Bleary eyed and feeling less than fashionable, Shopgirl hit the airport this morning at some ungodly hour to make the trek to Sydney for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. Skeptical as to whether we’d survive the turbulent flight without a hit of caffeine, our spirits were instantly lifted when we arrived in Sydney to find the sun shining down over the harbour.

We started the day with an impromptu preview of the new Beat Poet collection after bumping into the label’s designer James in the lobby at our hotel. Their signature menswear didn’t fail to impress with a range of shirts designed with versatility and practicality in mind. Based on the refined puritanism of Russian supremacist  writer Kazimir Malevich’s teachings, Beat Poet’s collection was purposeful and decisive. We were also pleased to see the label’s offerings for women; not only were the men’s shirts easily unisex (we dreamed of buying them for boyfriend and then stealing them back for ourselves!), the designers had refined previous looks in shapes to suit women while keeping that masculine edge.

Before our busy show schedule kicked off, we made a covert detour to have a sneak peek at Marnie Skillings‘ delightful new  range. We can only give you a whisper of what you can expect, so if you want the full story you’ll have to check back later this week for Shopgirl’s full coverage of the show! Think virginal princess meets rock goddess, a collection of fanciful summer wear tweaked with Marnie’s inimitable quirk and easy enigma. Our  favourite pieces included draped dresses in silk jersey with tea stained floral print, rose pink structured linen blazers and anything in a ‘Zeus’ print- a special print designed my Marine herself when she was painting in her backyard!

After we visited Marnie we had a quick break before our first show, so we stopped off for a coffee and a much appreciated dash around the Museum of Contemporary Art and Yayoi Kusama’s special exhibition. A long time loved artist of many a creative mind (we’re no exception), Kusama’s exhibition was thought-provoking and fanciful calling for complete surrender and ultimate immersion. We loved getting lost in her surreal field of infinitely repeating red and white created by a maze of mirrors, and would highly recommend the exhibition to those who are currently Sydney bound.

Our show schedule kicked off with Antipodium, a long time Alice friend and genuinely innovative Australian label. Their show was fast paced, angst ridden and full of leering imperfections, and yet communicated a triumphant joy . Here, anti-fashion gave stereotyped beauty the finger and instead embraced a punk revolution of beauty in all shapes and sizes.

Following Antipodium was the mad rush to Alpha60, where Alex and Georgie presented a collection that stayed true to their surrealist, noir roots, but betrayed a new passion. With sandy draped jersey and maxi silhouettes for women, sharp suiting and horizontal box pleating for men, the show had a ‘Children Of The Damned’ aesthetic as models stalked down the runway in necklaces adorned with decapitated dolls heads.

Our evening led us finally to Ellery, where we were left waiting an hour and a half for the show to begin!  Fortunately, the wait was made more pleasant by the fashion parade on the street as punters swanned about in an amazing array of covetable shoes (spotted two pairs of YSL tributes and some Gareth Pugh booties, drool!) and delicately flicking, thick, shiny mermaid hair. The show was finally kicked of with music from Hot Little Hands (a perfect match for Ellery!), and Margiela-esque shoulders and Balmain worthy jackets led the brigade as models sauntered down the runway. With an 80’s high school prom vibe, we’re eagerly awaiting seeing the clothes up close and personal to find out if Ellery was worth the wait… And we have a strong suspicion that she will be.