Voyage into fashion

Paris can wait, Wellington is on the way. Thursday saw us on an inspiring journey of music and fashion, raising money for Child Cancer Foundation at Dockside with Haight Ashbury and the Seven Sisters AW11 collection from Starfish…

Le Voyage Wellington Show: A Journey into Fashion

Paris can wait, Wellington is on the way. Thursday 3rd of March took me on an inspiring journey of music and fashion, raising money for Child Cancer Foundation at Dockside in Wellington.

Haight Ashbury hair, Miss Wong, Harry’s, Ultra Shoes, Dyrberg/Kern jewellery, Coco Wellington and Geraldine Booth Optical swept the range, including the 2011 “Seven Sisters” winter collection from Starfish.

The brainchild of this event was Haight Ashbury salon coordinator Catherine Hunt who wanted to create a feeling of taking us on a voyage. She started brilliantly with a 1920’s theme Parisian entrance to the “ship” (aka Dockside bar and restaurant).

Scattered luggage, a 1935 Oldsmobile and a sailor baby itching to get behind the wheel completed a cute picture. Sailors then let us board to champagne, fashion and music.

Christine Cuisel was our first music entertainment, starting off proceedings with a cruisy avant-garde juicy velvet voice. After her, the lights went down and the fashion sailed in.

Le Voyage was an experience of accessories as well as clothing so I was really inspired realising what I could team with an outfit; could happily go blind for the dazzling array of lenses by Geraldine Booth Optical and DyrbergKern do clunky chunky shiny jewellery to match anything.

Starfish debuted their latest collection, inspired by sisters sharing clothes and making distinctive individual choices with them. Greys, browns, nudes and splashes of blue washed the collection with bold white floral prints and floaty dresses, tops and jackets.

In the midst of this fashion feast, an abstract dance instalment provided something different, with their blue cobweb-like hairpieces.

My only complaint would have to be not being important enough to have a runway seat, letting my red high heels do the walking, standing then aching all night. The runway’s preference for heavy socks under dainty shoes may have made me more comfortable and may be a coming trend, but not one I am prepared to foot. Yet I’m not one to complain when an inspiring show and its following auction raised money for such an inspiring cause.

Catherine Hunt deserves the Captain’s salute for smooth sailing and combining music, fashion, accessories, an auction and bubbles that sent us all sailing off well into the sunset’s wee small hours …

By Sally Christie 9 March 2011
Photography by Michael Nicholas.