Rachel Mills installation at New Zealand Fashion Week 2018. Image by Katherine Tuenter.
Designer Rachel Mills sure knows how to create a captivating atmosphere, having hosted intimate and unique installations in the past few years. Etherealness was on the agenda today, with her studio space at NZFW dimly lit and furnished with drops of sheer gauze material for which hazy imagery from a projector played against. Models posed confidently in front of the backdrops, and as guests weaved their way through the space we were greeted with the source of the angelic singing-live singer Lilly Carron perched with her guitar.
And what of the clothing? Mills continues to design with her self-assured touch; we saw sophisticated wrap skirts and dresses, cowl neck and asymmetric tops, blousen shirts, paper bag waist and billowing wide legged trousers. Colours were muted-black, white, navy and grey, with pops of cobalt and lemon.
Mills is a passionate advocate for conscious consuming and recently announced her initiative to no longer produce seasonal collections or hold seasonal sales, but rather to allow for her products to hold its value and to encourage consumers to keep and hand pieces down from one generation to the next. Sustainable practices extends to her use of fabric also, all of her designs are made from either organic, eco friendly or recovered deadstock fabric. Fabric lengths are cleverly utilised to reduce offcuts-in some designs we see selvedge edges draped and worked into the character of the garment.
Overall the collection shown today was a confident outing with clothing for an equally self-assured and courageous woman.
Soundtrack: It really doesn’t get much better then a live performance; check out more of Lilly Carron here!
Beauty Notes: Shapely hair that worked with the model’s own face shapes and hair texture by Michael Beel for L’Oreal and muted makeup with a strong smudged lip by Lisa Matson for L’Oreal Paris.
Hot Item: The wrap shirts are becoming a signature and are designed to be worn in a multitude of ways (buttoned or unbuttoned at the collar to open up the neckline to then be worn on or off the shoulders, tied front or back with long ties that can determine a cropped or mid-length style)
Images by Katherine Tuenter.