did you get your start in the restaurant business? When I was 16 I applied for an apprenticeship at Queens College Cambridge... In hospitality you get bitten by this bug and you stuck with it. My old catering manager would say to my you get out what you put in, so after I qualified as a cook I went to London to put in and see what I got out. I came away with an amazing journey that took me from London to Istanbul, to Dubai and Sydney... 

four. What is your favourite item of produce that you work with at Toko? What makes it so special? The best produce to work with at the moment would be the local seafood; Garfish, Baby Squid and Mackerel. I’m very much about supporting the local fishermen and local industries. Being able to use fish caught locally is a wonderful privilege. In Dubai most of the food is imported from France, UK or Australia and you’re dealing with the middle man sales person, for me, this is sad. I like to be able to talk with the guy as close to the produce as possible, at Toko we are very lucky to work with some of the best in the business, Frank from De Costi and Ishisan at Wellstone. 

five. What is your favourite meal to cook at home? Cooking at home is a bit of a luxury as my wife works in the restaurant business as well, so we are really never home.. But when I am, I love baking... I bake bread and pastries, there is normally a tart of some kind in our fridge. Also we have a small garden, so cooking with what I have grown is something I really enjoy... The last thing I cooked at home was butter milk fried chicken with a coleslaw with kohlrabi, radishes and cabbage from the garden.

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instant christopher esber

Backstage at Christopher Esber (read our review of the show here) it was girls, girls girls, in deliciously relaxed silk suiting, boxy dresses and sleeveless vests. Exactly the kind of clothes we love, and perfect for a set of instantly (and instantly gratifying) polaroid snaps.

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Kate Sylvester

Photos by Rachel Kara, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton, Words by Hannah-Rose Yee

 

The minute we stepped backstage at Kate Sylvester we knew that this was the one. The one we had been waiting all day for. We pushed past that heavy black curtain and emerged somewhere completely different, a calm, collected backstage area populated by the kind of clothes we frequently dream of. The models were off doing their last run-through but suddenly we weren't interested in them anymore. In fact, we didn't want them to return, because we were quickly and hastily hatching plans to steal everything and never return. The navy blue baseball cap with the buttery leather peak, paired with one of those brown seamed bodysuits and a wide-reaching circle skirt for a laid back summer day spent lolling about on chaise lounges or beach towels or cool patches of grass. In fact, this collection was made for lolling about - in the manner of its inspiration, Marilyn Monroe - across crisp pool chairs (perhaps in look 13, a pair of high-waisted black knickers and a beaded beige cardigan, topped off with a cool fuschia lip?), on the back of an oversized suede sofa while someone prepares cocktails (look 38's innocent-as-a-rose plisse-pleated white nightgown would do the trick, a little nod to her famous pleated gown in the Seven Year itch), or, a la Bert Stern's The Last Sitting (which also lends its name to the collection), sprawled languid and sanguine, caught in the wink and the smile of wine-hastened repose, across a sheer bedsheet in very little else. Surely, the last look out the gate, worn by Julia Nobis, a completely sheer seamed dress with a prim capsleeve silhouette is the ticket. 

 

"That bittersweet balance is what we went for," Sylvester told us before the show. "The collection is all about the contradictions of Marilyn Monroe - the fragility and the complexity of her life. She was so full of joy but she was also full of sadness as well." Joy in the delicately rendered floral appliques, the sweetly innocent bra-lets, the naivete of Norma Jean, fresh-faced in a swimsuit at the beach. Sadness can be found in the fragility and the feminity that pierces through the collection, even in the masculine suiting looks, inspired by Monroe's third husband Arthur Miller. That infamous hourglass shape, squeezed into leather skirts and flashy lurex sweaters that popped as the flashes in the pit went off. Even those white looks at the end seem to tell a contradictory story. Is this an innocent Marilyn or a doomed one? Is this a playful moment or one more sinister? These questions seemed to thread their way through the collection and ensured that, as was Sylvester's intention, it never strayed into the realm of costume or anthropology. Rather than a straight rendition of the Marilyn we know and love, the collection interpreted this aspect of complexity for the modern wardrobe. Sylvester's Marilyn, all 21st century woman, might, in fact, stride out to meet Joe Dimaggio, baseball-seamed pencil skirt and all.

 

And that's what made this collection instantly loveable, from that first minute we stepped backstage. We, as modern day women, could see each and every piece slotting effortless into our wardrobes, could already picture ourselves kitted out in the entire collection, spritzing Chanel No.5 and adopting a little bit of that marvelous, bubbly, all-eyes-on-me quality that we can only call effervescence. Everybody loves Marilyn. But it's not for the reasons that you might think. It's not really for the drama or the tragedy, the films (Sylvester's favourite is Some Like It Hot, in case you were wondering), the famous lovers, the glamour. It's not even for the beauty, really. It's for her humanity, her perfect humanity. Third husband (our favourite!) the playwright Arthur Miller said it best, when he mused, "she was a whirling light to me then, all paradox and mystery." Well, this collection was a whirling light to us, the stuff that dreams are made of, the kind of thing you know instantly will be a hit, so fresh and young and lovely, so tragic and fragile and true, that - not matter how hard you try - you simply cannot look away.   

 

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This is our second review of Day 2! See Day one reviews for Camilla and Marc, Christopher Esber and Romance Was Born. See our first review of Day 2 for Karla Spetic on Talisa's blog! Keep your eyes on our blogs and instagrams for full coverage of MBFWA.

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camilla and marc

Photos by Rachel Kara, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton, Words by Me

10 years is a long time in fashion. It's time enough for blogs to go from bedside ventures to business conglomerates, for shows to be sent live from the runway to every corner of the globe and for social media to seemingly take over everything. If it's not quite sink or swim it's at least a matter of adapt or fade away. And camilla and marc have definitely adapted. 30 000 plus instagram followers, hashtagging galore and collections that never look out of place at the hippest of Sydney locales. Yet they maintain a happy equilibrium with their intimate Paddington boutique, their discerning and creative campaign and lookbook productions and their hardworking ethic. Camilla Topper and Marc Freeman, surely Sydney's most recognisable sibling design team (the Christopher and Tammy Kane of the Australian fashion industry, if you will), have stood the test of ten long years. And this runway show proved it. 

It was quite an opening. Julia Nobis in a cheetah-print a-line dress with an in-built bandeau, cinched tight with a metallic belt, neck adorned with a hunk of Estelle Deve metal and ears ringing with Ryan Storer details. The stride, the strut - the sexiness - amounted to a bit of an eye-opener at 10 am in the morning on day one. The camilla and marc customer has always been fashion-forward but this was something else. This was the kind of overwhelming confidence and self-certainty that makes you stand tall, walk proud, and toss your hair majestically. The kind of overwhelming confidence you get from a great dress. And that's the essence of what camilla and marc gives you. Sure, there are lovely separates in there - white leather motorcycle jacket and flippy midi skirts, bustiers and pencil skirts in that cheetah print, brocade cigarette trousers to pair a la Isabel Marant with bold, brassy buckles and a plain white singlet - but with camilla and marc it has always been, always is, always will be about the dress. 

Customers looking to add another show-stopper to their collection won't be disappointed. They'll have their choice of tuxedo coat numbers, roomy leather shifts, flippy asymmetrical cocktail frocks and filmy sheer lace coveralls (only the very brave, and physically capable need apply). Each and every one captivated the audience's attention when they were on the runway, each and every one a feat of modern, dynamic design, each and every one a testament to the power of a woman, hair slicked back and face provocatively bare, in a dress that can stop a crowd. Here's to camilla and marc, to ten years - to great dresses! - and to always being in fashion. 

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This is our first review of the week! Stay tuned for Talisa's post on Christopher Esber and Rachel's post on Romance Was Born later today. Keep your eyes on our blogs and instagrams for full coverage of MBFWA.

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