Variety on King William // Adelaide Fashion Festival

In its fourth year of running alongside the Adelaide Fashion Festival, Variety on King William (VKW) had its biggest and best run yet, giving Adelaide’s fashion and food lovers just a little taste of Paris.

The parade showcased the latest trends from more than twenty different fashion, shoe and jewellery stores along one of Adelaide’s most adored main streets, King William Road.

Boasting the longest runway and largest number of models in this year’s Adelaide Fashion Festival, Variety on King William well and truly blew its audience away.

Guests enjoyed a long lunch served by Are You Being Served catering service, offering delicious spring flavours from locally sourced produce and paired with fine wines from Wicks Estate and Tomich Wines.

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Moroccan Spiced Lamb.

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Stuffed Chicken Breast.

A three course menu was served, created by the likes of Ichitaro Dining, Bottega Rotolo, Faraja, Parisi’s, By Blackbird and Mulot’s Patisserie. For mains, guests chose between Chicken Breast with spinach and hazelnuts, asparagus and topped with a creamy hollandaise sauce, and Moroccan Spiced Lamb with a vegetable mix including chic peas, roast capsicum, zuccini, roast eggplant in a napoletana sauce with a hint of lavander and olive lasagna filled with yoghurt on the side.

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We say YES to canapes!

The day was warm and everyone came dressed in their best spring/summer attire, while VKW staff circled the space, offering guests gorgeous oriental-type umbrellas for sun protection and canapes on arrival.

As media VIPs, we were shown through to backstage, where we got the chance to mix and mingle with models and makeup artists, and grab some candid shots.

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Getting makeup done backstage.

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Finesse do it best.

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So much much makeup to play with!

Edward Oppes from Finesse Models gave us a huge smile as he spoke his thoughts for the day’s parade. “I’m definitely excited for today’s show,” he said. “It’s fun and fashionable, and most of all a great opportunity to showcase the great fashion King William Road has to offer.”

There’s just something about the backstage rush that gets you even more excited for a fashion runway show; everyone is in their own element, hustling and bustling to make things run smoothly. Touching up makeup, zipping up dresses, floundering to make that complex hair-do sit just right… You really can’t underestimate the amount of effort put into a single fashion event!

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The Adelaidian editors Melissa Zahorujko and Kristen Byass in their unintentionally matching VKW attire.

We proceeded to take our seat at the end of the runway in preparation for the parade to commence.

Out came a stream of bright colour; an army of models striding down the runway streaming the most elegant of spring colours. Bright yellows, blues, pinks and reds caught our attention, as we found ourselves particularly favouring the playsuits and two-piece matching sets.

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So much colour, it almost hurts!

All of the models strode in sequence, and not once did we see a falter in formation – the sign of a truly well-rehearsed parade.

Eco D featured fantastic monochrome pieces as well as great patterned garments in classy cuts. A statement blue leopard print was both fun and summery while a black structured jumpsuit paired with a white vest offered something a little less ‘look at me’.

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Edo D Boutique

Delving more into the monochromatics (as you’d probably know by now how much we love them), Denim Iniquity featured black and white stripes and patterns on crops, playsuits and pants, similar to local designer Liza Emanuele‘s statement wide-striped print as part of her latest collection. We’re loving the comeback of stripes this season!

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Liza Emanuele

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Denim Iniquity

Move Over Menswear showcased some trendy outfits for the males to feast on, featuring intricate patterned shirts in whites and cool colours, green, aqua and blue. And guys, the ever so hipster no-socks and boat shoes paired with ankle-cut jeans look is still going strong, too. Keep rocking it!

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Move Over Mensewear

The parade finished with funky race-wear in light of Melbourne Cup coming up, ending the show with a big group shot of all the models and a fun dance at the end of the runway. They certainly had us singing along!

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Yes Aldi, we spotted you boogie-ing away.

There is no doubt our expectations were exceeded this year and we can’t wait to see what next year’s VKW has to offer. To view more images and trends from the show, feel free to browse our image gallery above.

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