Perry, Costarella in trade-mark shows
Two of the stayers of the Australian fashion industry, Aurelio Costarella and Alex Perry, have just shown back to back on day one of Fashion Week Australia in Sydney.
And both managed to keep some of their well-known signatures while mixing it up with some new looks.
For Costarella, all the trademark leather, sequines, beading and marabou-feathering was there in spectacularly detailed gowns and shorter cocktail dresses, but he also sent some more casual, resort-like looks down the runway in bright tropical hues of tangerine and fushia.
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These outfits – floaty silk dresses, rompers and catsuits – provided a light and airy contrast to Costarella’s trademark glamour gowns, which are often so heavily embellished that you can literally hear them whooshing down the runway.
Costarella’s makeup team had decorated the mostly Perth-based model lineup with tiny little dots of Swarovski crystal around the mouth, hair and jawline, giving the girls a tribal-glam look.
Last year Alex Perry moved away from his red-carpet looks to something younger and girlier. This new direction was amped up even further this season.
Models pose backstage before the Alex Perry show.
Everything was very short, very tight and very sparkly – aimed, I think, at the new wave of bronzed, leggy It Girls who would rather wear a sporty little skater dress than a more formal frock on the red carpet.
The collection was called Varsity and there were lots of little crop tops, flippy skater skirts and sparkly, lacy babydoll dresses.
Body-hugging pencil skirts came zipped at the back while the evening gowns were sporty, asymmetrical and split to the thigh.
Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandria Ambrosio opened the show, Next Top Model Amanda Ware rocked the runway and Sarah Murdoch, Emma Lung, and Jessica Mauboy watched on from the front row.
