The Brisbane Fashion Industry is in good hands with up and coming talent as seen at Tuesday’s Triumph Inspiration Awards held in Sydney on the Harbour @ WatersEdge Restaurant.  The three local MSIT Students represented QLD in the finals with Tovah Cottle winning the prestigious title and Anna Peng in third place.  The nine finalists were drawn from Fashion Schools from NSW, VIC and QLD fashion schools, with 3 from each state.

The  Awards now in its third year,  run internationally, with 27 countries participating this year. Every participating country holds a national event to decide which young designer will proceed to the international final, to be held in London in September. The design brief, to design a lingerie showpiece around the theme ‘Shape Sensation’, to be as creative and imaginative in the design of a showpiece. We wish Tovah our congratulations and best wishes in London and bringing this title back to Australia.

Brisbane Racing Club held its annual Student Designers Fashion on the Fields event at Doomben. Last years winner Tovah Cottle took out this years title again and also third place with her two designs. Runner up was Gale Bishop, both contestants are Metro South Institute of Tafe students.The standard from the 30 strong entries shows Brisbane is well placed for future talent in the fashion Industry.

Winner of the 2009 MSIT Billabong Swimwear Fashion Award is Rhaman Donovan. This is the first time the MSIT has worked with Billabong to present students of fashion of the TAFE college with this highly sort after award.

The girls blogging at Designer’s Closet was told, “Exploded Wings” which was the name of her Swimwear collection, was inspired by the view of a butterfly wing through a microscope.

This was one of 5 finalists for the MSIT Billabong Swimwear Award, with other finalist’s included Amy Davidson, Alice Mala Rezende, Edwina Tait and Rachel Hedges with Rhaman Donovan being the inaugural winner.

It was a tough event to shoot, so have a little bit of editing to do for you. I’ll post in the next few days!

Every year over 50,000 show goers flock to Brisbane to attend the ever fun and highly celebrated Royal Queensland Show- The Ekka. Throughout the 10-day show of animal attractions, rides, shows, displays, showbags and events, the highlight of the event for the fashion flock is the highly coveted Coffee Club Parades, Offering 53 fashion parades throughout the course of the show.

Over 20 Local established and emerging designers showcase their latest collections from stunning evening wear to gorgeous day wear and fabulous swimwear. Each collection showcased are garments created featuring predominantly cotton and wool the most versatile of natural fibres.

This year the show saw over 20 different amazing collections from designers such as George Wu, Brides Desire by Airs & Graces, MXM Couture, Bora and Paul Hunt – Just to name a few. Each collection shimmying down the catwalk to amazing choreography music and lights display that had the crowd on the edge of their seats wondering what would come next.

Pieces from emerging designers of QUT and MSIT showed an individual additive to the show amongst the stunning and elegant gowns of the evening wear. Standout collections were the gorgeous yet simple lines of Grbac in pastels and punch pink and the ever transforming Riot swimwear with its soft colouring and quirky styling aesthetic.

Not only were patrons treated to a brilliant array of hot designs, the Coffee Club Parade also featured a model search to find a fresh new face for the fashion scene, 10 Finalists vied for the top position in the New Faces Model Search.

All in all a great show, the lighting, stage and choreography was superb. I was impressed by the line-up of established designers and the event in itself was very impressive. If you haven’t seen the Coffee Club Parade before, it’s certainly a must on next years social calendar.

Coffee Club Parade – 2009
Designers
•    Paul Hunt
•    Bora
•    Wendy Makin
•    Brides Desire by Airs & Graces
•    MXM Couture
•    Daniel Alexander Couture
•    Dogstar
•    Maiocchi
•    Grbac
•    Tulipani
•    George Wu
•    Mother Maria
•    Kitten D’Amour
•    Dirtbox
•    Taree Birse
•    Pistols at Dawn
•    John Harris Menswear
•    Swimwear from Riot

Plus Student showcase by MSIT and QUT

Eva Huynh took the award for student designer had a standout collection with her detialled collection of dresses. Layering fabrics to replicate her influences of patterns, textures and forms. Her feminine collection in creams, blush pinks and a soft mushroom clearly caught the judges eye. A happy Eva took to the stage to accept her award sponsored by the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre.

Students were asked to create their vision for Australian fashion in 2009. The designs can be anything from swimwear to bridal couture and with that much creative freedom the possibilities are endless. This year saw some extremely talented designers take on the runway, students throughout Australia battling for top spot in the Australian Retail Awards finals to take place on April 9th. The competition was fierce and the standard of garments phenomenally high. Congratulations to the four finalists from heat 4 on the Gold Coast ….

I was excited to get an interview with the fabulous Gillian Marriage of Riot swimwear, who has not only competed in and won multiple awards for her swimwear label, but has also managed to make time to teach her skills to fashion students, myself included, at the Australian Institute of Fashion Design.

I also had a chance to have a chat with MSIT student finalist of last years 27th NRA Awards, Megan Todd, who has since taken up a scholarship in Italy and is now working as a designer for Billabong.

All in all a fabulous evening with its glamorous atmosphere and free flowing champagne. Cheers!