I was lucky enough to be invited by Tourism Victoria to attend Melbourne’s premier fashion event, the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.  LMFF is the world’s largest consumer fashion event, which showcases autumn/winter collections on the runway, hosts a series of seminars, workshops and events which serve to inspire the public to celebrate and support Australian design talent.

Here are a few highlights from my Melbourne experience...

Eat.
Melbourne is well known as a foodie heaven, and the only problem is the choice is so vast it can be overwhelming.  Cafes with fabulous food and coffee are tucked away in Melbourne’s many lanes in the city – the ‘hole in the wall’ cafe seems to be a bit of a phenomenon (tiny cafes or coffee shops tucked away in inner-city walls).  Recommended for cafes is Degraves St, a narrow alleyway overflowing with alfresco dining and coffee, and Centre Place, which is crowded with people, eateries and a general cool vibe.

Our lovely Tourism Victoria guide, Rebecca, took us to some of Melbourne’s best eateries.  Our first stop was Pearl, an award winning restaurant in Richmond, where we consumed what was officially deemed ‘The Best Cocktail Ever’ – a vodka martini made with ‘Pearl Dust’, Kaffir Lime syrup and more.   And – the chefs from Pearl were chosen to cook for Oprah on her recent Australian tour. And if it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for me. http://www.pearlrestaurant.com.au/

Another food highlight was our dinner at Cookie on Swanston St – where they serve well-crafted, Thai-influenced cuisine, accompanied by one the most comprehensive cocktail list I’ve ever seen.  A highlight were the ‘Betel Bliss Bombs’ – dried prawns, chilli, lime, peanuts, coconut, ginger and onion are served and accompanied by betel leaves, You  pile everything into the leaf, wrap it up and pop it into your mouth – definitely a taste sensation. Plus, in a cute touch, the bills come inside children’s picture books! http://www.cookie.net.au

Shop.
Anyone who’s been to Melbourne will know that the best shopping is often off the beaten-track – charming boutiques hidden in malls and alley ways.
So it’s absolutely well worth your time and money to do a shopping tour.  We did a walking tour of central Melbourne with Hidden Secrets Tours – a company who have been conducting small group walking tours of Melbourne since 2004.  Our guide, Fiona Sweetman, was a former wedding dress designer and local who knows Melbourne’s streets and shops inside out.

The tour provides a more intimate experience from a local’s perspective, in that you don’t get taken to the big department stores or franchise eateries. Our tour took us to many fabulous boutiques – a favourite of mine was Lady Petrova – a store owned by one of the finalists from the Australian version of ‘Project Runway’.  Plus, Fiona took us to the most amazing vintage store, Retrostar Vintage, a veritable treasure trove spanning an entire floor of the beautiful Nicholas Building on Swanston St.  You could literally spend hours in there – with racks and racks of vintage dresses, furs, leathers, accessories and so much more. Go to www.hiddensecrettours.com for more information on the walking tours.

Lady Petrova

And I absolutely must mention one more hidden gem, which we didn’t find on our walking tour, but instead was recommended to us by the designer Andrea Moore: Madam Virtue & Co. on 5 Crossley Street.  Madam Virtue & Co. stocks the best and the latest in prêt-à-porter and haute couture as well as its own couture label.

The people behind Madam Virtue are Kiwi Dean Hewitt (Artistic Director) and JC Lloyd-Southwell d’Anvers (Designer) and they have secured quite a prominent place in the fashion industry thanks to the first-order range of labels they stock and the sophistication of their couture and prêt-à-porter collections.  A-list celebs such as Jane Menelaus, Ruby Rose, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French have all worn MV couture to events such as the Oscars and SAG Awards, and it’s easy to see why.
 
We were received by the charming Dean, who showed us his completely amazing collection of vintage couture: everything from Chanel, to Balenciaga, to Alexander McQueen, and even World, the store was unlike anything I’ve seen before. 

Dean - owner of Madam Virtue

Stay.
We stayed at the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins St.  The central city location was perfect. If you do attend LMFF, it’s only a short trip to where many of the shows are held.  The Sofitel is one of LMFF’s official major partners, and to coincide with the festival they were hosting Fashion Stills, an international photography exhibition capturing unique moments in fashion – from runway images to a sneak behind the scenes at Dior, Chanel and Givenchy and even Karl Lagerfeld at work in his studio. 

The Sofitel on Collins St is also known as Melbourne’s ‘Arts’ hotel – and is an active supporter of the arts, hosting many exhibitions and events, often for young artists.  And the rooms and service are divine too of course!

Do.
There are a million things to do in Melbourne, but for the fashion-lover I recommend going in March, when LMFF is held each year.  All events are open to the public and you can buy tickets online.  We went on opening night to ‘Fashion Full Stop’ – the opening event for LMFF, and it was spectacular – a celebration of Australian fashion since the 1960’s combined with music and dance. 

Fashion Full Stop

We also attended Vogue’s L’Oreal Paris Runway show, which showcased collections from the LMFF Designer Award 2011 finalists: Arnsdorf, Bassike, Dress Up, Ellery, From Britten, Laurence Pasquier, Lui Hon, and overall winner, Song for the Mute.  It was a truly impressive display of up and coming Australian fashion design talent, and a great event for the public, providing all the glamour of a runway show.

The final evening of our LMFF experience was spent at Alex Perry’s ‘Red Carpet Runway Show’ – the top Aussie designer was showing for the first time at LMFF, and his SS11 collection, ‘Cuban Princess’ was typical Perry: fabulous, glamorous and over-the-top.

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