VAMFF / Josh Goot The Grand Showcase Review

Josh Goot’s 10^th anniversary show, presented at Central Pier in the Docklands was a highlight of the Virgin Australia’s Melbourne Fashion Festival. Goot presented a wearable collection full of white and black, embossed with digital florals of blue, purple, hunter green and burgundy. The excitement before the show was truly palpable. The audience were eager to celebrate one of Australia’s best design talents.

 

Goot’s Autumn/Winter ’15 collection was extremely fresh and modern, whilst still being relevant and classic enough to last for upcoming seasons, which is necessary in this post-GFC retail landscape. The collection boasted oversized shirts over pencils skirts with floral cropped vests on top. The skirts featured thigh high splits (although not to Angelina Jolie heights), a recurring trend this fashion week, also seen at Christopher Esber and Martin Grant.  The collection featured Goot’s signature bomber jackets and a new style of floaty skirts and dresses in ethereal white with vibrant azure flowers glided down the runway, diverting from his mostly structured neoprene numbers of seasons past.  

It was not only important that Goot presented a wearable collection this season, it was necessary. This collection needs to sell, and sell well. News hit this February that Goot had placed his namesake company under voluntary administration in order to restructure the business. A statement from Goot explained that his decision was due to the “well-documented difficult trading conditions in the fashion industry,” referring to the high Australian dollar of late, as well as the oversaturated Australian retail climate which has seen the arrival of huge international high street brands, hurting many local retailers. The company remerged after only one month of administration, the battle is still uphill for Goot. Hence why Thursday night’s show presented fairly classic clothing (by Goot standards anyway) for the bold, fashion-forward woman that he targets. Although the collection seemed a little too summery for autumn/winter, what with five sleeveless crisp white tops and dresses, Goot built upon this with clever layering and slowly transitioned into the darker colours in heavier fabrics. Not unlike Australia’s slow transition into our own mild winter.

Goot presented a commercially smart collection. The buyer is offered wearable luxury, in prints that won’t soon date. With average prices for Josh Goot starting at $700, you would expect a skirt to last more than a few seasons. Goot said he wanted this collection to feel fresh but last forever, and I think he certainly achieved that.

 Transgender model Andreja Pejić closed the show in a simple, strapless black floor length dress,  symbolising a new era of change for not only Goot, but for the entire Australia fashion industry.

Images from the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Facebook page.