Australia's Fashion Week Dampened by Blues

Sadly, we're not talking about the sorts of blues that come stonewashed, riveted, and ready to wear. Rather, Australia's dear old institution of Fashion Week --usually so full of life and gaiety, especially for the Spring and Summer seasons-- has shown that the country's clothing industry is feeling the crunch of the worldwide economic downturn. Australia has refined and revolutionized over the years to become one of the world's front-runners when it comes to fashion. Several luxury boutiques and famous brand-name designers have opened up shop in Sydney and Melbourne, and many cities feature dedicated districts with all manner of chic modern fashion stores.
Experiencing a surge in popularity as well as the development of a national identity, Australian fashion is today able to contend with other world-class clothing destinations such as New York, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo. Naturally, the national fashion week, a spin-off of similar week-long events held in other clothing capitals, has likewise gained quite the cult following. In recent years, Australia's Fashion Week has featured scores of enthusiastic and well-dressed patrons, plenty of media coverage, and a generous amount of energy and spunk. Designs have been fresh, interesting, bold --the full range of everything modern dressers want in their wardrobes.
But fashion, like so many industries have been proving lately, is not immune to what has become a global financial tumult of staggering scale. There are a number of ways in which the global credit crisis presents the fashion industry with hurdles. One of the most pressing factors in the mix is the fact that many consumers aren't spending as much on clothes as they were during more prosperous days. The occasional splurge on a designer dress, suit, or bag (bought with that now-haunting phrase, “I'll charge it!”) has become a remnant of the past for scores of people around the world, in Australia and abroad. As demand for couture realizes a steep decline, the costs of materials and services are up; suddenly all that charmeuse and calfskin is creating a price tag that would have been shockingly high before the crisis hit, and which is now, for the most part, laughable.
Of course, fashion is all about creativity and invention, the putting together and fine-tuning of what's available to present the best aesthetic picture possible. As a result, the fashion industry in general, and Australia's market in particular, are showing that they're capable of adaptation, even if the adjustment is a little rocky at first. Australia's fashion week took the hint from its accounting books as well as the ambient mood to make its show strong, but more subdued than recent years. While many pieces still showed off the vibrancy and flights of fancy associated with the Spring and Summer seasons, there was a distinct presence of neutral, subtle designs, making well-crafted yet humble statements about the state of the industry and of the fashion-loving heart inextricably tied to it. Accessories and jewelry offered the brightest and best glimpses of hope among the various shows, presenting both bold and beautiful ideas that hint of the reinvention and invigoration to come, both for the industry and for its fans. In the meantime, sunnier days can be prophesized with affordable, elegant, and definitely Spring-ready costume jewellery.