Flowers and fashion are front and centre this year at FASHFEST with a truly unique collaboration between Rockstars and Royalty and Peony n Pearl.

by Wendy Johnson

And the fun started with The Flora Dress that fashion designer Vicky Kidd-Gallichan and floral designer Fionna Tamin created as a teaser to the red-carpet event—now only five nights away. It was fussy work involving hours of meticulous planning and execution but the end result was worth every second for these two talented Canberrans.

It all began with Vicky creating the garment, a corset (the type she is so famous for) and a mini hoop cage skirt. Once made, matters moved into high gear on how to ‘decorate’ the skirt with silk and real flowers. “We wanted a 1920s look so shooting at Lucky’s Speakeasy at QT Hotel was perfect because it has an amazing vibe and suited the look we were going for,” says Vicky. “We even managed to restyle their hotdog cart as a flower seller’s cart.”

To create the dress, Fionna worked primarily in her floral shop and then carted fresh flowers to the shoot location to finish things off on site. More than five types of fresh flowers, including Cymbidum orchids and Spider chrysanthemums, as were Privot berries, Peppercorn berries and Gumnuts. Luscious purples and greens formed the main colour pallet.

The shoot was made possible, as all amazing shoots are, by a team of strong creatives, this time all from the FASHFEST team. Model Hannah Miners will be on the catwalk this year, hair was by Tanya Lancaster who works at THE Hairdressing and is a Team Leader, and makeup was by Katie Saarikko, Creative Director of MUA for FASHFEST 2015 who used creamy foundation by major sponsor Harlotte Cosmetics. The end result was captured by Leighton Hutchinson, Director of Photography for FASHFEST. “I’ve done shoots with Leighton for the previous two FASHFESTs”, says Vicky. “I love his style and the way he uses colour.”

Creating The Flora Dress was a great pilot for what Vicky and Fionna are planning for Rockstars and Royalty’s Cherries in the Snow collection that will appear for the first time on the runway at FASHFEST 2015. “I was inspired by the name of the red lipstick Revlon launched in the 1950s and still makes today,” says Vicky. “I wear it and love it.”

Cherries in the Snow will feature fresh flowers which adds to the complexity of planning, says Fionna, who has been working in floristry since 2007 and who opened her own shop in March last year. “You need to select the right flowers to work with—flowers that will last as long as you need them to. Some flowers simply won’t work since they die if out of water for more than an hour. It’s my first time being part of a major collection and taking part in an event on the scale of FASHFEST. It’s thrilling.”

The collaboration is possible this year because FASHFEST has moved to a new venue, the National Convention Centre, which has massive refrigeration units in its kitchen that can be used to keep the flowers fresh.

FASHFEST is on 13 to 16 May. Don’t dillydally. It’s time to get ready to glam up for FASHFEST, and remember the venue this year is heated, so don’t hold back. Buy your tickets today: www.fashfest.com.au

Credits for Flora dress—Designer: Vicky Kidd-Gallichan, Rockstars and Royalty; Floral designer: Fionna Tamin, Peony n Pearl; Model: Hannah Miners; Makeup: Katie Saarikko; Hair: Tanya Lancaster and THEhairdressing; Photographer: Leighton Hutchinson—taken on location at Lucky’s Speakeasy at QT; Behind the scenes photographer: Samuel Broomby