The Weekly Collection #3
This week’s collection, includes Dion Lee being recognized by the Australian Fashion Laureate, gender neutrality in fast fashion and the first hijab-wearing Barbie announced.
Australian Fashion Laureate Awards
This year marked the ten-year anniversary of the Australian Fashion Laureate Awards – an awards ceremony that celebrates contributions to the development and growth of the Australian fashion industry. Held in Sydney’s Barangaroo, the night commenced with a performance by photographer, blogger, stylist and pianist Margaret Zhang. Zhang played music from her latest fashion film “There’s No Space Left in C# Minor” for attendees and nominees – designers, creative directors, editors and fashion veterans from all walks of the industry.
This year’s top prize – the Laureate – was taken out by Australian designer Dion Lee. This is a major milestone in his relatively short career so far, with his first foray into the industry being his participation in fashion week a mere eight years ago, in 2009. This honour acknowledges his significant contribution to the international promotion and progression of the Australian fashion industry.
The likes of Zimmermann, Jac + Jack, P.E. Nation and Dinosaur Designs were also recipients of Best Australian Womenswear, Best Australian Menswear, Etihad Airways’ Emerging Talent Award and Best Australian Accessories Designer, respectively.
Source of image: Grazia
Gender Neutrality in the Fashion Industry
This week has been marked by two major developments in the progression of gender equality and neutrality within the fashion industry. Retail giant Topshop has announced their gender-neutral fitting room policy via Twitter, revealing that the policy has been in place for months now. This comes after a transgender customer took to Twitter after they were refused access to a female fitting room by a Topshop employee in Manchester.
Similarly, talks of soon-to-be-released gender neutral clothing sold by other fashion giant, Zara have been celebrated by those who don’t identify as either male or female, or simply prefer typically unisex clothing. Discussions were sparked when their website showed both male and female models wearing the same garments such as coats and trousers – neither of which are societally assigned to either gender.
Source of image: Travis Alabanza Twitter
The First Hijab-Wearing Barbie
American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad has been the model for the latest Barbie. Going against the quintessential Barbie figure, Muhammed stipulated that she’d like a few features to be included in the design of her Barbie doll. The requests included strong, muscular legs, dark eyeliner and of course, a hijab. According to The New Yorker, Muhammad cried when she was contacted by Mattel who proposed the Barbie be based on her. She stated, “When I was a kid, I remember people commenting of the size of my thighs”. While the “Shero” line – the line of Barbie dolls which is inspired by real women– only accounts for 5% of Barbie sales, the decision to base a Barbie doll on a Muslim athlete with different proportions to the usual Barbie has gained a huge amount of support.
Source of image: Ibtihaj Muhammad Twitter
Social Media Influencer Degree @ Conde Nast Italia’s Social Academy
As of this week, it is now possible to obtain a degree in social media influencing from Conde Nast Italia’s ‘Social Academy’. The course will be run from Milan’s SDA Bocconi School of Management and will only take 100 participants. According to Time, participants will learn the “correct way to use social media, which focuses on quality content and respect for ethical standards. These include being specific about advertised posts and managing the number of followers and likes with transparency”.
Many have been apprehensive about the decision to turn influencing over to a post-graduate degree. Conversely, others have applauded the academy for teaching the ethics behind social media, which are so often disregarded by influencers on Instagram.
Source of image: Bryce Thomas
Opening Ceremony Sale
Founded in 2002 by friends Carol Lim and Humberto Leon – Opening Ceremony reflects travel, art and fashion in the curation of its online and real-life stores. Meeting your international fashion needs, the online site ships to Australia while still maintaining stores in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Who: Opening Ceremony
What: 40% off on select styles
When: Now
Where: www.openingceremony.com
Source of image: Opening Ceremony Instagram
