As the country’s fashion elite gather in Sydney for Australian Fashion Week, we’re doing the same here on the Gold Coast. Peek behind the curtain of our local festival of fashion, Gold Coast Fashion Week.
Gold Coasters tend to do things a little differently – our version of fashion week is no different. Historically, fashion weeks have been held with fashion buyers in mind; they allow brands to showcase (and ultimately sell) their latest collections to a captive audience of industry members.
But Gold Coast Fashion Week (GCFW), which is running from Friday May 12 to Sunday May 21, serves a different purpose. Like the organisation behind it (the Gold Coast Fashion Project), the event focuses on community development for models. It offers a platform for aspiring and established models, regardless of their age.
“This year, we have models aged eight to 55,” says Isabel Wetten, director and producer of Gold Coast Fashion Week’s Runway 1.
While this is Isabel’s first year with GCFW, she’s no stranger to the fashion industry. She has worked as a personal stylist, mostly in retail, but soon found herself as part of the styling team for the Marie Claire runway show at Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival.
“In a mammoth event like VAMFF, you’re a staff member and you do your task,” says Isabel. “It’s so different to GCFW. Here, you feel like an asset to the team – because of how they’ve structured it, every single person is important.”
Speaking to Isabel just days after Runway 1 – GCFW’s opening show, which took place on Saturday May 13 – you get an idea of why the Gold Coast Fashion Project have such reverence for their volunteers and models. This event is no mean feat.
“There were 10 designers and 40 models, so it was chaos backstage,” says Isabel. “Of course, there were growing pains – both for the models and the designers – but overall, I’m very, very proud of everyone’s efforts.”
The chaos of backstage stood in stark contrast to the tranquillity of the flower-festooned runway. From the moment audience members stepped into the show venue (the newly renovated Broadbeach Cultural Precinct) they were transported into another world.
“During the show, between each designer, we had florists dressed in white add more flowers to the centre of the runway,” says Isabel. “For the grand finale, the models handed out flowers to audience members, some of whom were their family and friends. It was a special moment – it just showed that fashion doesn’t always have to be transactional.”
It was just one of many touching moments during Runway 1, facilitated by Isabel’s instance on focusing on people, rather than ‘diversity’ or ‘inclusivity’.
“We had a transgender female model come out dressed in a hoodie and end up in pink sequins, and we also had a little theatre production at the start of the show with some of the younger models,” says Isabel. “I love making people ask questions – if you don’t ask, you won’t know. We were pushing a few buttons, which is good.”
After months of managing spreadsheets, running castings (they had almost 350 models apply for the event), liaising with national and international designers, gathering data from models, and rehearsing for the Runway 1 show, Isabel says t was a relief to finally take her bow after the show.
“When the team did their runway walk, I bawled my eyes out!” says Isabel. “We finished with four samba dancers who came out banging their drums, and everyone started dancing. We wanted to value everyone’s experience, time, and money, and I think we did that.”
But she’s getting ready to do it all over again, helping out backstage for the remainder of GCFW. On Friday May 19 at HOTA, Runway 2 will showcase local and international designers. Then, on Saturday May 20, student designers will show their designs for Runway 3, the ‘Next Generation Designer Runway’.
“They’re talented kids – some of them are 16 years old and designing clothes,” says Isabel. “Runway 2 will open with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designer, followed by designers from all over the world – Canada, China, Lithuania, India. A lot of them are migrants, and they’re telling their stories through the clothes.”
It sounds as though we’re in for a big – albeit fabulous – few days. Secure your tickets to GCFW 2023 via the link below.