hollieBar 100 located in Sydney’s Rocks district hosts Avant Garde – a night of fashion, nightlife and entertainment, ever so sporadically. On the 4th of April I was lucky enough to be there to get the inside scoop. Displaying their Summer/Spring collection were four Australian designers; Love and Anarchy, Fabrique’ Vintage, Danielle the Dressmaker and Sandra Mortallebi.
Upon arrival I was greeted by a burly doorman who directed me through to where all the action was to take place. As the website advised, I arrived by 7pm to a relatively underwhelming and empty room. On first inspection, I was slightly bamboozled! Where was the fashion-forward crowd and buzzing atmosphere I’d been promised?! After my momentary musing I decided to take myself to the bar to redeem my free drink voucher and sink my teeth into the complimentary wood fired pizza which seemed to be sumptuously floating around the room. If fashion isn’t your thing, go for the pizza
!
By 9pm the crowd I was hoping for had arrived and I was loving the eclectic and somewhat electric mix of ladies and lads who had peeled themselves away from their clearly hipster abodes. Together, DJ Zacky and acoustic guitarist, Philip Bracken opened the Avant Garde event. Although everyone seemed more interested in their vintage inspired purses than Bracken, I thought he was sensational in all his barefoot melodies. Still no sign of any kind of fashion however!
After a quick fire breathing/flaring show performed by an Alacran Tequila representative, the first runway show was starting. Phew! I thought I would have to break my midnight curfew. The favourites of the night had to be Danielle the Dressmaker and Fabrique Vintage. Danielle the Dressmaker was up first. Beautifully delicate and feminine, with an almost invisible masculine twist these garments are reminiscent of Alexander McQueen and are exactly the kind of thing I would buy straight from the runway. This designer, has a serious future in the Australian fashion scene.
Fabrique Vintage‘s playfully French inspired works were cute, charming and greatly appealed to the crowd at hand. Like anything you’d see in Frankie or Russh magazine, Fabrique Vintage hit the mark perfectly with their carefully selected and hand picked, ready-to-wear collection.
After talking to an Avant Garde photographer, he said that the event used to be much more captivating and showcase true ‘new’ designers. However now, the venue, like most good things, have taken the big-money path and is now more worried about gaining sponsorship and making money.
All in all, if you’re in for the long haul this is a fantastic event for you, however, if you have an early Friday morning meeting and want a quick fashion fix, perhaps this isn’t for you. Between each designer was a twenty minute break, only made better by the $20 cocktail jugs. Albeit a tad drawn out, the Avant Garde night is a an exciting and perhaps left-of-centre way to spend your Thursday, as long as you arrive after 9pm.
Jenny Aluning
Jason Harris
hollie
