Eight designers to watch this season, according to a stylist
photography by Maximiliano Dal Masetto for Niamh Galea
as told to daisy henry
Rising stars.
Australia has no shortage of incredible designers. There are countless industry heavyweights, from the sisters behind Zimmermann, to Christopher Esber, Bianca Spender and Alex Perry, who have all been shaping the industry for decades. At the same time, there are just as many (if not more) up-and-coming designers who are just as worthy of recognition.
There are plenty of ways to familiarise yourself with the next cohort of rising stars in Australian Fashion. There’s Fashion Journal, for one. Whether it’s an editorial shoot or an online fashion feature, we’ve long made it our goal to platform the work of emerging talent.
For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.
Another way to immerse yourself in the world of local fashion is the Melbourne Fashion Week (M/FW) runways. From the much-anticipated Student Collections Runway to the Closing Runway, they are overflowing with both established and up-and-coming designers. And as a long-time media partner of M/FW, we can attest that the runways are where we’ve discovered some of our very favourite fashion labels.
Stuart Walford, the fashion stylist tasked with curating the looks for both shows, knows this perhaps better than anyone. Armed with over 15 years in the industry, Stuart is a passionate advocate for underground and underrated designers. Though the runways are a mere few weeks away, here are eight rising designers to keep your eyes on this fashion season, according to Stuart.
Cakey Sportsman
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First off is Cakey Sportsman by Matea Gluščević, who is, as we know, the shoe designer. She debuted her ready-to-wear collection earlier this year with a solo, independent runway. I think what she does is brilliant. She’s got such a creative brain, and her shoes have always been a statement, so to see her interpretation of what a ready-to-wear collection could look like has been really interesting, and it’s been really well received.
It was already really fascinating to see what she worked on because the art of shoe making is a dying breed, and knowing that she’s making everything from her home base in the Basin is great because it’s important to try and keep production local. I’m stoked to see what her second collection might look like whenever that’s ready to be launched into the world.
Baaqiy Ghazali from BAAQIY
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I’m always intrigued to see what Baaqiy Ghazali does. She graduated from White House a couple years ago and I mentored her as part of the student runway. Since then, she’s catapulted herself right into creating little collections, almost micro-collections and one off pieces, and they’re really sculptural and abstract. She repurposes materials and textures, and plays with volume, shape and silhouette. The pieces are definitely more obscure, which I think is why so many people (myself included) have fallen in love with her and what she makes.
Wilson Jedd Adams
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Wilson Jedd Adams is another one I’m looking at. I see his work as more character-based creations rather than collections, or at least that’s my interpretation. He’s really interesting because the pieces that he makes have this storytelling component built into the looks. They’re not necessarily commercial in that sense, although I would be really interested to see how he would scale some of his pieces into a commercial world, whether or not that’s where he intends to go in the future, I’m not sure. But he makes really unique, one-off artisanal designs.
Bruce
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Pre-loved and consignment fashion is growing in popularity and momentum, and there’s a store on Gertrude street called Bruce that has a great curation. It’s been around for 20 years and I feel like it’s really underrated.
There’s one store on Gertrude Street that’s focused predominantly on, avant-garde, Japanese brands, like Yohji Yamamoto, plus there’s a lot of Elena Dawson and Paul Harnden. There’s some really amazing treasures in there and I have so many beautiful pieces in my wardrobe that have come from Bruce over the years. There’s also a Queen’s Parade store in Clifton Hill, which focuses more on European brands. It’s got your classics, like Prada, Miu Miu, Isabel Marant, Armani and all of those big labels.
Lucinda Babi
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Lucinda Babi is another designer going from strength to strength. I think she’s really nailed, at least from the outside, how to scale up a label. Just recently she did these amazing, namesake rugby sports tops that seemed to be a massive hit. She also nails the styling – she knows exactly what her look and feel and aesthetic is. I think her branding is really strong, and the designs are playful and wearable, but also really fierce and strong at the same.
Niamh Galea
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Niamh Galea, who has rebranded from Ramp Tramp Tramp Stamp has been making some interesting changes. I have recently discovered her and it’s been exciting seeing this collection come through and to think about how I can work it into the Closing Show. I’m really excited to explore the pieces individually and how how they come together to on the runway.
Gautam Kapoor from Gotham Studio
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Gautam Kapoor is the designer of Gotham Studio and shares a studio space with Lucinda Babi. I didn’t know much about him until this year, but I worked some of his pieces into a project for another client, and then approached him to see if he would be able to get a collection together, and if he could, then we would love to put it in the closing runway. And he was thrilled with that idea. So now, Gotham Studio is in the closing runway.
What’s really interesting is seeing him and Lucinda as supporters of one another and how they bounce their ideas off each other as they’re building their collections. From what I’ve seen so far, his fabrication and the references he’s using to inspire the shapes and the silhouettes for these new pieces is really interesting.
Huiliana Chandra-Curry from Perple
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Huiliana Chandra-Curry, the creator and designer of Perple, is making incredible pieces. She’s showing in the Opulent Tastes Runway on Tuesday, October 21. I’ve seen some of the pieces that she’s making for her new collection they’re incredible. Her make and quality is so strong.
Find more from Stuart here.
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