De-Sex: Phoenix Keating - Spring/Summer 12/13

henryk lobaczewski

With Australia's biggest frockfest - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia - just around the corner, the off-schedule action continues apace. This morning, Carla Zampatti confirmed that one of the biggest fashion stories of recent seasons – the lace dress – is far from over with, among other looks, a sensational series of second-skin, stretch lace dresses and separates in a sugared-almond palette, popped with tangerine. Tonight, it's Phoenix Keating's turn. In the year since we first profiled Keating, the now 21 year-old Sydney designer managed to attract the attention of Lady Gaga, who wore several of his pieces during her appearances in Sydney in July last year. Unlike some other emerging Australian designers, Keating isn't just all show and no sell. He sells through four Australian stockists and has a custom 'couture' business. But Gaga might well be interested in Keating's new 'De-Sex' SS1213 collection which is all about "the de-sexualisation of fetish" and blends some mid century vintage silhouettes with sharp tailoring and a little Latex and rope binding. Here is a first look at the collection – via a series of images shot by Henryk Lobaczewski, starring Lauren Moody. 

The Order of the Phoenix

thom kerr

Well Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is four days away but as has now become tradition in the leadup to the event, a vibrant off-schedule week of Sydney shows is underway. Yesterday, Life With Bird and Thurley unveiled their Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collections. This morning, it was Carla Zampatti’s turn, followed by tonight’s Ginger & Smart and Phoenix Keating shows. Phoenix who? The 20 year-old eveningwear designer from Sydney’s Bellevue Hill, who is now in his second season, will be making his runway debut tonight at Sydney’s Luxe Studios. Keating did a part-time TAFE patternmaking course while still at school, before receiving private tuition from retired Australian costume designer Jenny Clarke. He also spent one and a half years as an assistant to Australian makeup artist Jody Oliver, who is doing tonight’s show. Others giving a helping hand tonight include his first cousin, Sydney fashion PR queen Marie-Claude Mallat; Deni Hines, his sole client, who will be performing; and upwardly mobile Sydney-based fashion photographer Thom Kerr, who shot this portfolio of images to accompany the collection - starring new face Krystal Glynn. Keating looks to be sufficiently talented to make it on his own without name-dropping, but it is nevertheless worth noting one fascinating bit of bio trivia: five years ago, he discovered that his biological grandfather was the late Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.