Fashion for all

Power dressing: (rear) Steve Dunston (Huffer), Trelise Cooper, Dan Buckley (Huffer), Neville Findlay (Zambesi) Front: Liz Mitchell, Adrienne Winklemann, and Liz Findlay (Zambesi). Picture / Bradley Ambrose

They'd waited six years and six days. Now it was the fashion plebs' turn to see what all the fuss was about.

After a week of catwalk, catfights and front-row feuds, Air New Zealand Fashion Week yesterday opened its doors to 5000 people who mooched around the former America's Cup base at the Viaduct harbour for the event's inaugural open day.

Outside, rain threatened but never arrived, and the vibe inside was similarly cruisey as the crowds - almost all female - checked out exhibitions, took in catwalk shows and hair and make-up demonstrations, shopped, or lounged in the cafes and bar.

The media and Fashion Week have a perfect symbiotic relationship: pictures of scantily-clad, skinny girls for the media, lots of coverage for the fashion industry. But what about the average punter? What rings their bell?

A bargain, judging by the Designer Garage Sale - where clothes that would normally go for $150 were selling for $50 and under. And everywhere you looked, women coolly eyed up merchandise with a predator's intensity. As for what the customers were wearing, think Glassons, op shop finds and holiday bargains.

As a nation, we're not incredibly trend-driven. When asked by Nielsen Media Panorama last year, only a fifth of Kiwis agreed to the statement: "I like to keep up with the latest fashion" - down from nearly a third a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, those aged 10-19 cared the most about trends - 46 per cent - dipping to 13 per cent in 75-plus.

Yesterday's demographic reflected this. It was also a slimmer mob than you'd find in a mall - but few as angular as the models they came to watch.

Madrid Fashion Week organisers caused a stir when they announced earlier this month a ban on too-skinny models. The lowest BMI they'd accept was 18 (translating to 56kg for a 1.75m model). Any slip of a thing showing up with a BMI under 16 would receive medical attention (a lot of the rejects scurried off to the much bigger-deal London Fashion Week, which had no such size-limit).

Do local fashionistas want a more realistic range of body sizes on the catwalk?

"Yes," says Vicki Wright, 16, a recent arrival to Orewa from Essex, England. "It sets a better example for people my age." And if the lineup of big-name stars who took to the catwalk last night for the week's grand finale is any indication, Kiwi women - whether couture fans or not - look gorgeous at any size.

Designers Liz Mitchell, Adrienne Winklemann, Liz Findlay and Trelise Cooper were joined by their male designing counterparts Steve Dunstan and Dan Buckley from Huffer plus Neville Findlay for a late-night photocall, with nary a rib in sight.