RUNWAY.  NZ FASHION WEEK ROUNDUP. 

The on again off again rain didn’t stop the fashionistas turning out in full force at the ninth annual Air New Zealand Fashion Week, which took place from 21-25 September ’09.

Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour Marine Village was abuzz with thousands of people, including media, buyers, models, designers, international guests and fashion lovers from far and wide. And reports of high levels of business activity from international buyers certainly kept the designers happy, with 40-odd of New Zealand’s finest showing just why the land of the great white cloud is considered one of the coolest fashion hubs on the global circuit.

Hot on everyone’s lips was the arrival of international celebrity designers Richie Rich and Pamela Anderson, who came to New Zealand for the global launch of their eco friendly label, A*Muse, culminating in a high energy show featuring both men’s and women’s swimwear and ready-to-wear garments.

Another celebrity in attendance at ANZFW was much loved Asian Supermodel and TV Presenter, Denise Keller, who left the week with a number of designer labels including Cybele, Serena Fagence, Trelise Cooper, Alexandra Owen and Annah Stretton. Kiwi-born clotheshorse, blogger and model fave Jenna Sauers was also a popular gal. She recently outed herself as the infamous ‘Tatiana the Anonymous Model’ and is famous as the spiller of a thousand fashion secrets – and often exposing the seedier side of the business – on jezebel.com.

International media from far and wide turned out in force for the fashion event too, including British Vogue, Interview Magazine US, Nylon Magazine Japan, Russh Magazine and web wonders the Tokyo Dandy bloggers, fashion writer Patti Huntington and famed blogger Rumi Neely from the US, who won the best-dressed award for the week, not just for her outfits, but for her selection of incredible towering footwear, including a pair of towering Acne wedges and the Ashish for Topshop leopard-print boot that is on every fashionista’s must-have list this season.

Whilst ANZFW is just around the corner from hitting a decade, the ninth event marked a special history-making moment. Pinnacle of New Zealand fashion and local heroes Zambesi celebrated 30 years in the business of creating darkly beautiful clothes, with a retrospective show and a covetable new collection, titled ‘The Enigma’. A milestone show.

And whilst the focus at any fashion week is generally on the designers, the hair and makeup creatives are stars in their own rights.  NOM*d's ethereal travellers, Kate Sylvester's black-lipped beauties and Trelise Cooper's bright, big-haired glamazons perfectly demonstrated that the complete fashion show sum is truly a multiplying factor of the parts.

Uber-stylists from Ryder salon and Stephen Marr did many of the top shows, and M.A.C managed makeup for 19 shows, with newcomer Smashbox adding to this year's mix. Industry leader Paul Serville created fresh wearable, user-friendly styling throughout his team's work on the less edgy public Designer Selection shows.        

Overall, three key themes seemed to continually emerge over the five days on both the fashion as well as hair and makeup – dark, nude and bright. These were complemented by some outstanding, on-the-fashion-money looks that made their own unique statements, best evidenced by the blush-cheeked Victorian women at Cybele.

Some of the week’s highlights?

Lucy Vincent-Marr and M.A.C senior artist Amber D paying homage to Kate Sylvester’s muse Judith ‘Black Lips’ Baragwanath, the 80s Auckland socialite who was famous for wearing black lipstick and men’s clothes. The show was all about gender reversal – girls wearing boys’ clothes and boys wearing girls’ clothes. The look was surprisingly sexy, with sculpted cheeks, metallic eyes, prominent brows and flowing hair with a slicked finish.

The Zambesi show continued down the shadowy road, where models made the dark look elegant rather than gothic. Greg Murrell of Ryder straightened and glossed hair before stitching it into place at the nape. Makeup was an intriguing blend of flawless porcelain skin with black sultry eyes.

The towering quiff at Trelise Cooper was described by stylist Grant Bettjeman as ‘dramatic deconstruction’ and made an interesting counterpoint to makeup that contrasted elegant, smoky 40s eyes with popping power bright lips. The look at Cybele also hailed from a bygone era – Victorian rather than post-war though. Hair by Lauren Gunn for Stephen Marr was primly centre-parted and finished in a bun, complemented by heavy, natural look brows, but the flushed cheeks of the models hinted at the more exotic underbelly of an era of discovery and exploration.

Nude, barely-there makeup and dewy skin shone at NOM*d, with groomed brows, softly blushed cheeks, subtly winged eyes with blended subtle brown eyeshadow and concealed lips, courtesy of Neisha at Smashbox.
Hair by Greg Murrell at Ryder was bobby-pinned flat, but left wispy around the edges.

Over at Stolen Girlfriends Club, Greg interpreted the theme ‘nomadic abandonment’ with voluminous waves and twists. Using a combination of kms California Sea Salt Spray and Dry Wax, the hair was blow-dried in large sections, back-brushed for volume and braided across the front and stitched around the hairline to the nape for an olde-world twist.