What Australian Fashion Designers are Wearing
The space between the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Melbourne Exhibition Building, known during VAMFF as The Plaza, can get quite busy during the Melbourne Fashion Festival. Guests, VIP’s and ticket holders stream through to get to the exhibition halls where the runways take place. The Plaza provides unlimited head-turning moments of style, that when captured by photographers, turn into street style magic. It’s crowded and it’s also Melbourne street style at its very best! Because they’re self-styled in their own labels, the designer street style scene is unique. And while our designer spotting was cut short because of VAMFF having to cancel the last two days due to Covid, we spotted four of the most original Australian fashion designers in town. They provided unique and timeless looks that continue to inspire long after the Melbourne Fashion Festival is over.
Melbourne Street Style: The Designers
Vincent Li
Fresh from Paris, designer Vincent Li and husband Michael caught up with popular model Josh Deane at VAMFF. Decked out in new Vincent Li pieces, we snapped the trio meeting up for the first time in ages, with Josh pairing a Vincent Li Kimono with his custom-order own brand wearable art jeans.
Surrounded by Ghosts – Joshua Fallshaw
Sydney-based Joshua Fallshaw, the creative behind sustainable street wear label Surrounded by Ghosts stepped out in his own designs. With merchandise available at the AFC Curated Pop-up in Emporium Melbourne, Joshua spent a week in town meeting the Australian Fashion Council family and Emporium shoppers, along with meeting a number of other designers for the first time.
Esse Studios – Charlotte Hicks
Winner of this year’s National Designer Award at VAMFF, Sydney-based Charlotte Hicks attended in a not-yet-released eye-catching two-tone trench from her upcoming third collection. Her contemporary, ready-to-wear lifestyle brand, Esse Studios, releases small capsule collections of slow, sustainable pieces that can be worn together.
Frank and Dolly’s – Joel Cooper
Behind Byron-based label Frank and Dolly’s is husband and wife team Joel – the Creative Director, and Rachel – the designer. Also big on sustainability, ethical production and transparency, Joel attended VAMFF’s Fashion Summit at Federation Square with Frank and Dolly’s manager Zoe Fehlberg.
Check out more street style from VAMFF 2020.
