The designers: Camilla - MBFWA Spring/Summer 12/13 preview

camilla franks SS1213 lookbook/justin ridler

Are Australians renowned for their love of colour? You bet. We live surrounded by surf, sun, sand, The Great Barrier Reef, Rainbow Lorikeets and the red earth of the outback and this seems to be reflected in much of the clothing we wear. Picking up where legendary Australian designers Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee left off back in the 1980s, Camilla Franks, Sydney's co-called 'kaftan queen', is responsible for some of this country's most dazzling resortwear. On Monday 30th April Franks will present the biggest show of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, when she showcases her Spring/Summer 2012/2013 'Gypset' collection on 42 models. Here is an exclusive preview of six styles from her SS1213 lookbook shot by Justin Ridler on Ollie Henderson and Kendall Walters.

Once were couturiers - Australian fashion icons reband to launch LMFF 2011

So there I was, navigating the fluorescent yellow bowels of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, when I bumped into an Australian fashion icon waving a steam wand. Jenny Kee, co-founder of the 1970s label and boutique Flamingo Park, was trying to get the creases out of a multicoloured scarf headdress that was due to be showcased in Fashion Full Stop, last night's opening show of the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (which frockwriter is attending as a guest of the organisers and Tourism Victoria). Kee was resplendent in three examples of her own handiwork: a 1983 suit from Karl Lagerfeld's debut collection for Chanel, which incorporated Kee's black opal print, some vintage Flamingo Park and one of the scarves from her brand new online boutique. "It's all about online now" noted Kee, when I asked why she and former sidekick Linda Jackson don't relaunch Flamingo Park. "You need lots of money" explained Jackson backstage a few minutes later - reiterating sentiments she expressed at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week back in 2008, after Therese Rawsthorne showed a collection using Jackson's waratah print. They might not (yet) have put the band back together, but fantastic to see Kee and Jackson together again making fashion magic last night, with more than a little help from the new generation of Australian fashion talents, in one rollercoaster retrospective that spanned fifty years.