The Spirit of the Black Dress, an independent and non-for-profit fashion concept that promotes the work of sustainable Australian fashion design, has returned to Melbourne this month.
The fashion concept will celebrate its fifth year with a range of events including an exhibition that will be open to the public.
The Spirit of the Black Dress has also been secured as an official event on the 2013 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival program, which begins on March 18.
From March 18 to April 1, The Spirit of the Black Dress will be open to the public as an exhibition. The general public are invited to enjoy the free exhibition where they can view photos,film and the ten black dresses selected as part of the 2013 collection. Held at the Intercontinental at The Rialto on Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD, this event is attended by fashion lovers, tourists and students.
The event aims to promote emerging designers and bring attention to exceptional talent in Australia. With a focus on sustainability, The Spirit of the Black Dress seeks to highlight how innovators in art and fashion are grappling with modern day issues while exercising creative and timeless fashion design in the form of a black dress.
Each year, five fashion industry professionals are selected as a panel of judges who select the ten winning dress designs.
This year the judges include fashion and textile curator Paola Di Trocchio, creative director of sustainable fashion house MaterialByProduct Susan Dimasi, couture headwear designer and milliner Richard Nylon, editorial director of FASHIONTREND Australia Nikita Papas, and Editor in Chief of popular fashion blog StyleMelbourne, Sarah Willcocks.
The ten finalists for winning dress designs include Naomi Tettmann and Elke (Tettmann.Doust), Kathryn Beker, Christie Nicole Trowbridge (Christie Nicole), Cordelia Gibbs, Marion Liese & Christopher Hamblin (Marion LIiese, Renee Bock, Benjamin Ringuet (Ringuet), Shannon Carmody, Jean Cooper (Pink and Grey), and Viviana Pannell (Basquesse).
For further information about The Spirit of the Black Dress, click here.
Image credits: Jennifer Estrada @ Mirar PR
