Expert Eye: Zambesi 2010

A model wears a creation by Zambesi on day one of New Zealand Fashion Week 2010. Photo / Getty Images

Not for the first time, fashion fans were saying thank God for Zambesi after the label's off-site show put the Fashion Week crowd into party mode. There was more than late Tuesday night drinks to celebrate, for with 31 years experience behind them, the Zambesi team know how to turn on a good show too.

In a giant shed at Rhubarb Lane's inner-city site, there was ample room for their favoured extended runway, trod by some of the best models in town and a few flown in, including Australian Vogue's Aboriginal cover girl Samantha Harris.

They were styled beautifully with the girls in multiple plaits woven into partly loose long hair. Battle lines were drawn, with faces carrying black or white stripes evoking the tribal warrior of the sports field.

A hexagonal design printed on to T-shirts and panelled onto a woollen dress was based on the facets of a soccer ball and this shape also led to the deconstructed collar and rounded bottom of the dress. Oversized sweats, striped knits and college-style woollen bomber jackets with leather sleeves picked up on the theme.

Other standout designs were men's dark pea coats, with buttonholes stitched in white cotton and a black lace woman's jacket with large shawl collar. The same lace was also used in a pinafore and a man's tie.

Wet-look leather, felted cream wool, inky velvet, net for leggings and Mongolian lamb's wool all lent textural interest.

The usual dark Zambesi colour palette of black, charcoal and navy was joined by a little camel, cream and white and for men donkey brown, in the suiting Dayne Johnston does so well.

A black-backed, navy-fronted half-buttoned shirt was another of his smart pieces for men who like playing with classic convention. Which leads us to a grey plaid shirt with a lurex thread and pants in blue velvet and white drill.

Women could choose exaggerated racer back tops and gold lace, with the only real multi-coloured pattern being a Liberty-style teal Noveau print in brocade skinny pants and a bell-shaped overdress.

With colour so tightly controlled, this show did not have the wow factor of a few in the past, but it contained all the hallmarks and enough variations to delight followers.

It ended rather delightfully too, when the usually reticent Elisabeth Findlay skipped out to the tune of Iko Iko rather than simply popping her head round the corner to acknowledge the applause.