Material girls and boys

Tag : Motorbike Pants


Local designers take the Project Runway challenge. By BridgetMcManus.

'' FASHION is a bitch sometimes," declares Henry Roth, hispiercing gaze scanning the anxious designers assembled before him.As the "mentor" of the local version of American realityshow Project Runway , he has the unenviable task of telling one of his talented chargesthat they must leave the competition. Judging from the array ofspectacular outfits they have crafted virtually overnight, usingnothing but car parts, the culling is not going to be easy. Afender-bending Barbarella, a space-age disco diva with rear-visionmirrors for bracelets, and a spunky motorbike babe with seat-coverpants lounge in various poses around the workroom at the WhitehouseInstitute of Design in Bourke Street.

"You're only as good as your last dress," warns Roth, andeveryone holds their breath.

For five weeks, 12 designers hailing from Brisbane, Adelaide andMelbourne have put their lives on hold to compete for a prize thatwill catapult their careers from backstreet boutiques to thenational arena. The designer who survives all the gruelling"challenges" (which range from whipping up a"beach-to-bar" look using supremely daggy fabric, tomaking a little black dress with $50 worth of material), will win a2008 Fiat 500, a six-page spread in Madison magazine, and $100,000 towards a collection at the 2009 MelbourneFashion Festival.

While some of the challenges have been adapted or ditched for theAustralian series (the reworking of slimmers' "fatclothes" was cut, for example), the format is lifted straightfrom the original. The host, model Kristy Hinze, is as tall, blondeand striking as her US counterpart, Heidi Klum. The judges,designer Jayson Brunsdon and fashion buyer Sarah Gale, offer sage,market-savvy advice. And in Henry Roth, of the Henri Josef bridalwear dynasty, producer Fremantle Media has found Australia's answerto US style guru Tim Gunn. Not only does Roth look disarmingly likeGunn, he is that curious mix of authority and camp, and fizzes withan enthusiasm that threatens to burst the seams of his tailoredsuit.

Having spent the past decade running the New York branch of thefamily business, Roth has carved a niche among the Americanfashionista set.