EXHIBITION NOTES AND UNIT OF WORK

NSW TEXTILES AND DESIGN SYLLABUS

STAGE 5 & 6

Photo Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images

22 April 10 October 2010

Introduction This resource material is designed for teachers

Guide your students on a journey through
Frock stars taking them behind the scenes to
Australian Fashion Week. Experience the shows,
the set and the scene. Relax in the VIP lounge,
watch footage from past and present collections,
and see amazing garments from the past 15
years, plus exclusive interviews with designers,
models and industry insiders!
Frock stars will engage students and allow them
to take a look at the complex organisation
behind the staging of this major event and the
roles and experiences of selected people
working inside Australian Fashion Week; from
buyers, media and models to designers,
volunteers and producers. Explore the creative
process of putting together a collection, in a
recreation of the studio of fashion designer
Nicola Finetti. Exhibition section highlights for
students include the:
Catwalk section providing a chronology of
15 key Australian Fashion Week outfits drawn
from 1996 to the present
Workroom: Easton Pearson where students
can design an outfit with paper fabrics selected
from the Easton Pearson collection
to use before and after their visit to the exhibition.
It focuses on tasks that will draw on and
enhance students understanding of Australian
Fashion Week and the significant achievements
of the Australian fashion industry.
The exhibition is divided into six sections:
1. Catwalk
2. Front row
3. Backstage (including hair and makeup)
4. VIP Lounge
5. Workroom: Easton Pearson
6. Studio: Nicola Finetti
In these notes you will find
Exhibition map (page 2)
Exhibition themes, objects and images (page
3) exhibition overview
Related Powerhouse exhibitions and
resources (page 5) Museum exhibitions,
programs and resources to further enhance
your students visit to Frock stars
Unit of work (page 6) including suggested
Teaching and Learning context and Outline of
learning activities before, during and after
the Museum visit
Relevant syllabus outcomes (page 11)
 Exhibition map
Sections
A. Catwalk
C AV1
AV2 B. Front row

AV3 C. Backstage
B
IA2 D. VIP Lounge
AV4
E. Workroom: Easton Pearson
AV5
F. Studio: Nicola Finetti

Audiovisuals
exit to AV6
Cafe Courtyard
Catwalk footage can be seen
D throughout the exhibition. These
videos feature interviews with key
people behind Fashion Week:
IA1
AV1 The producer

AV25 Backstage
E IA3 AV6 15 years of innovation: the past,
present and future of Fashion Week
15 years
of
Fashion AV7 Nicola Finetti
Week

F Interactives
IA1 Be a fashionista
A
IA2 Hair and makeup

AV7 IA3 Activity area

entry

exit to
Cafe Courtyard

TEACHERS NOTES 2
 Exhibition themes
Introduction
Fashion Week says to the world that
Australia is able to compete in the most
image led, sophisticated cultural market in
the world, which is ready-to-wear fashion.
Simon P Lock, founder of Rosemount Australian
Fashion Week
Now in its 15th year, Rosemount Australian
Fashion Week is an annual presentation of
spring/summer collection shows by established
and emerging designers from Australia and the
Asia-Pacific. The event showcases a range of
garments and styles for men and women:
swimwear, resortwear, streetwear, eveningwear
and accessories.
Fashion Weeks main focus is to sell clothes
to both domestic and overseas markets. Each
year the event also puts the industry firmly in
the media spotlight and provides a launch pad
for emerging designers.
Catwalk
Standing there and seeing the lights
come on and the word BRAVE on the
catwalk, said it all for us and the entire
industry. It was a brave thing to do!
Lucia Labbate, event director, IMG Fashion
Wayne Coopers label BRAVE kicked off the first
Australian Fashion Week at Sydneys Fox
Studios in 1996 (pictured below), when just the
Photo Alex Zotos
idea of a week of Australian fashion seemed
brave. At the time the local industry was
crumbling in the wake of lowered import tariffs
and competition from Asia. Australia was
importing $1.6 billion worth of clothing and
exporting only $270 million. Australian
designers had few opportunities to showcase
their collections and limited access to overseas
markets.
In 1995 entrepreneur Simon P Lock took the
audacious step of establishing a Sydney-based
fashion week to put the Australian industry on
the global fashion circuit. With his considerable
experience in marketing and events, Lock and
his company Australian Fashion Innovators
galvanised the local industry and travelled the
world cajoling top media and buyers to make
the long trip to Sydney. With support from NSW
and federal government agencies keen to
promote the industry, and Australia, Locks
vision became a reality in May 1996.
Sydney Australia now joins Milan, Paris,
London, New York and Tokyo as part of
the international fashion circuit and
becomes a focus for the whole industry in
the Asia-Pacific region.
Simon P Lock, founder of Australian Fashion Week,
in the first official program
Australian Fashion Week quickly became a
mainstay of the fashion calendar. In 2005
Australian Fashion Innovators was acquired by
IMG Fashion, the worlds largest producer of
fashion events, under the leadership of Martin
Jolly. Today the event has an expanded focus on
the Asia Pacific region and is reaching
audiences beyond the industry through the
Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival. Australian
designers are experiencing unprecedented
interest in their work both at home and
abroad which would be inconceivable
without the platform of Fashion Week.
Here are some of the clothes that captured the
attention of media, buyers and the public over
the past 15 years of Fashion Week.
TEACHERS NOTES 3
Front row
Designers choose the front row. Aside
from the actual collection the designers
are putting on the catwalk, the seating
plan is the second most important
element to a designers show.
Lucia Labbate, event director, IMG Fashion
Catwalk shows are an elaborate, and expensive,
form of seduction. The lights, the staging, the
models and the clothes are carefully designed to
cast a spell over the delegates; one the
designers hope will generate publicity and
sales.
Front row seats are reserved for those whose
verdict matters the most: the buyers with the
most money and the fashion writers with the
most influence. Also in the front row are key
sponsors and the celebrities who act as media
magnets.
Designers work with the event organiser, IMG
Fashion, to navigate the intricate politics of
seating; from ensuring the major fashion mags
have the same number of seats to keeping rival
department stores on opposite sides of the
catwalk. On the day its up to the PR and seating
director to guide them to the right seat and
placate any wounded egos.
Backstage
Youve got up to 100 designers who work
for 12 months to get to this one point
where for 15 minutes theyre on show.
What they do makes or breaks their
business.
Daniel Hill, general manager, Australia, IMG Fashion
The excitement and the tension and the
happiness and the tears backstage were
all too wonderful.
Robert Rosen, photographer
Go behind the catwalk and meet some of the
people who make Australian Fashion Week tick:
models, hair and makeup artists, stylists, show
producers and crew.
VIP Lounge
But the most chic look of all at Fox
Studios is a neck strung with passes
money cannot buy the ones that allow
entrance to the invitation only between
show havens laid on by Vogue and
Harpers Bazaar. The top titles are also
vying to have the most glamorous
members of the Fashion Week A-list hang
out in their designer spaces. Free
champagne, manicures, neck massages,
coffee and herbal tea are laid on as bait.
Maggie Alderson, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May
1999
Workroom: Easton Pearson
Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson invite you to
create an outfit with paper fabrics selected from
Easton Pearson collections. When you have
finished, dress your paper model and place it on
the runway for display.
Studio: Nicola Finetti
Welcome to a recreation of the studio of fashion
designer Nicola Finetti.
Nicola Finetti established his label in the mid
1990s. In 1998 he made his Australian Fashion
Week catwalk debut, earning applause from
fashion critics, including the influential Marion
Hume, then editor of Vogue Australia, who
praised the delicate smoky transparency of his
clothes.* Since then Finetti has shown his
signature romantic, sensual and wearable
garments every year at Fashion Week. He says:
Fashion Week for me is important because it
really helped make me known overseas and
here every time you get something out of it
something new that adds to your label.
The success of Fashion Week is built on the
creativity of designers like Nicola Finetti. Youre
invited to explore his studio and see how he
develops a collection, from inspiration to design
and manufacture.
* Vogue Australia, July 1998
TEACHERS NOTES 4
 Related Powerhouse resources
Your students learning experience can be
further enhanced by combining their visit to
Frock stars with other Museum exhibitions,
programs and resources.

Exhibitions
Creating the look: Benini and fashion
photography, level 2
until November 2010
Creating the look explores the creative
processes involved in constructing eye-catching
fashion photographs. The exhibition showcases

Photo by Bruno Benini, Bruno Benini archive

Australian fashion photography by featuring
Bruno and Hazel Beninis elegantly crafted
fashion photographs and four case studies of
contemporary fashion photography and film.

The 80s are back, level 3

until December 2010
The 80s are back is an exhibition that explores
Australian life and popular culture during this
formative decade of social, cultural, economic
and political change. Interpreted through
subcultures, movements and trends, this
exhibition will allow students to explore key
themes relevant to design, fashion, textiles,
popular culture and visual arts.

Online
Frock stars microsite
www.powerhousemuseum.com/frockstars/
The Powerhouse has a wide range of online
design resources to help support your teaching
and learning, and provide essential research
tools for students.

Read interviews with designers and case

studies
Visit DHub, our online design resource and
gateway to the worlds best design collections
Be inspired by thousands of fabric samples in
our electronic swatchbook
Photo Getty Images

Search our extensive collection online

powerhousemuseum.com/online/

TEACHERS NOTES 5
 Unit of work
n Suggested teaching/learning context
In preparation for their immersion into the
exciting world of fashion, students will
themselves take on an imaginary role as part of
their visit to the Museum. They roles are:

1. editor of a fashion magazine

2. fashion blogger
3. fashion designer

Each role will focus on different areas of the

fashion industry and the evolution of Australian
Fashion Week over the past 15 years.

n Outline of learning activities

BEFORE THE MUSEUM VISIT

Welcome to the world of fashion!

Introduce students to their new roles as fashion
editors, bloggers and designers. Each role will

Photo Patrick Riviere/Getty Images

take on different responsibilities; the main focus
will be the development and evolution of
Australian Fashion Week over the past 15 years.
Students will be required to document in many
mediums the spring/summer collections shows
by established and emerging designers. Below
are some class activities you can work through
before your visit. Many of these activities can be
supported by visiting the Frock stars microsite
at, www.powerhousemuseum.com/frockstars/
Using your interactive whiteboard, view the pre-
visit exhibition slideshow, which provides
students with a visual map of the exhibition and
therefore greater context for their learning at the
Museum.
Analyse and explain how Rosemount Australian
Fashion Week is an asset to Australian designers:
Possible activity:
Using a concept or mind map to illustrate
how Fashion Week has developed the labels
of some of Australias top fashion designers
such as Akira Isogawa, Collette Dinnigan,
Easton Pearson, Zimmermann and Ksubi.
Investigate the growth of export sales in the
fashion industry since 1995. Visit the
following links for further information:
www.rafw.com.au/
http://www.austrade.gov.au/Textiles-
clothing-overview/default.aspx
Fashion Week is the result of complex planning,
preparations and organising involving a wide
variety of people and skills.
Possible activity:
Concept or mind maps illustrating possible
roles that would contribute to the effective
running of Rosemount Australian Fashion
Week.
Watch interviews on the Powerhouse Museum
Frock stars microsite. In small groups discuss
and present the different roles that are

TEACHERS NOTES 6
 involved in making Fashion Week a successful
event. Look at various roles from publisher/
editor, events director, model casting to stylist.
Explain what their roles are in Fashion Week.

Australian Fashion Week places Australian

designers in the world spotlight, and by
implication Australian culture is judged
commercially and creatively in this global
context.
Possible activity:
Choose an Australian designer and discuss

Photo Marinco Kojdanovski, Powerhouse Museum

how their designs are inspired by Australian
culture. Discuss fabric, colour, and construction
and surface decoration techniques to explain
how the Australian culture has influence their
designs. Link to this page for some ideas.
www.powerhousemuseum.com/frockstars/

The primary focus of Australian Fashion Week is

generating new domestic and, more importantly,
export sales for Australian fashion.
Possible activity:
Develop a concept or mind map that
illustrates how Australian Fashion Week has DURING THE VISIT
impacted on the textiles, clothing and
footwear industry in Australia. Students will not be carrying worksheets around
but can take notes and sketch in a visual diary
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE VISIT and take photos of the exhibition. Encourage
students to discuss ideas with each other and
Tell students what will be required of them during yourself in the exhibition.
the Museum visit and remind them of the tasks
they must complete after the Museum visit. Students could have thought-responsive
questions in their visual diaries that could
stimulate ideas for after-visit brief:
analyse and visually document the different
surface decoration in catwalk garments
list changes of fashion, length of hemlines,
colours, textures, and materials.
listen to an interview with Kirstie Clements
from Vogue to find out what goes on beyond
the glitz and glamour.
Photo Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

go behind the catwalk and meet some of the

people who make Fashion Week tick: models,
hair and make up artist, stylist, show
producers and crew.
jump into the workroom of Easton Pearson and
create an outfit with amazing fabric paper,
dress your paper model and place it on the
runway (pictured above).

TEACHERS NOTES 7
 explore the Nicola Finetti studio, see how a stars exhibition and the 15 years of Australian
real fashion studio looks and feels, see the Fashion Week. The different task will involve the
various stages of creative idea generation and students investigating a number of roles within
production as well as view some of Finettis the Australian fashion industry and how Fashion
signature garments. Week has impacted on this industry.

AFTER THE VISIT The students have three roles to select from:
1. editor of a leading Australian fashion magazine
Students will select to be part of three different 2. fashion blogger
areas involved in the fashion industry. The basis 3. designer
of research and inspiration will be the Frock

set builders carpet layers

tent builders
signage makers designer manual designer relations
and painters model agents managers at IMG fashion
designer agents

CONSTRUCTION operators
models model bookers
fabric merchants RAFW designer workshop
cleaners

IMG production director

set designers model minders interns

lighting designers MODELS

DESIGN technical directors DESIGNERS pattern cutters
musical director
PRODUCTION djs
hair director
voiceover artists
graphic designers HAIR backstage manager STAFF fabric sources

Sponsors hair stylist

textile designers
make up director marketing
sample seamstresses
sampling staff hosts
activation agencies IMG production managers make up artists MAKE UP admin and finance
cobblers
head dressers
manufacturing
waiters dressers backstage manager
(in-house and or/external)
mixologists EvENT PRODUCTION backstage
managers
traffic managers buying director
chefs
stylists and/
caterers or choreographers retail outlet
buyers

ROSEMOUNT
security show producers scouts
club promoters safety officers
personal security
casting directors for VIPs
BUYERS
AUSTRALIAN
RAFWs in house photographers
and film crews

seating director
front of house managers

FRONT OF HOUSE
FASHION WEEK media and catwalks at RAFW

ushers
cleaners

PR companies
showroom managers

event designer liaisons managers

publicity director
RAFW in house
government offices and PUBLICITY & MARKETING PR photographers
and film crews
supporters travel agents IMG market and
communications team
event marketing & communications
hotel staff director and managers
media publicist PR interns PRs manage seating plans
event director and staff larger brands marketing manager
airline and travel agent staff
ADMINISTRATION event general manager
RAFWs marketing director

taxi and limo drivers

restaurant staff IMG sponsorship management teams

IMG international delegate office IMG corporate

fashion directors
managers and assistants hospitality teams
print
IMG IT teams picture desks
publicists
IMG finance department radio MEDIA SPAN MEDIA journalists register
IMG fashion global team and offices legal teams editors
photographers & film crews
free and paid tv online social media
writers bloggers
media pit

TEACHERS NOTES 8
Activity 1: Editorial for Vogue Australia
exploring 15 years of Australian Fashion Week
You are the editor of one of Australias leading
fashion magazines and you have been asked
to produce a visual and written editorial based
on the past 15 years of Australian Fashion
Week. In your editorial you will investigate
the original catwalk parades from 1995 and
research a designer or label and document their
development over the past 15 years. Also, look

Photo Marinco Kojdanovski, Powerhouse Museum

at the mind map Rosemount Australian Fashion
Week, Fifteen years of Innovation on page 8,
which outlines the various roles and activities
involved in putting Fashion Week together.
Select two roles and investigate and analyse
how these roles have impacted on the
industry growth and development within these
areas, for example you could focus on an
international buyer.

The editorial is to be no more than 500 words

and can include digital and sketched images.
Before a designers runway show has
Activity 2: Create your own Australian Fashion
even finished, you can bet your bottom
Week blog
dollar that someone in the audience or
The world of communication has changed; we
better still, backstage has recorded
no longer wait for the next days newspapers or
every silhouette, signature shoe, styling
monthly magazines to see the latest fashion hot
detail and sulking supermodel, then
from the catwalk. As fashion is so trend-driven
uploaded it onto the internet for style
and fashion blogs provide a new way to follow
watchers across the globe to enjoy.
these trends, it is likely they will have a
Karen Kay, British fashion correspondent,
considerable long-term influence on the http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-428821/The-
industry. fashion-blog-stars.html.

Photo Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images

TEACHERS NOTES 9
With all this in mind the second activity requires
you to become Fashion Weeks official fashion
blogger. You are required to blog on Australian
Fashion Week through your experience of the
exhibition. You will need to select a designer or
label from the Frock stars exhibition and blog on
past and present ranges.

Photos by Geoff Friend

You also need to discuss and show evidence of
how their designs have impacted on current
trends within society, as well as include
examples supporting this.

In order to do this you need to create your own

blog. Using the links below, research current
Nicola Finetti in his design studio and below, an
and popular fashion blogs and then create your
example of Finettis production drawings and
own fashion blog. You could then upload it to
patterns ready for cutting.
your schools or TAS facultys website. You
could also email the Museum on edserv@phm.
gov.au so that we can highlight your blog post
for other students visiting the exhibition.

Research blog sights:

http://jakandjil.com/blog/
http://iamfashion.blogspot.com/
http://stylebubble.typepad.com/

Link to create your own blog:

https://www.blogger.com/start

Activity 3: The new designer

The third activity asks you to be a designer
working in Nicola Finettis design studio to
create a four-piece range that is inspired by
Australian Fashion Week but is also influenced
and inspired by Nicola Finetti designs. The
range is uniquely Australian and is a celebration
of the Australian fashion industry. It will be the
opening feature at next years 2011 Rosemount
Australian Fashion Week.

You are required to complete A3 high quality

fashion illustrations using any medium, and
manufacturing specification sheets as seen in
Nicola Finetti design studio. This includes a
production plan, production drawing and
description of each garment.

TEACHERS NOTES 10
 Relevant syllabus outcomes
The exhibition supports the following NSW
Syllabus outcomes:
P1.2 A student identifies the functional/
aesthetic requirements and features of a
range of textile items.
Students learn about:
functional items designed for a
specific purpose
aesthetic surface decoration or
design that enhances the appearance of
textile related items
factors determining appropriate design,
including environmental sustainability
and manufacturing techniques
P5.1 A student examines the status of the
Australian Textile, Clothing, Footwear and
Allied Industries (ATCFAI) within the
global context.
Students learn about:
issues affecting the industry, including
environmental sustainability, OH&S,
legislation and technological changes
the contribution of textiles to local and
global markets
P5.2 A student investigates the range of career
options in design, consumerism,
manufacturing and retail sector of the
ATCFAI.
Students learn about:
sectors of the ATCFA
training and career opportunities
trends and opportunities in the industry
the contribution of textiles to local and
global markets
P6.1 A student identifies and appreciates the
factors that contribute to the quality and
value of textiles in society.
Students learn about:
influences on the quality of textiles and
clothing
factors contributing to the value of
textiles
H5.2 A student analyses and discusses the
impact of current issues on the Australian
textiles industry.
Students learn about:
current issues that affect the industry
including globalisation of design,
manufacture, distribution and
marketing and imports and exports.
Changing consumer demands and
lifestyle. The manufacturing strategies
of niche and mass-produced goods
H6.1 A student analyses the influence of
historical, cultural and contemporary
developments on textiles.
Students learn about:
historical design development
cultural factors that influence design
and designers
contemporary sources of inspiration for
designers
TEACHERS NOTES 11
 FROCK STARS IS PRESENTED BY THE POWERHOUSE MUSEUM IN COLLABORATION WITH IMG FASHION

Page 1: outfit from Wayne Coopers spring/summer collection 2009/10.

Page 5: (top) Simona for Sportsgirl linen mini-dress, 1966, from Creating the look: Benini and fashion
photography; (bottom) Romance Was Born Iced VoVo dress, 2009.

Page 6: Kit Willow lingerie collection, Australian Fashion Week, 2003.

Page 7: (bottom) behind the scenes, Billich Gallery, Australian Fashion Week, 2005.

Page 9: (top) Tsubi (ksubi) outfit, 2001; (bottom) on the catwalk, outfit by Therese Rawsthorne, Australian Fashion
Week, 2008.

For more information on the exhibition For more information about education support
Frock stars: inside Australian Fashion Week, or your booking, contact Bookings at the
visit the Powerhouse Museums website Powerhouse Museum:
www.powerhousemuseum.com/frockstars/ Telephone (02) 9217 0222
Fax (02) 9217 0622
Email edserv@phm.gov.au

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otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

Text may be used under Creative Commons Licence, Powerhouse Museum, 2009. Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia.

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