Tenfingerz don themselves ‘Gen Y renaissance leaders’, and on Sunday March 1st as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program, their ‘Perfect Runway’ series were exactly that; a renaissance for the fashion industry.
Experimental and nonconforming, the Perfect Runway showcase was anything but your average fashion show. Opening with an act of spoken word poetry, intentionally off key vocals, and of course, some incredibly bold designs from the likes of Gun Shy, Penny Drop, LunaSea, GooLife, Fizzy Fingers and Cut Throat on the Street – the typical ideals of ‘fashion’ were intently challenged.
The stage was long, the decor was extensive and huge stairways lined the room. With a strong focus on sustainable and ethical manufacturing, local labels took to the stage in very non-conventional ways, incorporating theatrical facades and exciting twists.
Air ducts dressed as people, lions moulded around models, a menagerie of wigs and messes of accessories; everyday objects were used to question the fashion status quo and disillusion typical haute couture. Besides the distraction of colours, prints and patterns, and despite the humour of some performances, the idea behind this event is one worth all the hours upon hours it took to put together.
The Tenfingerz Perfect Runway questioned exactly what it is to be ‘perfect’ in the fashion industry and celebrated ‘imperfections’ with models of all heights, shapes and sizes.
Challenging an ideology that is perpetuated in modern fashion culture, the Tenfingerz Perfect Runway garnered the attention that it rightfully set out to achieve. When it came to an end, we all looked around the room as if we’d just woken from a dream and realized we were amongst a crowd. We all peeled off slowly, somewhat confused yet enlightened, and then felt utterly bland in comparison to the rainbow of colours and textures that has just been presented to us.
It takes a well thought out spectacle to plant an appropriate seed; what is perfect? A question many of the night’s attendees will host in their subconscious mind for a long while to come. Or at least until next year, when Tenfingerz once again occupies our minds with another thought provoking fashion renaissance.
The Fashion Advocate x
