MBFWA 2013: Watson X Watson

Images via Perth Style and Watson X Watson.

This was Sydney-based label Watson X Watson's second appearance at MBFWA. The designer sisters Somer and Liberty played on an aspect of Australian Fashion Week I've somehow missed until now - the casual, beachy look that dominates the runway down under. This season they showed delicious checkered and water-inspired prints, with and without colour, and their balance of relaxed and refined that makes the label stand out from other casual/beachwear brands. I loved the interplay of textures and, of course, the prints (the water ones reminded me a little of Osklen SS13) and got a chance to talk to the designers about the collection. How did you get into working on a label together? We worked in similar roles for other companies before starting our own, it was a natural progression for girls that have a tonne of ambition. The inspiration behind this collection is surfing, but spans silver pants to black evening dresses. How

did surfing and surf culture manifest your designs? Surfing and surf culture is something that has crept into our respective worlds, we love the grunge element, as well as the body-con aspect to surfing, its incredibly athletic as well as super-casual, and we wanted to try to give that 'ease and wearability of the culture' a WXW spin, taking a 'flanno' inspired print and putting it into bonded silk is a great example of elevating an element to make it special. Watson X Watson maintains a strong Australian influence. How important do you think it is to keep a focus on your surroundings? Its important to talk local - to be authentic, relevance is a word we throw around the office regularly, and I guess that's possibly what people are referring to when they say that we feel very Australian. At the moment the Australian market remains our focus, (we just opened our first store on William street in Paddington, Sydney), but when

we expand further Internationally, its going to be important for our brand to be saying something fresh and authentic to what we are as a brand. The Australian aesthetic is a reflection of the lifestyle here, it's refreshing in that the outdoor aspect lends itself to a sexiness, yet we're very relaxed. This was your second show at MBFWA. How has your label evolved since you began showing on-schedule? We just expanded as a brand, both in footprint (more stockists), as well as our online store, and our flagship store at 29 WIlliam street, Paddington. What are your aspirations for the future of the brand? More stores of our own, more interaction on our website with our online store, and slow but steady international growth. We'll slowly but surely grow into our skin, and keep refining what our brand means through great products.

 

MBFWA 2013: Christina Exie

Images courtesy of Christina Exie (see credits below).

One of my not-so-secret guilty pleasures - and don't pretend you can't relate - is reality television, specifically Project Runway Australia. The fourth season that ran last year saw Melbourne designer Christina Exie take the grand prize. This year she débuted her label at MBFWA, entitled 'Bass', exploring the ability of sound frequencies to distort physical shapes. The result was a crisp, geometric collection, not without the distinctive avant-garde touch that has come to characterise Exie's work. I got to ask the designer a few questions about her collection. Where does your inspiration originate? Are you influenced by other designers, street fashion or something else? My inspiration comes from the every day, which essentially is living things. In particularly science and mathematics captivates my attention and people intrigue me. Street style is a huge influence in my work. I like to dress people that will wear my

clothing every day rather than to just a special event. How did you translate the concept for the show into your designs? I was looking into Cymatics; the translation of sound into visibility. From my research I found blasting different frequencies morphs particles through vibrations into geometrics shapes. I was interested in applying the geometric shapes and the idea of splitting into my Spring/Summer 2013/14 Collection BASS through print, pattern, texture, silhouette and design lines. The concept for the SS14 collection 'Bass' is clearly linked to your previous collection, 'Icon'. Do you see yourself pursuing this concept further in future collections? And if so, where do you think it will go? I will definitely continue my research into sound and how frequencies affect visuals, weather those visuals be tangible or ephemeral.

Your collections walk the line between ready-to-wear and avant garde. Is that balance something you strive to maintain? Balance is essential with everything I do in my business and every day life. It is also the most challenging thing for a conceptual designer. I will always be striving to maintain balance. Do you think in future you might lean towards either the avant garde or ready-to-wear? Balance between ready-to-wear and avant garde again is what I aim to achieve in the future of my brand. It has been a thought of mine however to split them up even, by having an avant garde label and ready-to-wear label. I always have new ideas and strategies of the future structure of my work, so regardless of what I think now will be the future of my brand, I will probably surprise myself and everyone around me with what will be the actual future of my brand.

The garments you showed seem intricately constructed. Do you get inspiration from exploring fabrics and techniques or did you have a clear idea of the garments' composition? Everything I do has synergy. I think about concept, technique, composition, styling, colours, silhouette all simultaneously. My head is in constant obsession mode during the development of a new collection. 'Bass' is instantly reminiscent of the sports-luxe trend. Is acknowledging trends important for designers? As much as I research into concepts and stay away from trend forecasting, I intuitively pick up on trends, which is inevitable being a creative person who is sensitive to everything surrounding me. In

saying that it is very important to be sensitive to my (and any designers) target market, otherwise I would never progress or survive as a Ready-to-Wear designer. How has your experience in and winning Project Runway Australia shaped your perspective as a designer? Being on the show and winning Project Runway Australia has made me realise I cannot sustain an Avant Garde label in Australia, full stop. I have also realised that as a designer I will be in the public eye constantly and need to be tough to handle scrutiny; good or bad. Do you see yourself always being based in Australia?

I definitely see Australia as my base, but not necessarily the only place I will stock. What has been your experience of launching your own label? Were you prepared for it? Despite all of my experience over the years working and studying in the Fashion Industry, I was not as prepared as what I would have like to have been. Unfortunately you can never really be that prepared unless you have more than a few years of experience and dollars behind you. The intensity of the Ready-to-Wear Fashion industry requires a team of people to make things happen, which requires money and great management skills. I am lucky that I am an extremely organized, level headed and a high tenacity person, otherwise I would have given up by now.

Photographer: Zoe Economides

Hair: Tresemme

Make up: Bobbi Brown

Stylist: Connel Chang and Kate Carnegie

 

Morning

Wearing: Cheap Monday top ASOS sunglasses Cheap Monday sweatshirt Vintage leather pants

I'm not often at leisure to take outfit photos in the morning - between going to school on weekdays and, well, sleeping, I usually miss what's been described to me on numerous occasions as one of the best times of day to take photos. But this particular morning I managed to drag myself out of my bed, into an outfit and in front of the camera, and all before midday: nothing short of miraculous. And you know, 'they' were right - the light was soft and golden, with no awkward shadows to avoid or a

glare in my face (despite what the sunglasses may imply). I've been wearing variations on this outfit almost all week: nobody told me leather pants would be this comfortable. I mean, I've taken to wearing them around the house. And this top I mentioned in my last outfit post (two weeks ago - yikes) doubles as a so chic sweater-around-the-waist substitute (they're coming back, you know). Basically, if I'm going to be wandering around at the crack of dawn (read: 10am), this is what I want to be wearing.

Mother's Day @ Angel

Last Sunday - as if you didn't already know - was Mother's Day, and to celebrate we got up at 7 o'clock (crack of dawn stuff) to drive down to Angel for breakfast. Even though I've frequented the area in the past, I never discovered this cute little place until today: usually we just stuck to the beach and the surrounding burger and ice cream joints. It's converted from a house and really has that cosy, home-y (homie?) feel, so it ended up feeling like one of those huge, family breakfasts   -

except that everyone sat at different tables and didn't talk to one another. The staff were like the chipper aunts flitting from table to table: super friendly and helpful (that's how I picture it anyway: being the child of immigrants means that I've never had one of those meals with extended family you see on TV!). I got the grilled corn cakes from the breakfast menu and fell in love with the tomato relish. It tasted really unusual, which was a nice surprise since the relish is usually pretty standard,

although I don't know if I could say the same about the rest of the delicious, but maybe not endemic in flavour, meal. I also snagged some of the pancakes and rhubarb dressing from my brother's plate, which was a really interesting blend of flavours as well (I mean, I'd never eaten rhubarb on pancakes before). Our family has a tradition of trying new restaurants on Mother's Day, and sometimes it's hit-and-miss, but sometimes you find great places like this one.

After breakfast we took a stroll on the beach nearby. We used to come here all the time as kids - so many memories.

Winter Lip Care

When I was younger, I had no trouble with dry lips, and - foolishly - I thought those golden days would last forever. However, scientists tell us that as you get older, you become more prone to chapped lips, and the last few winters has proved them right in my case. I knew nothing about lip care when I first started getting dry lips, and little did I know back then that there was so much more to it than a quick-fix of cute, bonbon-shaped lip balm. In the years since then I've gleaned a little wisdom on the subject of lip care thanks to experience, my friends and the good old Internet, and thought I'd share some as winter approaches. Drink Water. Water always turns out to be the answer, isn't it? Keeping your body hydrated will keep your lips hydrated and help prevent them drying.

Eat Vitamin B. Vitamin B deficiency has been linked to the occurrence of dry lips, so eating fish and seafood, beef, cheese and eggs are supposed to prevent chapped lips as well. (It's hard to tell when it doesn't happen overnight!) Exfoliate your lips. I definitely don't have time every morning to do this before I leave, but when there's have time, 'buffing' your lips with a dry cloth removes any dead skin on them. After exfoliating, apply lip balm. Apparently honey is the best 'lip balm' of all to do this job, but applying a regular lip balm works as well. You can go for the fancier, dermatologist-certified stuff, but I use the Maybelline Baby Lips in "Protecting Berry".

Don't wear lipstick. This one is easy for me, since I hardly ever wear lipstick in the first place! If you must wear it, steer clear at least of the matte styles. Keep your lips covered. It's trickier than it sounds: staying inside or covering your mouth with a scarf or other barrier to the wind blocks the force that dries out your lips, but it's not practical 100% of the time. Don't lick or chew your lips. I put this last because it's the one I like the least. I'm a habitual dry-lip-licker and every time I see this rule I feel really guilty. But apparently it works, or something. What are your tips for winter lip care? Anything especially unusual or obscure?