The Powerhouse Museum and IMG Fashion are delighted to announce an exciting collaborative project celebrating 15 years of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week this year. An exhibition Frock stars: Inside Australian Fashion Week will open at the Powerhouse Museum on 22 April 2010, exploring what happens inside and backstage at one of the most ‘talked about’ Australian events of the year.
Frock stars will unveil the history, highlights, controversies and achievements of an event that has challenged and changed perceptions of the Australian fashion industry. It will coincide with the two premier fashion events of the year, Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May and Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival in August.
Dr Dawn Casey, Director, Powerhouse Museum, said: “This is a chance for the broader Australian public to gain an insiders view or ‘backstage pass’ to one of this country’s biggest annual events, usually only accessible to the fashion industry. It will also show how the event has placed Sydney and Australian fashion on an international fashion stage.”
Daniel Hill, General Manager, IMG Fashion, Australia said: “We are thrilled to be able to work with such a creative and dynamic team at the Powerhouse Museum on what will be the first ever, in depth expose of our nation’s premier fashion event. In this the 15th year of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, it is fitting to be able to engage the public in this way and unlock some of our trade secrets. This initiative enables us to truly celebrate our country’s talented designers, stylists, marketers, sponsors and commentators, who all come together each year with undying passion to make Fashion Week happen.”
The inaugural Australian Fashion Week was established in 1995 by PR and marketing consultant Simon Lock and his business Australian Fashion Innovators with the ambitious plan of placing Sydney on the global fashion map. The event aimed to attract the cream of local and international fashion buyers and media to view the catwalk presentations of Australian designers’ spring/summer collections. The event was acquired by IMG Fashion in 2005 and is now recognised globally as the 5th stop on the international fashion week circuit alongside London, Paris, Milan and New York.
Frock stars will look at aspects of the complex organisation behind the staging of this major event and the roles and experiences of selected people working both front row and backstage; from buyers, media and models to designers, volunteers and producers. It will also discuss some of the controversial issues facing the fashion industry today.
A centerpiece in the exhibition will be a catwalk showcasing fifteen key Australian Fashion Week outfits drawn from the first shows in 1996 to the present.
Visitors will be able to lounge in the VIP cafe and watch footage from past and present Australian Fashion Week collection shows. This will include highlights from this season’s Fashion Week (3-7 May 2010), plus exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with designers, models and fashion industry insiders.
Frock stars: Inside Australian Fashion Week will run until 29 August 2010 at the Powerhouse Museum.
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