SheKudo Func.

The beautiful town of Canberra has made a somewhat monumental step in slipping out from under the radar with Fashion Festival 2013 or in other words FASHFEST! The SheKudo team excitedly headed down for 2 (Friday & Saturday) of the 4 days where FashFest took place within an enigmatic industrial space of Brindabella. With doors flying open to an awaiting crowd at 7pm, there was an energetic hubbub that filled the atmosphere. The predominant organiser; Zoo Advertising performed a bloody good job to ensure all guests felt welcome, warm (despite the chilly weather) & entertained. There were photo-ops on the 'wall of fame', an endless supply of champagne - the liquid gold & a little more photo-ops with the Demi-God like men (thanks to the main sponsor Westfield!) wielding overly large frames scoping for a snap with the next hopeless romantic in the crowd. Meanwhile backstage, models hurriedly frolicked to attend to their nested hair or find the matching shoe to their corresponding ensemble - preparing the finishing touches as over 400 guests per night were seated.

THE VIBES: Each night delivered unique local talent with continuous funk filled soundscapes. DJ Doppel A.K.A Andy McMillan, covered the Friday night with his engaging electronic style. Blending deep house sounds with intricate instrumentals, Doppel maintained uplifting beats throughout the room.

For the closing night, guests sat starry eyed in fascination as Magnifik (Ashley Feraude) collaborated with Mr. Micheal with his super skilled violinist melodies. Together the tunes created a melancholic techno synth-symphony flowing perfectly with the movement on the runway!

Cheers'

Designer, Suzan with models of collection: SZN

THE FASHION: OK it's time to get down to the nitty gritty.

The Friday night consisted of designs worthy of turning heads, pushing boundaries of the postmodern. To open the night was Suzan Dloughy's SZN; economically merging pre-consumer waste and innovative material use to develop comfortable ready to wear garments. Following that included Alice Sutton's EDITION, Annette Clarke's DISSONANCE & KAREN LEE. Intriguing stand outs definitely had to be 4 MINUTES 33 which consisted of a heavily layered women's wear collection accompanied by the iconic onitsuka Tiger kicks (trust me it worked). There was some obvious Sci-Fi inspiration shining through in THEY LIED! WE CAN FLY. The pieces sat under the costume header heavily clad with hardware zippers and aesthetic wiring (think of the 5th element X Tron: Legacy). Lastly, Project Runway winner, Anthony Capon brought everything he had to the sewing table with black on black fluid drapery & the occasional sheer elements here and there designed to complement any figure!

Scarlette

A & S catching up with Zoe Brown (WND.LND)

Clint Hutchinson; Zoo Advertising

The final night saw the models trotting down the runway sporting:

Louisa de Smet & Steven Wrights'; CORR BLIMEY

Stephanie Coopers'; APERIODIC

Morgan Hubbards'; U.L.E

Sara Poguets' MEC AND THE MAID (M&TM)

Susan Dimasis'; MATERIAL BY PRODUCT

& MONT Adventure Equipment

Corr Blimey

Perpetually Five

SCARLETTE by Stephanie Tallos defines the term "less is more" with her line only consisting of autumn inspired block colours of whites, burnt orange and deep blues. A pattern of structured pieces emerged as the models traipsed out. These highly wearable garments proved to be the people's choice--except for well..

Scarlette

Corr Blimey

The Wall of Fame with Zoe, Sara (Hunter), Lisa (Lisa T)

Designers Sarah and Lisa of HUNTER and LISA-T

WAHALAAA! Tears of pride welled up in the eyes of all of the SheKudo fans as it seemed the models came out of the womb flaunting the West-African/Contemporary style pieces. It was just so natural! Shetu Simone & Amy Iheakanwa have soared from the launch pad and managed to land a sweet gig at the Canberra FashFest 2013. Besides from the shoe shortage issue & a couple of pre show butterflies, the fab & fierce garments worked harmoniously together. For those of you who aren't familiar with SheKudos' WAHALA collection, it is made up of two personalities: contemporary light weight pieces challenging the concept of complacent fashion with bold African Wax print patterns, slabs of bare skin and sprinkles of sheer fabric here and there. The other side of this two faced line; refurbished denim. Exactly what you think it is. SheKudo brought back the denim on denim you never thought was going to resurface with hints of character! (We are talking decked out chains, studs & digitally embellished cropped tees--without looking too much like a member of Hells Angels..) SheKudo really set the bar for future aspiring designers & we are all no doubt itching to see what these two talented ladies have in store for us next time.