Bigeni's new range cut from same cloth

Tag: Silk Jersey After four seasons designing for Goot, one of Australian fashion's biggest names, Gary Bigeni, yesterday unveiled a collection uncomfortably similar to the 2007 spring summer one he designed for Goot.For the past three years, Bigeni, 27, has toiled behind the scenes, designing and overseeing pattern making and cutting for Goot, who has regular shows in New York.Bigeni's debut solo show on the final day of Australian Fashion Week in Sydney yesterday incorporated the hallmark stretch jersey tank dresses, colour-blocked panels, capes and bat-wing details from Goot's 2007 spring summer range into Bigeni's new range.The designer even gave his models Goot's signature slicked-back ponytails for the show, which drew on the bold colour palette of Goot's 2007 show.Inspired by climate change, the collection featured draped and twisted silk jersey to represent hurricanes, wind and other changing weather patterns in a palette of black, cool grey, cobalt and coral.Bigeni admitted his eponymous range shared some similarities with the 2007 collection he designed for Goot."Probably a bit of the capework and maybe a bit of the necklines and underarm cuts, which I wanted to keep simple,'' Bigeni said yesterday."But I was more inspired by twisting and the draping. It was more about ease and not so figure hugging (as Goot's body-conscious designs).''Faces in the front row lit up when Mira Vukovic presented an exquisitely uplifting collection from her label Mad Cortes: ultra-feminine, colourful party dresses, billowing blouses, ruffled skirts and shifts.Models swapped their trademark scowls for smiles as they sauntered down the runway adorned with cute fabric covered balls in their hair and on their shoes.Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements said: "It's the most beautiful collection she's ever done. It was fresh, feminine and highly wearable. It was on trend but also very original.''Vukovic said her range was "all about mixing different textures and colours, like when you're making a melody and it comes together in the end''.The euphoric mood continued at Therese Rawsthorne, who delivered on her promise as a young designer to watch. Fans of the Sydney designer will revel in her latest offering of loosely tailored separates and trademark rough-hemmed dresses in gun-metal grey, white and hot pink.Rawsthorne sampled Linda Jackson's 1985 Waratah Print for the range, incorporating it into 80s-style leather jackets and a standout ultra-short leather mini.Earlier, Jayson Brunsdon masterminded an exercise in elegant restraint when he showed just 16 looks - all in ivory - in AFW's VIP wine bar.Gone were last year's extravagant sequined column gowns; in their place a concise collection of impeccable draping and tailoring that played with shape and volume.