The Art of Fashion

Published by TANGENT DIGITAL

‘Avant-garde’ is a word that has been greatly misused until now in that its representation has been of un-wearable, over-the-top, expensive fashion but have we finally accepted the term not only into our vocabulary but into our wardrobes?

There was once a time where sharp tailoring, bold shoulders and excessive embellishment was rarely seen even on the Parisian runways at the couture shows. Not until recently has avant-garde fashion marked its place in ready-to-wear collections and become rather, wearable art.

A pair that has become internationally recognized for their representation of art in their designs, is Romance Was Born duo Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales. Notorious for the label’s mesmerizing flamboyance that was first debuted at their 2009 Australian Fashion Week show; Romance Was Born’s grandiosity has only grown with the label’s maturity. “If there is a controversial element to our collections, none of it is intentional. What we do is totally organic,” Sales told to the media in response to last years show. “I kind of hate how we’re always being described as kooky or crazy just because were not showing on a catwalk with a white background. Ultimately, fashion is about expression.”

Australian fashion has always been criticized for its predictability and inexorableness of its traditional styles. So what happens when the industry is tired of repetitive colour palettes, breathable fabrics and a whole lot of itsy-bitsy bikinis, a new a generation of genius perhaps?

Sydney-based designers Dion Lee, Christopher Esber, Friedrich Gray, Konstantina Mittas, Therese Rawsthorne and Romance Was Born have been dubbed this week as ‘The Sydney Six’. The group of designers have taken a different direction of design to the majority of Australian labels, ditching predictable wearable fashion and instead preaching a love for avant-garde and ‘the darker face of Australian design’.

Already being compared to their peer collectives the ‘New Zealand Four’ and ‘The Antwerp Six’, what makes this group of Australian designers different to the rest?

It may be their continually evolving aesthetic, their element of surrealism or their persistence to thrill, either way this group is putting the Australian industry on the international fashion map.

‘The Sydney Six’ will showcase their spring/summer ‘10/’11 collections during next months Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and can’t help but have the weight of the industry’s anticipation on their shoulders.

Words: Leni Andronicos