By Imogen Crispe
Ruby
Ruby had a sixties and seventies theme with fun colours, mixed patterns, fur and sparkle.
See photos from the show
The “Mr Destiny” show began with sixties music and casual-wear-like t-shirts, knit dresses and short skirts paired with fur stoles and jackets and almost always a knitted grey beanie and thigh high socks.
There were jackets, coats and stoles in (hopefully) faux fur which came in bright pink, pale blue and black.
Black and white stripes were a feature trend, used regularly in t-shirts, skirts, and dresses.
Seventies style patterned fabric was used in A-line long sleeved mini dresses and blouses.
Angora-look wool was used in pretty pastel-coloured jumpers in pinks, pale blues and pale apricots.
Wine-red stood out as a colour for autumn next year, in cute shorts, coats and dresses; the popular colour is featuring widely on UK catwalks right now.
There was a lovely range of evening dresses, many of them with thin straps and cross-back details in wine red, pale apricot, and black and white patterns. A pleated shiny silver long evening dress stood out, as did bejewelled long and short dresses and blouses in white and pink silk.
Coats and jackets were in wool and fur and came in black or camel with red sleeves. One apricot coat was pretty but looked a bit like a dressing gown.
Both slim and loose trousers featured with the latter reminiscent of pyjama bottoms in apricot and grey patterns.
Firstline’s Rachel Smalley was at the Ruby show and really liked it.
She described it as “feminine, floaty but with an edge to it” and her favourite piece was a pair of cupid trousers.
Kate Rodger from Fashion Front Row also enjoyed Ruby, saying it had a “sassy sense of fun”. Her favourite piece was the pleated silver evening dress.
Liam
Liam's “A New Power” collection was 1940s style evening wear with long slinky silk dresses, smart jump suits and tailored coats and trousers.
The long line evening dresses were slim fitting silk in olive green, red, black and pale mint green. Most of them had daring slits right up the leg, with some having two at the front. Low or no backs were a trend or pieces of silk draped down the back.
The dresses were not at all forgiving with the fine silk showing every lump and bump of the slender models.
There were also long line jumpsuits in red and olive green silk which looked smart enough for evening or work wear. Some had off the shoulder tops or long sleeves.
Jackets and coats, in grey marle wool and either double breasted or belted, we're smart but nothing special.
Pant suits in white and red were worn with nothing underneath and featured long leg tapered trousers in a lighter than wool like fabric.
There was also a sleeveless black jacket with a silky lapel worn with either a slit-skirt or patterned blue trousers.
An unexpected accessory on some shorter dresses was bondage-style leather and chain braces. These appeared in grey, dark brown and pale brown and were worn either properly or hanging down.
Kate Rodger was not so keen on Liam but liked the tailored pants.
“An underwhelming way to kick off Fashion Week.”
Click the 'video' tab to see highlights from the show, and interviews with Liam designer Emily Miller-Sharma and Ruby designer Deanna Didovich.
All NZ Fashion Week shows will be available On Demand at tv3.co.nz/nzfw
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