I was lucky enough to land the job of co-coordinating Westfield Garden City’s Stylist Apprentice campaign (previous blog: Fashion Styling – a tough trade!) this year. It’s been a project three months in the making – the search for Westfield Garden City’s new styling assistant culminating in a fabulous finale event which took place last week at Enoteca restaurant on Brisbane’s Southside.
We transformed the private wine cellar of the gorgeous venue into a make shift photo studio / gallery – showcasing the work of our three talented finalists. Fashion forward cocktails flowed all night – Moscow mules and Cosmos were the perfect fit thanks to our sponsor Kettle One. Italian canapés prepared by Enoteca’s team of a-list chefs circled the room delivering a divine selection of mouth watering treats.
The room was filled with Brisbane’s style icons, exquisitely dressed for the occasion. Photographers roamed the floor sending off enough flashes to make guests feel like subjects of the paparazzi – a fitting vibe given the theme of the occasion.
All of this buzz and attention was a huge coup for our winner Alice Waugh from The Gap. At just 20 years old the MSIT design student-cum-stylist is already getting noticed for her artistic flair and keen eye for design. Alice will go onto work alongside Westfield Garden City Stylist Sara Hatten-Masterson to try her hand at a commercial styling.
Our MC’s Laura Stead from the Courier Mail and Nova 106.9’s Tim Blackwell did a fantastic job. Armed with loads of charisma and a humorous dynamic, the duo kept the energy at a high all night long. Laura looked sensational on the evening, wearing a gorgeous tailored dress hand made by her mother!
A fantastic media response was to follow this successful night pushing Alice into the limelight for the first time in her newly born career. Wonderful to see talent embraced in such a collaborative way. If there is one thing that stood out from this campaign, it was that Brisbane’s fashion industry is a far cry from the snooty crowd of runway clad elitists society stereotypes. An amazing turnout of high profile designers, stylists and fashion editors came to witness as this young talent was crowned – an incredibly supportive, collaborative group of creative’s eager to shape a new generation.
