Exciting new partnership!

It has been another exciting week in the wonderful world of Hustle&Scout! We have got some incredible designers applying to be involved in the event - Corr Blimey, Andie Meredith, Pure Pod, SZN, Sovata, Wnd.lnd...just to name a few! My dream of making Hustle&Scout an event (more so than a 'market') that will showcase exclusively high-quality and one-of-a-kind pieces is so close to being realised. 

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting with the creative brains behind FashFest - 'power couple' Clint and Andrea Hutchinson and the man who wears many, many hats in the Canberra fashion world, Steve Wright. When we weren't gas-bagging about baby fashion get-up and the serious need for a locally designed baby fashion line with swagger (lookin at you Corr Blimey - leather booties & belts!), we revelled in our mutual appreciation for Canberra fashion and the people who dedicate their days to promoting its worth. As people who want to show-off our local talent by producing innovative events with a wow-factor, we agreed it would be silly not to collaborate. I won't give too much away just yet, but there has been talk of an event in the lead-up to Hustle&Scout that will really get the punters excited - blow your minds, if you will.

The success of FashFest has lead to the creation of a new business endeavour, which will act as the over-arching body for developing and delivering events such as FestFest and Help from the Underground. 

Introducing...Haus Models.

I am excited to divulge that Haus have come on board as partners in the magical Hustle&Scout adventure. Haus' mission is to support designers, models and advertisers at all levels of the fashion industry. This is particularly a fantastic initiative for supporting local, emerging models who are ready to take their careers to the next level. Look out for Haus & Hustle - I daresay the result of this exciting partnership will involve beautiful people and visual spectacles of quality standard. 

Watch this space for more updates friends, and be prepared to seriously celebrate local fashion in the coming months!

More menswear designers, please.

I've been spending some time with my brother this weekend before he jets off to Spain for work (sigh, jealous). I commented on how each time I see him he looks more and more stylish. Today's stupidly cold high of 8 degrees saw him decked out in a double-breasted jacket, a bright blue checked-shirt, latte woolen scarf, slim-fit dark denim jeans and navy suede shoes. Nice. He is an engineer and a cyclist, which I think speak a lot to his fashion choices = practical and comfortable. He probably spends the majority of his time tucked into sweet lycra so it's really lovely to see him decked out in quality gear.  

All of this aside, today really got me thinking about local menswear designers. This quickly transitioned to a big old *GULP*. Where are they all?!

Now, don't get me wrong, Canberra is not completely void of menswear designers. Take Perpetually Five, for example. CIT fashion grad Mitchell Thompson injects colour and playful prints into his pieces, creating both casual and dressy looks with somewhat of an X factor. Knave and Fables are another local menswear designer that warrant a mention. The brother and sister duo create high-quality mens jewellery drawing inspiration from organic shapes. I LOVE their stuff and it's very exciting to see designers pushing boundaries and taking a fashion-forward approach to their design concepts. I can't help but dream of my brother and me working together on such projects...

I sincerely hope that the coming generations of CIT fashion grads produce more menswear designers. I think it's time we started giving our blokes more home-grown fashion to get excited about (and our gals more fashion-forward blokes to perve on).