Interview by Emma Kelly
Soon after I published my previous post I was contacted by Emma Kelly, a journalism student from Brisbane. She is writing a new piece about fashion in Brisbane and contacted me in the hope that I would be able to answer a few questions about how I see the scene and how it could be better. Being here only a year I am obviously no authority on the matter, but I was more than happy to help her and give her my view on the subject.
Here is the full interview:
Emma Kelly: How would you describe Brisbane’s fashion style?
Vanja Canzek: Brisbane has a very laid back style, the majority of people on the street look like they’re on holiday. Teenage girls all look like LA dolls or celebs-in-waiting and the boys are either rugby – t shirt – shorts – gel orientated or wear shorts and singlets, the bare minimum. Adults are 80% corporate and play it safe or tired mums in jeans and t shirts.
EK: What are Brisbane’s strengths? Weaknesses?
VC: The Valley has some interesting characters, especially at night when all the creative folk come out to play. I’m not really sure where the ‘cool’ kids hang out during the day, what I’ve seen of the fashion in Brisbane reminds me of small suburbs of Auckland but with a lot more thongs and tans (and bleached hair).
At this point I’ve been here a year (having moved from Auckland) and the best part of my stay here in regards to fashion has in fact been my recent trip to Sydney. Enough said.
EK: How would you rate Brisbane’s fashion identity or individuality on a global scale?
VC: I’m not so sure that I can yet recognise Brisbane’s fashion identity (or maybe it doesn’t have a distinct voice yet). The girls being ‘Gold Coast – meets LA’ divas isn’t really a Brisbane look, more a collection of other regions’ looks. I’m actually quietly perplexed about this myself and have no clear answer here.
EK: What is your opinion of the upcoming Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival?
VC: A breath of fresh air in my opinion. Brisbane is really just another retail outlet for big brands and it’s good to see local designers presenting their work. Having been here a year I haven’t actually noticed the local fashion industry, just a few shops here and there. There certainly isn’t a loud Brisbane Fashion scene voice, not comparing to Auckland anyway.
EK: Looking at the festival program for 2009, what are you most looking forward to? Why?
VC: I’m actually looking forward to the Fashion Forum breakfast and the Sunday Mail Fashion After Hours talks. It’ll be great to hear what local designers feel and think about various issues. Other than that Kirrily Johnston is a must on my list, she doesn’t have a store in Brisbane (this is very sad) so I will go see her show and during it dream of moving to Melbourne so I can wear her gorgeous and clever garments.
EK: What value, if any, do ‘celebrities’ such as Kristy Hinze and Napoleon Perdis bring to the festival?
VC: In my opinion not much really in regards to the content of the event, but they have brought some great publicity to the festival. Kristy and Napoleon don’t scream ‘international’ or “global fashion icon’ so I’m not too impressed or fussed about them being there. It is however great to see them getting behind this local event and giving it a mention in the press.
EK: Do you think events like the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival encourage or alienate local designers, fashionistas and individuality?
VC: Any event that showcases a wide variety of labels and designers can only promote and encourage creative and innovative thought. I don’t see how local designers would get alienated, apart from maybe not being able to afford fees to show at the event, but designers who have a clear vision about their business will always get sponsorship and assistance for events and showings like these.
EK: Fashion blogs are extremely common right now, which do you think is more influential to upcoming designers and the local fashion industry in general – every day street level blogs likehttp://facehunter.blogspot.com/ and http://www.copenhagenstreetstyle.dk/ or sponsored events like the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival?
VC: The way that the Fashion Festival is beneficial to the local designers and the local fashion industry is through publicity and sales related to these shows.
Blogs like the ones you mentioned never say who the designer of the clothes is so the designer doesn’t get publicity from this person wearing an outfit and being photographed. There is also no conversion into sales since the viewer doesn’t know where to buy these clothes from.
These blogs glorify and celebrate the individual and their individual style, but they don’t sing the praises of the designers or their brands.
EK: Hailed in the media release as THE location for launching Spring/Summer collections, what do you think could be added to the Mercedes Benz Brisbane Fashion Festival to increase its respectability, appeal or value?
VC: It’s the ONLY location for launching collections to the public.
To make it more relevant to the local fashion industry close the doors to the public, bring in some serious trade through international buyers and make this top notch industry orientated Fashion WEEK.
The Fashion Festival is in reality an entertainment week for punters. They walk in, see a show and then go into a shop to buy an outfit (or in the case of my colleague it’s walk in, see a show of a label you can’t afford then don’t buy an outfit but feel a part of that dream for 1.5 hours while you’re there).
The Fashion Festival isn’t aimed at the fashion industry or growing the local industry through international (or even national) orders. Launching and in-season show (showing Summer when Summer is the next season into the stores) can only ever satisfy a singular customer who will walk into a store and make a single purchase. Growth through individual sales such as this will take a very long time to achieve.
EK: Lastly, do you have any views/ knowledge of Government funding programs and support for the local fashion industry?
VC: I am unaware of any such schemes or grants. Perhaps they are offered to fashion students at Tafe / uni in which case I wouldn’t know anything about them.
I would actually love to hear about (and be a part of) a centralised, focused voice of the Brisbane Fashion scene, in the form of an online portal or printed magazine that would talk about opportunities for growth, showcase current labels, encourage apprentice and work experience programmes and training, offer business advice to young and businesses, mentoring programs and marketing advice.
In the photo – The Winner of the Telstra Next G Network Australian Fashion Graduate of the Year 2009 award held at Mercedes Benz Brisbane Fashion Festival, Soeli Pedrozo (left) and her model. Soeli lives in Sydney. Photo by Vanja Canzek.
