On the runway with fashion’s future talent

Audacious, fearless and blissfully unbound by commercial constraints, the talented students of Future Runway dazzled a sellout crowd at Telstra Perth Fashion Festival tonight.

            

One of the most exciting and original events on the program, Future Runway celebrates the next wave of designers.

TPFF industry liaison and Future Runway judge Marcia Ball said the nurturing event was vital for the survival of the WA fashion industry. “They could be the future of the industry,” she said.

Among the stand-out designs were Curtin University and Polytechnic West graduate Nicola Yeung’s wild, white architectural piece, which took out the costume award. So impressed were the judges, the 25-year-old has also been invited to take part in Sunday’s closing-night show, The Art of Fashion, along with fellow Future Runway entrant Henrietta Jennings.

Ms Ball said she and her co-judges, designer Katherine Dunmill and Pauline Locker from boutique Ricarda, looked not only for unique pieces but also good construction.

Previous Future Runway alumnae include Natalie Rolt, who showed her all-white range as part of the WA Designer Showcase, and Natalie Donovan from cult local label Wild Horses.

Other designs in the show featured digital prints and hand dyeing. And in what might go down as the ultimate fashionista-hipster runway moment, a daring young designer showed a skirt made using trendy fermented drink kombucha.