New Zealand Fashion Week Day 2

On Site Report by Clif Loftin

(L to R) Tim Phinn, Nakita & Clif Loftin at JIMMY D

JIMMY D
Black. Very Black.

Jimmy D brought back the chic Goth Girl meets Vampire's daughter with his Winter 2011 – black sweat shirting, with lots of mesh and belts used as body harnesses with ripped leggings. The Auckland based designer -- real name James Dobson, presented a collection that was dark and androgynous. Jimmy D’s love of the grunge-filled 90’s era ran feverishly through the collection with a background of Heavy Metal raging in the background. The collection definitely echoed the dark side. Dobson collaborated with artist Andrew McLeod to create a series of moody scenes inspired by black metal music album artwork and rock concert t-shirts. The patterns were very advance and structurally bordered brilliance.

neverblack
Queen of the Night – neverblack’s sophomore collection contained a potent mixture of the beautiful and the dark. Their Winter 2011 women’s and men’s ranges have been inspired by the mystical story of the romantic moonflower, which only blooms at night and is pollinated by bats. Queen of the Night unfurled on the runway in a grungy color palette of soft tones – predominately black, white, grey and nude, punctuated by a soft bright blue. Women’s wear fabrics and textures included lace, silk crepe, organza satin, wool check and fleece. For the men, there was more wool check, combined with shirting, pin corduroy, velvet and coated cottons. The women’s wear collection retained Chelsea Thorpe’s distinctive modern vintage edge across a plethora of dress styles. Sheer separates contrast with luxe heavy wool coats, fleece jackets and vests, and ribbed jumpers and cardigans. The men’s wear collection focused on layering and wearability. Shirts have built-in ties, formal trousers appear in three styles from skinny to wide, fleece vests and jackets feature wide collars, and ribbed knitwear is layered with scarves. The women’s and men’s collections were designed to link together and reflect each other – with a sharp, yet suitability ethereal, moonflower digital print as the collection’s centerpiece. I loved the shearling jacket with the aviation cut, the black velvet pants, white and navy blue silk accents and the black silk chiffon dress.

WORLD
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights -- This was my first World show, I had heard about this brand a lot when I was in New Zealand last year. The World show was held as a high tea in the Great Room at the Langham Hotel. The collection was drowned in bold color and excess. I was very impressed with the menswear collection – the tailored silhouettes and intricate suit detailing were stunning. A catwalk highlight was the clear plastic rain coats and polka dotted umbrellas. The wild and psychedelic prints used on the women’s dresses were smart and everyone loved the pink and blue silk gowns.
(L to R) Clif Loftin, Casie Stewart & Soren Stewart

Nom*d
Danse Macabre -- I am not quite sure where to begin…..

Nom*d was one of my favorite shows during 2009 NZFW, so I was looking forward to seeing this year’s show. There was no runway – it was more of an avante garde presentation held off site in a large warehouse. When we entered the venue there was already a dark and gloomy aesthetic in the air. In the center of the room was a dining room table, a bed, a crunched up car that was a piled up metal mess and large rocks surrounding an ominous tree. The show was titled “Danse Macabre” and was meant to take us back to a medieval world where life is fragile, and always under threat. The Black Death not only ravaged the populations of fourteenth century Europe, it was also a powerful intimation of mortality, a dark angel no amulet or charm could appease. So, how do you stay safe as the world falls down around you?

I don’t know the answer to that question...........

However, I do think that Nom*d succeeded in provoking deep thought and conversation regarding this collection amongst those that witnessed the presentation. The clothes were really hard to see, but what I could tell is that they were true to Nom*d form – very androgynous with top sack coats worn over white tight fitting leggings with torn knitwear with glittery Doc Martins and there seemed to be swathes of black leather embellishments and some use of black silk chiffon. Overall Nom*d was successful in creating buzz and whispers and this is a show people will be talking about for quite some time.