Modern Australian fashion
When it comes to fashion, few people think of Australia, but Australian fashion has a series of unique characteristics compared to European fashion. They have been isolated for many centuries and they had to develop their own line of fashion and clothing to suit their needs. Compared to European fashion, which is more tailored, Australian fashion tries to create products that are more casual. Many Australian clothes are hand made and they are made with functionality in mind. Fashion can be defined by color, cut, cloth, garment type, garment styles and interpretation of looks.
Australian fashion combines styles and materials to create unique fashion creations. For example, Chinese silk embroidered shawls and Chinese surcoats that have been brought into Australia by Chinese Australians in the late starting from the 1800s up until to the late 1930s have influenced the choice of cloth, cut and color of Australian fashion. Silk and embroidered evening coats and overblouses made of chiffon, georgette or velvet were characteristic to women’s fashion back in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Australia. Chinese fashion style had a significant influence on Australian fashion and many women had worn these sorts of clothes for several years and can still remember the days when they used to wear, for example, tangerine colored georgette evening coat.
While the Chinese had a great influence on Australian fashion due to its close proximity and with the very fine materials coming from this country (China is world famous for its silk and cotton), the Japanese also had a great influence on Australian and the way they designed their clothes. Akira Isogawa, a well-known Japanese designer, has reinterpreted in 2002 a series of hand-ruched silk taffeta frock to create a shawl from silk velvet. Characteristics to Akira Isogawa's collections are the somehow unusual combinations of textures and fabrics and his re-use of antique kimono fabrics and traditional Asian textiles.
While you may know many French and Italian fashion designers, there are several famous Australian fashion designers. Nicola Finetti and Collette Dinnigan are two of the most known Australian fashion designers. Dresses made by Nicola Finetti and Collette Dinnigan are unique for the way they drape and sculpt bodies in a wearable albeit subtle cut, often to sensual dramatic effect (Collette Dinnigan is becoming a world known designers, as it was the first Australian fashion designer to host a fashion show in Paris).
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