Willow Womens Winter Clothing - Creature 2009

The latest from Australian fashion designer Kit Willow is named Creature, a complete womens clothing & fashion collection for the winter fashion season. The collection is dominated by simple shades of black, grey and blue, with a hint of pastel colours including burnt yellow, pale peach and beige. The Willow winter fashion collection is perfectly balanced between femininity and sophistication. It is easy to see why Willow clothes have gained a reputation of being high quality in cut, design and fabric. A great diverse womens fashion collection that ranges from casual class and elegant evening wear.

Fashion Review Australia first reported about the struggle of Peter Alexander stores in the US here.

The performance of the two remaining Peter Alexander stores, combined with the tough retail conditions faced in the US have led to the shops closures. Peter Alexander and the US dream is no more.

The Just Group owns the Peter Alexander chain of stores. Solomon Lew Premier Investments acquired The Just Group in September 08. The remaining 25 stores in Australia and 2 in New Zealand are reported to be performing well and are unaffected by the decision to shut up shop in the US.

The closure of Peter Alexander in the US is not the first casualty of the slowing global econnomy. Herringbone, Australia’s mens and womens clothing and fashion retailer was purchased by German company Van Laac. Lisa Ho dumped Mad Cortes, and Morrissey have shut up shop.

Even legendary french fashion designer Christian Lacroix recently filed for voluntary bankruptcy.

Tough times call for tough measures - We’re sure more fashion shop closures, brand takeovers and bankruptcies are to come.

We thought it would be worthwhile raising the topic of mens jeans the most fashionable representation amongst Australian men in the current day and age. As far bag as fashion was classified as fashion, men have wore jeans – either for its practical sense as a durable cotton fabric that was hardwearing and lasting, or for its modern image as a forever fashionable wardrobe staple.

The history of denim and jeans seems pretty vague. The fabric of denim apparently has its origins in France, where an abbreviation of the name of the origins of the material - “tissue de Nimes”. De Nimes apparently got abbreviated to denim (Nimes is a southern France town). Jeans however, apparently were founded in good old USA in 1853 by our old friend Mr Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who lives in the history books as creating one of the world’s most recognised brands.

Enough about the history, lets step forward to the modern image of sensitive new age guys and their fast evolving reputation as fashion conscious individuals. There seems to be divide amongst men – some are more than willing to wear skinny jeans, while others squirm at the sight of a male counter-part trying to pull off the ‘feminine look’.

We pose the question, are men’s skinny jeans a bit on the ‘gay’ side? Can men pull off the look? Should men pull of the look?

There is no doubt a number of Australian designer labels are cashing in on the hype of skinny jeans for guys. Ksubi and Flux were amongst the first to sell mens skinny jeans in an array of cuts and colours. Chronicles of Never have recently added mens skinny jeans to their repertoire, as have other Australian mens fashion labels such as Material Boy, Stevie and Mjolk.

And how about the flipside – mens baggy jeans? Are they still considered the ‘homeboy/homie’ image that only gangsters or skaties wear around the block? Should men have their arse crack out in the open for all to see, or should men be more willing to constrict their package in a skinny jeans?

Let us know your thoughts budding fashionistas!

Images below represent some of the Australian mens fashion labels that offer skinny leg jeans.

Chronicles of Never Mens Skinny Jeans

Flux Mens Skinny Jeans 

Material Boy Mens Skinny Jeans  

Mjolk Mens Skinny Jeans  

Stevie Mens Skinny Jeans   

Womens Summer Fashion Collection 2009 - 2010

The Zimmermann Womens Swimwear Collection highlights why Zimmermann  is one of Australia’s top fashion labels. The summer fashion range for  2009 - 2010 features an array of shades and prints in bikini tops and bottoms. The fashion range also includes beach style dresses and single piece swimwear. Check out the Zimmermann Womens Swimwear collection below.

Vintage leather jackets are back in fashion with a bang, and its not limited to the one sex. We found an array of Australian fashion designers releasing mens leather jackets, as well as womens leather jackets in various cuts and styles.

Fashion Review Australia decided to pay tribute to the old school favourite ‘the leather jacket’ by compiling the modern, yet traditional retro vintage leather jacket look - check them out below!

 Bec and Bridge womens leather jacket

Witchery Mens Leather Jacket

Chronicles of Never mens & womens leather jacket

Ellery womens leather jacket 

Nique mens leather jacket

Ginger and Smart Womens Leather Jacket

Ksubi unisex womens & mens leather jacket

Lisa Ho Womens Leather Jacket

Sass & Bide Womens Leather Jacket

Karen Walker Eyewear has established itself as a seperate brand under the self titled label Karen Walker. This simply exemplifies the popularity of Karen Walker, and her ability to create and maintain a fashion brand that represents and best reflects her name. We are such a big fan of Karen Walker, to the extent that she is the only non-Australian fashion label to feature on Fashion Review Australia. Such is the influence of her self-titled label that many Australians mistake her for one of their own. Little do they know that she is a kiwi at heart! Read more about Karen Walker here

The 2009 Karen Walker Sunglasses collection follows on from the hugely successful Karen Walker Fashion Sunglasses range for 2007 - 2008. The theme of fun retro, cool, yet modern sunglasses again holds true. You simply need to look at the Karen Walker fashion sunglasses photos to realise the style is targeted towards a fun look. Check out the Karen Walker eyewear sunglasses collection for 2009 below.

23 - 28th August 2009, Brisbane

As we enter the winter fashion season for 2009, the shops are already well stocked with mens and womens winter clothing. The winter fall fashion season is in full swing, with winter warmies such as scarfs, gloves, jackets and thermals alike. Keeping warm is on everyones mind…but thats not whats on the mind for Australia’s top fashion designers. Especially those Aussies who are displaying their fashion collections at this years Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival in Brisbane for August.

The finishing touches have already been applied to the new spring/summer fashion collections for the 2009 and 2010  season. Its strange to think that fashion labels across the globe are constantly operating a season ahead to ensure their clothing and fashion collections are ready to go.

This years Mercedes Benz Fashion Week will see some of Australia’s top fashion labels display highlights from their highly anticipated summer and spring fashion collections.

Fashion Review Australia has highlighted some of our favourite designers that will feature at this years Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival.  Highlights include:

Day 1 -  Akira Isogawa,  Easton Pearson

Day 2 - George Wu, Chelsea De Luca

Day 3 -  Nicola Finetti, Kirrily Johnston, Lisa Ho

Akira Isogawa

Kirrily Johnston

George Wu

The festival attracted over 15,000 persons last year, and is expected to attract similar crowds once again. The Fashion Week is a great opportunity for budding fashion designers, fashion graduates, fashion retailers (and of course fashionistas who love to shop!) an opportunity to view the upcoming summer clothing season from Australia’s top fashion designers. Fashion Review Australia is certainly looking forward to this years event!

Womens Winter Clothing 2009

One of Australia’s most popular fashion exports is fashion label Sass and Bide, a label that has kept true to its roots in creating boutique luxury (with a touch of bohemian) women’s clothing and accessories.

The 2009 Winter fashion range ‘The New Grace’ reinforces the styles that have made Sass and Bide a staple fashion label within a women’s wardrobe. Earthy and neutral shadesof black, white, brown and grey dominate the winter womens clothing collection.

Check it out the Sass and Bide women’s winter clothing collection below.

Leona Edmiston Womens Designer Sunglasses

Question: What do fashion labels Karen Walker, Sass and Bide, One Teaspoon, Ksubi and Leona Edmiston have in common??

Answer: All fashion labels initially established themselves through their men’s and women’s clothing collections. All fashion labels now also feature sunglasses collections.

Australian fashion label Leona Edmiston has well and truly established itself as a fashion brand and not just a fashion label, with the release of a full fashion collection including frocks, sleepwear, jewellery, shoes, bags and of course sunglasses.

The 2009 Leona Edmiston designer sunglasses collection below features four different styles (Camilia, Coco, Emily and Twiggy) in a range of different colours of frames and lenses. The collection include big and retro sunglasses to suit your looks.

Leona Edmiston Designer Sunglasses - Camilia

Leona Edmiston Designer Big Sunglasses - Coco

Leona Edmiston Designer Retro Sunglasses - Emily

Leona Edmiston Designer Big Sunglasses - Twiggy

As the fall fashion season kicks into gear throughout Australian fashion stores, Europe flips its focus to summer clothing ranges. In Australia, Bikinis, singlets and shorts are swapped for winter coats, stockings, scarf’s and gloves, while the flipside occurs on the other side of the world.

Fashion Review Australia poses the question of which reigns more true to Australian fashion culture – winter clothing or summer clothing??

Snapshot: (top to bottom) - Lisa Ho Womens Winter clothing range, Zimmermann womens swimwear, Saba Mens clothing range.

Without a doubt the stereotypical consensus is that Australia has its relaxed beachside culture where sunglasses (or rather sunnies), pluggers/thongs, the surf and sand best represent the land we call Australia. However, no one can disagree that times are changing in all regards – including the views of Australian fashion.

Without a doubt, interest in Australian fashion trends for both men and women has grown significantly throughout the past decade. Boutique brands are popping up left right and centre, making the Australian fashion industry a tough place for both designers and purchasers a like.

No longer are the days where there is no choice for mens clothing. The basic t-shirt, jumper and jeans, (although still of course readily available) are now offered in an array of cuts, colours, styles, and fabric blends. Men’s clothing ranges are just as diverse as women’s clothing ranges – but the question still beckons, mens summer clothing or mens winter clothing? Womens summer clothing or womens winter clothing?

On my recent trip to Europe which included visits to the trend setting regions of UK, France, Germany and Italy, I was literally overwhelmed by the choices for both mens and womens clothing and accessories. The ability to dress smart, casual and/or sophisticated at any price range was phenomenal. I traveled in winter which can best by summarized by the term ‘layering’. Europeans had this uncanny ability to wear 3,4,5 or 6 layers of clothing, yet still show off their figures with style.

On the flip side however, there was certain level of ‘fleshiness’ that was lacking in the winter clothing. By that I simply mean, I missed the sun on my skin, and for that matter, everyone else’s.

I think the topic of winter clothing versus summer clothing is a basis of balance. Lucky enough, we live in a country where we get the best of both worlds, where fashion collections have the choice to vary dramatically yet still reflect the seasons we are in. Winter clothing 1 – Summer clothing 1. Is a draw too liberal?