Onya Magazine Fashion Editor Sarah Kempson, and Beauty Writer Katie Found, team up to deliver the best of fashion and beauty from the Melbourne GPO Pret-A-Porter Runway Shows.

Fashion Trends From The Runway – Sarah Kempson

Melbourne’s GPO, on the corner of Bourke Street Mall and Elizabeth Street in the heart of the city, is one of Victoria’s premier shopping destinations and this week’s LMFF Pret-a-Porter Winter 2011 Collections proved why the heritage building is home to some of the most amazing Australian and International labels.

Held in the level 2 function space at the centre (and a brilliant possie for a wedding reception or your next birthday), two simple catwalks lined with quaint white garden chairs were enough to fill the light, bright space and music by The  Raah  Trio perfectly set the scene for an elegant parade.

All labels that can be found at the GPO; Manning Cartell, Lisa Ho, Belinda, Gorman, Alpha 60, Life with Bird, Leona Edmiston, Trimapee, Fleur Wood, Arthur Galan, Wayne Cooper, Tim O’Conner, Karen Millen, Akira and Nicolangela; showcased several looks for the coming season, highlighting their best selections.

The camel coat is still a hot ticket item, seen here in many collections and a sure fire investment piece for your wardrobe. Similarly, the trench coat is one that will always be in fashion and this season the GPO has several variations.

For the boys, suiting is sharp and tailored, sure to have them looking very fine whilst escorting the ladies in sequins and mini-dresses. Leopard print was often used as a complementary design.

The colours for the season are overwhelmingly camel and orange with lilac, dusty green and Melbourne favourite black supporting. Pick a piece in these shades – especially camel as it won’t date – and you can be sure your investment will be well worth the spend.

Beauty Trends From The Runway – Katie Found

I would like to extend an official thank you to Melbourne GPO’s Pret-A-Porter 2011 Collections. Not only did you fill my tummy with bubbly and fine chocolate, you also gave me a reason to look forward to the fast-approaching cooler months. The reason, you ask? Autumn/Winter 2011 makeup and hair trends…duh! Champagne shades on or off, these easy-to-achieve (yes, you heard me correctly) runway looks will have you bouncing out of your warm bed on those infamously chilly Melbourne mornings.

Let’s start with the hair, shall we?

We seem to have stepped away from the 50/50 contrasting balayage look that was all the rage during the beach-beauty months. Now, a block colour with a hint of highlight is the way to go. This au naturel look complements the easy/chic draping and layering effects that we have been seeing in the designs on the runway this week. So, that’s the colour done, now comes the fun part – styling!

The stylists for this event, Heading Out Hair and Beauty, have taken the wet-look ponytail to the next level. I like to call it the wax-look ponytail. It’s more textual than the wet-look, and, just to think practically for a change: it will actually stay intact throughout a windy winter day. Rather than mimicking the classic slick-back style, the models were all given a harsh middle part. This was accentuated with blunt, scissor-cut ends (not so easy to achieve with your natural hair, but clip in some extensions, blend them into your ponytail and clip away). The finishing touch to this wax-look, parted ponytail was the absence of a hair-tie. Instead, the stylists wrapped a few (well, probably more than a few) strands of the model’s hair around the base of the ponytail, creating a clean-cut, polished look. Too easy!

Next, the makeup:

As you probably guessed from the A/W ’11 hair trend, bold and beautiful is in. Although this may seem like a contradictory trend (pairing high-drama with a natural look), somehow, it works. Allow me to explain. The models were all given a dewy base (this can be achieved by either applying your foundation whilst your facial moisturiser is still damp, or by mixing a bit of illuminator in with your foundation. And remember not to put too much pressed power on over the top if you’re going for this look – best to apply a very small amount of loose powder instead – enough to keep your foundation in check, but not enough to mattify your skin). Over this base, subtle pink blush was applied. Then, a smudged, almost grungy blue/grey eye shadow was applied, with minimal eyeliner. And finally, lips were kept nude, or apricot/peach at the very most.

And now comes the high-drama part: BOLD eyebrows are a must at the moment (achieved by colouring your brows with an eyebrow powder, a few shades darker than your hair colour). Next comes bone structure. If you weren’t blessed with a killer jaw line, cheekbones, brow bones or collarbones, don’t fret, you can most definitely fake well-defined bone structure. A generous amount of illuminator was applied just under the models’ cheekbones, and on the brow bone, which not only accentuated those features, but also induced an instant face-lift. Illuminator was also applied across the collarbones, and along the jaw line to emphasise these features.

So, by pairing a soft, dewy base, subtle blush, nude lips and effortless smoky eyes with bold eyebrows and (extremely) well-defined bone structure, you get the bold yet naturally beautiful look that epitomises Hair and Beauty A/W ’11.

And now the finishing touch, the nails:

Warm, Autumnesque shades are the way to go at the moment. I’m talking burnt orange, light greys and soft browns. Remember, we’re going for effortless yet bold this season, ladies.