Nancy MacDonell reports from Australian Fashion Week
Wednesday, April 29

Two designers showed standout accessories today. Ginger & Smart, headed by sisters Genevieve and Alexandra Smart, shone on the shoe front, with a series of black, beige, and neon fringed sandals. And the Bangkok-based, also-sister-powered Sretsis (the verbally dexterous will have noticed that the label's name is "sisters" spelled backwards), created by Pimdao (she's the head designer and used to work for Marc Jacobs), Kly (who handles the label's marketing and PR), and Matina (the family jeweler) Sukhahuta, produced a series of highly covetable knuckle-dusters. The unicorn-shaped one gives a particularly apt heft to their collection of lace capes, gingham rompers, and rhinestone-dotted chiffon frocks.

There's an avian angle to Konstantina Mittas' "if you build it, they will come" success story. Rather than putting her name outside her studio when she set up shop two years ago, she hung an image of a crow, an animal she's always felt an affinity for. The sign turned out to be a magnet for like-minded bird lovers, many of whom have been key in helping her build her business. "People with a creative sensibility are drawn to crows," she said backstage after her show, which featured a series of swooping, winged silhouettes and raven prints. "Everything that happened today is due to people who like crows."

Life really is a beach in Sydney. The swimwear label du jour was Flamingo Sands, whose designers, Nicky Rowsell and Jane Hages, have an unabashed love of just-this-side-of-bad-taste glamour. Their set looked like an old-school sign on the Vegas strip, and their girls strutted their stuff in gold platform sandals and the kind of brightly colored weaves that you can have braided into your hair everywhere from Ibiza to Puerto Vallarta. That said, the vibrantly patterned suits were surprisingly sweet, with an emphasis on fruit and flower prints.

After 20 years in business, Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson have their chic hippie-meets-Carmen Miranda aesthetic down pat. This evening's anniversary presentation was a valentine to everything they love to do, from hand-painted silks and folkloric appliqués to tie-dyes and scarf prints. "The show was all about collaboration," said Easton, referring to the duo's preferred approach to design. "It was about artisans and the touch of the artist's hand."