KEY POINTS:
On Tuesday morning, all eyes will be on Kirrily Johnston, to see what the high-profile Australian designer can bring to the ANZFW runway. The designer will be the first Australian to show at our local fashion week, and the pressure is on. But expect Johnston to deliver, with
a collection influenced by national costume, Africa and soul singer Erykah Badu.
"We were already planning our first selling trip to New Zealand in September, so when we were asked to show - which was a total surprise - the timing seemed perfect," says the Sydney-based designer. "New Zealand Fashion Week has got its own flavour, and I think it's really starting to get a lot of attention. We're doing a lot of work in Hong Kong at the moment, and different people I've spoken to have been quite aware of it and really switched on to it. I think it's got a real buzz about it."
When rumours first surfaced of an Australian designer showing at New Zealand Fashion Week, the cynics among the fashion industry here thought it would be someone relatively unknown. But they were put in their place when Johnston's name was officially announced. The designer is significant in the Australian fashion industry, and has shown to critical acclaim at Australian Fashion Week five times. Her solo shows are considered a highlight, with industry stalwarts and celebrities frequently spotted front-row.
Johnston's modern and "not overtly sexy" designs are somewhat at odds with the stereotypical Australian fashion aesthetic of lots of colour and lots of skin.
"I love fabric intensely so I like to use a lot of it," says Johnston. In fact, her clothing sometimes seems more on par with some of our local heroes than those of her contemporaries in Australia.
"I get asked all the time by people, who aren't that familiar with the label, whether it's from New Zealand. So I think it's a good fit for the market," says Johnston, who counts directional designers Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Hussein Chalayan as her favourites.
"I'm a long time fan of Zambesi. I like their whole concept and admire their retail concepts too. I think Nom.d do some amazing things also."
Johnston grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, where her design career began when she made a peacock blue batwing dress out of her grandmother's shantung curtains. "I wore it to a blue light disco when I was 14. I couldn't find the right colour thread, so I used white - every time I stood under the UV lights, my stitching glowed." But despite her own artistic leanings, Johnston says her family wasn't particularly creative. "I'm the odd one out - my dad and sister worked for a big bank. My mum used to knit like crazy and knitted garments for stores, so that had a bit of a crafty influence on me - but it wasn't high fashion by any stretch of the imagination! I was always tripping out on my own really. I moved to the city as soon as I turned 18."
It's that sense of wanderlust that influences a lot of Johnston's collections - she counts travel and world costume as key influences for her brand - so it hardly seems surprising that she is pioneering Australia's showing at ANZFW. She's also set to show at the Parisian trade show Rendez-Vous in October.
After leaving home Johnston worked as a photographer's assistant in London. She continued to work in photography when she came back to Melbourne, but soon realised that it wasn't for her. "I'd always made a lot of my own clothes, and it was when friends started commissioning me to make them things that I realised fashion could be a serious career for me, and photography needed to be my hobby." She studied fashion at Melbourne's Institute of Textiles, where she designed a range of hair accessories for chain store Kookai and worked as a design assistant at a label called PTO. She first sold her designs at a boutique that she managed, and started her own label called Uberchic in 2000, but relaunched under her own name in 2004. Since then she has opened two retail stores (with a third on the cards) and won over a long list of fans including Mischa Barton, Alex Wek and Rhada Mitchell. Model Irina Lazareanu, who hangs out with Pete Doherty and Kate Moss, and once performed at a Chanel ready to wear show, is clearly a fan too, agreeing to appear in her spring/summer campaign - all for contra. And let's not forget to mention one of Johnston's most thrilling career moments, when fan Nicole Kidman sent her two dozen roses.
As for her show on Tuesday, Johnston says not to expect many gimmicks. "I don't like to do many tricks with my shows, I like to present in a really slick boutique style. We like to keep it quite intimate." And as for the clothes, Johnston sums it up best - "My lady this season looks like a very cool art curator."
