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Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Risky fashion with a practical twist

FORGET the saying “look, don’t touch” – Canberrans will soon have the chance to wear fashion designs on display at a new exhibition that encourages its audience to “be part of the experience.”

“Fashionably Early – Designing Australian Fashion Futures” is a national fashion exhibition to be held at the Gallery of Australian Design and the National Library of Australia from August 8.

The event, which runs until September 15, has a program that includes a forum on the future of Australian fashion design, discussions on sustainable design and a fashion parade.

It will also feature creations by seven graduates from design schools around the country, including the Canberra Institute of Technology and the Australian National University School of Art.

Graduates were instructed to design a “Fashion System for Tomorrow” that inspires new models of practice and encourages “Australian fashion that is authentic, sustainable and valued”.

Event-goers will not only get to admire creations, but also try them on and take part in a photo shoot in the “Consider What You Wear” part of the program.

CIT graduate Gemma Jameson has created a “heavily layered” look for her design in “Consider What You Wear”.

“The design has six different fabrics because I’m looking at how material properties change – how they can go from light, to draped, to heavy and structured,” she said.

“I’m also looking at how a garment changes the wearer’s mood, so it will be quite fun to see the public try it on. I hope it will be worn and tried on by different sexes so I can see how it works on different body shapes. Once you hand over a garment it becomes the consumer’s and they wear in a different way as you intended.”

Event curator and co-ordinator of CIT’s bachelor of design,  Kate Shaw says the exhibition will give people a unique “sensory experience”.

“This interactive exhibition will inspire the viewer to experience the depth and breadth of the fashion solution; the artefact, its image and the sensory experience of wearing thoughtful design,” she said.

More information at fashionablyearly.com.au

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