Not to put too Finetti a point on it: Fashion Week is upon us

Long time, no blog. But here we are some six weeks after the wrap of the northern hemisphere's AW0708 season only to find ourselves back in Sydney, staring SS0708 in the face. It's a scary thought. On it rolls however, the unstoppable fashion circus. The next destination is Australian Fashion Week, which runs April 30-May 4 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Who's coming out? So far the most high-profile name mentioned is someone who is better-associated with no clothes at all: burlesque diva, MAC spokeswoman and the recently-estranged wife of Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese.

The whole event has, say organisers, been reconfigured so stay tuned to see what that looks like - hopefully a better deal for all those exhibitors who have been hitherto stuck upstairs at The Source trade show. Unlike Fashion Week's previous home Fox Studios, where the trade show was the central hub of the entire event - through which everyone had to pass to get to the runway venues - the configuration of the OPT has not so far endeared itself to the AFW exhibitors.

But I hear The Source is likely this year to be back down on the ground level. The one thing I can share with you right now is a preview of the draft schedule. Although subject to change (read pullouts - at 10 shows a day on most days I'm not sure how they would include many addons), this is not yet on the official website. As you can see, it's pretty jam-packed.

Monday 30 April
9am Camilla and Marc
11am Lisa Ho
12pm Cybele
1pm WRTW1: Dhini, Silence is Golden, Leonard St, High Tea with Mrs Woo, Showoff
3pm Anna Thomas
5pm WRTW2: Valerie Tolosa, Stephanie Cranford, Joveeba, Rachel Gilbert
7pm Melanie Cutfield
8pm Alex Perry
9pm Dita Von Teese & M.A.C

Tuesday 1 May
9am Kirrily Johnston
10am Zimmermann
11am WRTW3: Bec & Bridge, Maurie & Eve, Milk & Honey, Sewn
12pm LifeWithBird
2pm Jayson Brunsdon
3pm Tina Kalivas
4pm Zambesi
5pm sass & bide accessories
6pm Stephanie Conley
7pm Frisoni Finetti
8pm FashionAssassin
9pm Bowie

Wednesday 2 May
9am c & m - Camilla and Marc
10am WRTW4: Davis Eyes, United Constructions, The Cassette Society
11am Ginger & Smart
12pm Shakuhachi
2pm State of Georgia
3pm Fleur Wood
4pm MRTW/WRTW: Thousand Reasons, Trimapee, Vicious Threads, Xenheist
5pm Azzollini
7pm Arabella Ramsay
8pm Nicola Finetti
9pm Gail Sorronda

Thursday 3 May
9am Josh Goot
10am Fashion Design Studio, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute
11am WRTW5: Annah Stretton, Brigid McLaughlin, Dev r Nil, Gavin Rajah
12pm Matthew Eager
1pm Alice McCall
2pm WRTW6: Melly, Constance and Violet, One Fell Swoop, Rahul & Firdos
4pm Jessie Hill
6pm Madame Marie
7pm Anna & Boy
8pm Ksubi
9pm Hallican Boodie

Friday 4 May
10am New Generation - Annie Who, Blanc + Delta, Amar, Gina Kim, Tu, George Wu
11am Lee Matthews
12pm Romance Was Born
1pm New Generation - Piper Lane, Artsu, Subfusco, Bam Bam, Kornered, Fischer von Meszlenyi
2pm Marnie Skillings
3pm Nevenka
8pm Alba Fan Club

So there you have it folks. Some good names - and a lot to see.

If you're wondering what the hell Frisoni Finetti is, it's the new menswear line that urban style snapper - and erstwhile Gretel Killeen stylist - Fernando Frisoni has done with Nicola Finetti. Interesting that it's not being just called Nicola Finetti Man or some such.

Can't speak for the new range as yet, but I have to say Finetti is looking great. He walked up to me in the middle of the Rue Saint Honore Miu Miu store in Paris last month and I did a double-take. Can't quite put my finger on it - he's been working out, changed his skincare regime, something.

Perhaps menswear is the new fountain of youth.

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