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THIRTEEN fashion students have presented the culmination of three years of work at the South Metropolitan Tafe Proto show.

The graduate fashion show at Beaumonde on the Point attracted more than 400 guests, including members of WA’s fashion industry.

Heritage skills of tailoring, drape, beading, leatherwork and more were merged with hyper-modern innovations like laser cutting, conscious design and performance and tech fabrics.

Student of the year Rina Chen said she was motivated to study fashion after working in marketing and design.

“In my former career I documented the editorial of fashion trends and became captivated by the fashion industry,” she said.

Chen’s eight-look Wabi-Sabi debut collection drew inspiration from the Japanese philosophy of beauty.

“Tireless experimentation with silhouette, drape and body proportions occupied my design development process,” she said.

South Metro Tafe portfolio manager Andrea Quintal said the show wouldn’t be possible without the backing of industry.

“These students have learn from international fashion industry icons, with the likes of Zimmermann, Dion Lee, Alice McCall and Ellery among many others providing work placement opportunities,” she said.

Along with student of the year, Chen took out range of the year, with most outstanding design won by Henrietta Grochowska, the Gerber CAD training award won by Nikki Ambler, and the concept to market award won by Gabby Olivier.Read more at:bridesmaid dresses online | cheap bridesmaid dresses

The never ending cups of coffees over blazing fire, munching on dry fruits, come winter and those snug socks every woman is fond of wrapping a shawl around her when the weather turns chilly.

With the winter season kicking in, shawls and stoles are most suitable and there is nothing like a striking scarf wrapped around the neck or smartly slung on the shoulder for a formal evening out. The seasonal collections come and go but some that never goes out of fashion are the trends that we look up to and follow blindly.

I headed out to Komal Nasir’s exhibition and showcase of bespoke shawls, scarves and stoles that have firmly placed her within a niche circle of designers doing tremendous work in reviving our heritage and dying craft. Her work is a labour of love of much value and importance, which shows in an absolute testimony of her sheer mastery over design aesthetics. Each design varies from another, which gives her an edge.

“I believe that people should not fall in the trap of buying Indian shawls which are overpriced and also lack in quality. The shawls produced by our craftsmen are bespoke pieces of art, which I am sure the consumers will enjoy wearing and keeping in their wardrobes for many winters to come. My mantra is to give an effortlessly chic look to any attire and a whole new twist by pairing with a worked upon shawl,” she said.

It also shows her innate fondness for intricate embellished embroideries, in resham, marrori and gotta work that are unmistakably rich and bespoke. Implying animal and bird prints on stoles meant for the youth are inspired by a diverse colour palette. The digitally printed shawls are a main stay in three-piece ensembles and are expected to do roaring business.

Ranging from Kashmiri paisley to digitally printed stoles to plush velvets and silks adorned with sequins, tilla, dori and thread work, the entire collection has a versatility factor that differentiates it from Indian shawls.

The woollen jackets range that has an excellent quality of wool with a touch of finesse blended together to create a selection of contemporary designs intrigued me. The jackets can be worn over straight or boot cut pants or teamed with jeans for a casual look. The elderly ladies who are willing to invest in a keepsake mostly seek collections on pure khaddar and linen with 100 percent woollen Pashmina shawls. The extremely fine nature of the material and the meticulous hand embroidered craftsmanship involved indeed makes each signature shawl a keepsake for generations. This year the collection of single shawls started from Rs 4,000 going up to over Rs 100,000.

Fashion savvy and affordable luxurious shawls are measured at 2.75m to 3.50m apt, for that elegant drape and class. Often labelled as a luxury item, these shawls and wraps add panache to an outfit and look royal at the same time.

The designer is taking her showcase to London for the Pakistan Fashion Week, which will feature the best presentation of Pakistan’s fusion of east-west fashion under a western roof ever with leading and emerging designers presenting their latest collections on catwalk.Read more at:formal dresses perth | formal dresses

The curtain has fallen on Singapore Fashion Week (SGFW), with this year's edition - which took place from Oct 26 to 28 - being the last, at least as far as the current organisers are concerned.

Singapore Fashion Week chairman Tjin Lee, the managing director of public relations and events firm Mercury Marketing & Communications, which has organised SGFW for the past 11 years, says that the name "Singapore Fashion Week" is owned by the Textile and Fashion Federation (Taff).

"I will hand the name back to Taff," says the 43-year-old, who added that this was a decision she made.

But she is not throwing in the towel on the fashion scene - instead, she is setting her sights further. Next year, she will be organising a fashion week that will broaden its focus to Asia.

"It's not that I'm giving up on Singapore designers. I think the best way I can help them is to help our fashion week build something viable, that actually is sustainable," she says.

"The current model is not sustainable... It's a question of cost."

Local designers, she explains, are not able to fund their own runway shows and she bears most of the costs, she says, with the help of sponsors and government subsidies.

The cost to run each SGFW event, including venue, set-up, lighting, and models' fees, is close to $1 million each year.

The root of the problem is that "we don't have a big enough domestic market. That's one of the real challenges", she says, adding that many retailers here have to deal with challenges of production and scale.

"Let's look on the bright side. Maybe we are too small to have our own fashion week. Maybe we have to think bigger and be bigger than we are. That's why there is room for a bigger, more collaborative fashion week that engages and works with and supports the neighbouring fashion weeks as well," she says.

The move is not surprising.

This year's fashion week had already taken on a different direction from previous years, with a programme of fashion technology talks called Zipcode, as well as three modest-wear runway shows as a nod to the rapidly burgeoning modest-wear market in the region and beyond. Runway shows also took place over three days instead of the usual five.

Going forward, Ms Lee says, the new fashion week - which has not been named - will continue to focus on the business of fashion in order to benefit designers and be viable.

She is in preliminary discussions with several e-commerce retailers for next year's event.

If e-retailers present the runway shows, the problem of local designers not being able to afford their own shows will be solved, preventing them from being crowded out by designers from the region, she says.

And it is possible that runway shows may take on different formats. Ms Lee is exploring possibilities such as holograms on the runway, virtual-reality solutions and even see-now-buy-now options. In this instance, guests would gather in a studio space to watch the shows, which could be streamed to a larger audience.

"We want to be a very forward-looking and innovative fashion week," she says.

Although plans are still in their infancy, she envisions next year's event to take place over three days at around the same time, with the Zipcode component being expanded to include more speakers and more in-depth discussion of topics.

She is also toying with the idea of having pitching dens in which businesses can meet investors and venture capitalists to pitch their ideas and secure funding.

Leveraging on technology and Singapore's abundance of wealthy investors is the best way to grow the industry, she says.

When asked if it planned to continue running Singapore Fashion Week, Taff's chief executive Lynette Lee says that there are plans for Mercury and Taff to "issue a joint statement at a later date" and that they "will not be releasing any news right now".

It was a mixed bag of reactions from the industry.

"I think expanding the market from Singapore to Asia is a good idea, but it depends on how it's executed," says Ms Widelia Liu, 29, designer of Singapore-based brand Whole9Yards.

And when it comes to runway shows, "I think there is still a place for physical shows in terms of the commercial impact of bringing in buyers. But the world is quite well connected - having a virtual space could be interesting", she adds.

Veteran local designer Lai Chan, 55, whose eponymous label's show opened this year's Singapore Fashion Week, says he supports Ms Lee's direction "totally", although in his opinion, a fashion week focusing on Asia could be both "good and bad".

"If sponsors find that the market is bigger - it is not just Singapore but Asia - maybe they will put in money," he says, adding that it is also healthy for local designers to be exposed to competition. "If you can't open yourself to competition in Asia, what about the rest of the world?"

At the same time, he says: "Before you nurture your babies, you cannot just throw them into the sea and say, 'Learn to swim.' I would like to help the younger designers, the next generation, find their first baby footings - in my capacity, if I can, or through platforms like a fashion week."

He adds: "Overall, I choose to think of it as a positive thing. Maybe we can learn along the way, as well."Read more at:cheap bridesmaid dresses online | celebrity dresses

In a dramatic changing of the guard, Ms Radhika Jones, editorial director of the books department at The New York Times and a former top editor at Time magazine, is expected to be named the next editor of Vanity Fair, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

Conde Nast, which publishes Vanity Fair, plans to make the announcement as soon as Monday. Ms Jones, 44, will succeed 68-year-old Graydon Carter, who said in September that he was stepping down after a 25-year run at its helm.

In anointing Ms Jones, who holds degrees from Harvard College and Columbia University, Vanity Fair has placed its future in the hands of a woman - the first since Ms Tina Brown served as the magazine's editor from 1984 until 1992.

Mr Carter's announcement two months ago set off a race to inherit his throne and ignited speculation across the media industry. In a magazine business that has lost much of its shine in recent years, Vanity Fair has largely retained its glow, and its editorship remains one of the most coveted in the business.

Mr Robert Sauerberg, chief executive of Conde Nast, and Ms Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and Conde Nast's artistic director, oversaw the search.

Mr Carter was not involved in the decision-making process.

With the selection of Ms Jones, Conde Nast has made clear that it still respects print, even as it looks to a digital future less tied to its magazines.

Before joining the books desk at The Times last year, Ms Jones was deputy managing editor at Time magazine, where she oversaw the Time 100 issue.

At The Paris Review, the literary magazine known for its Writers At Work interviews, she was a managing editor.Read more at:formal dresses | formal dresses brisbane

Since the term “fashion” was first keyed, it has always been centered around the craft and artistry of skilled seamstresses and how they could manipulate their materials into wearable pieces of art.

In the 1800s, women’s and men’s clothing were made exclusively out of natural cloths, such as cotton, wool, leather and silk, so the only way to show the level of fashionability was through intricacy of design. This intricacy meant that clothing was heavy, unwieldy and uncomfortable when compared to today’s standards. But with the turn of 20th century in sight, the discomfort that fashion posed began to change.

In 1884, rayon was invented: the first synthetic clothing material. Later, when rayon was released to the masses, it was praised because it was a cheap stand-in for silk, something that was very spendy at the time. This new wonder material ushered in a new age of material science breakthroughs because people no longer wanted to feel restrained by their clothes, and they now knew that that request was not unreasonable. Materials like nylon, polyester, velcro and spandex along with other production techniques were created soon after.

With this change from natural to artificial materials, fashion was forever changed. One could make statements about their fashionability without super complicated patchwork; all a person needed now was a shirt that could be anything with one screenprint.

With the turn of a new century, the process of creating new and more desirable science fiction materials into science fact is accelerating. Materials, and the production of those materials, is quickly becoming an equal or even more important part of fashion than the style of the clothing itself, which is a change from the past.

In the last decade, the most coveted and acclaimed pieces of clothing have not been known for their cut or style; they have almost exclusively focused on the material used. Yeezy Boosts, a shoe that can resell for up to $1,300 even though it has a simple silhouette is rather coveted for their sole material: Boost. This material claims that it has the highest energy return of any sole ever invented. In addition to the Boost’s high energy return qualities, these shoes have been credited with re-establishing Adidas atop the sportswear sector, a spot they were quickly beginning to lose.

Another material that created excitement in the fashion industry was created in a collaboration between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Reebok, a material called Biologic, the first bio-dynamic material to be integrated into clothing. Biologic is bacteria culture sandwiched between two layers of latex cover that when exposed heat will begin to fold due to a size increase in the bacteria. This folding property, when combined with another fabric, can create a material that will actively cool off the user and warm the user when temperature is correct.

In the near future, materials will be the only thing that matter when choosing fashion and we will soon scoff at the fashion of past for its ridiculous over-complication a future that we all should look forward to.Read more at:formal dresses | formal dresses brisbane

One of the many exhibits at the Highland's Museum and Discovery Center explores history through fashion. Every six months the Curator of Vintage Clothing, Carolyn Warnock, combs through the museum's clothing collection and creates an exhibit that takes viewers on a journey through time.

Her newest creation explores two dynamic decades and is entitled "The 1960's to 1970's: Stable to Radical."

"These two decades, to me, show one of the most radical change in our history," Warnock said.

The sixties were often called the golden age and as time progressed and the seventies began "we went into more dissension with Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and Watergate," she said.

As you walk through the exhibit, Warnock gives you a taste of what she refers to as the stability of the sixties. During that time, women were wearing more modest dresses with white gloves.

"You can see the change in fashion in the seventies, you go to the miniskirts and granny dresses," she said.

Elements of the clothes displayed in the 70's area of the exhibit can be seen in fashion today while the clothing from the sixties shows an "extreme difference," Warnock said.

She credits the change to a newly found sense of freedom and women's ability to express themselves.

The clothing doesn't stand alone. Accessories, photos of icons, records and posters accompany the outfits in telling the story of history.

Included in the narrative of the exhibit are icons such as President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy, President Richard Nixon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Astronaut Neil Armstrong. The Chevy Impala, The Volkswagen, Elvis and The Beatles all make an appearance.

The seventies portion of the exhibit wraps up with disco.

"In our collection, we had an original Bee Gees poster...they were the ones who sang the songs from Saturday Night Fever and there we went," Warnock said.

Warnock rounded out the exhibit with an original Star Wars Millenium Falcon toy from the 1977 movie, A New Hope.

From the first thought to the installation, a new exhibit takes at least a month, sometimes two.

The museum has over 3,000 pieces of clothing that date back to the mid-1800's for Warnock to chose from for the various installations she creates.

Over the past 20 years Warnock has explored extremes in fashion, the fashion of first ladies and more.

The 1960's to 1970's: Stable to Radical will be on display until May at the HIghlands Museum and Discovery Center.Read more at:formal dresses sydney | cheap formal dresses