FREMANTLE is set to get a new fashion festival next month, with more than 30 indi labels, pre-loved fashion, upcycling and a choreographed flash mob runway taking over the city on October 17.
The inaugural F.RE.O Fashion Festival will be held at Walyalup Koort from 10am to 4pm.
Event director Carolyn O’Driscoll said the festival grew out of conversations with Fremantle Markets general manager Natasha Atkinson about reviving a small spring fashion event outside the markets.
“I only went to meet with Natasha about the possibility of doing that little Spring Fashion Festival run by Fremantle Markets,” Ms O’Driscoll said.
The idea quickly expanded after Ms O’Driscoll was introduced to Fremantle Chamber of Commerce president Chrissie Maus who had some big ideas.
“Chrissie came into the conversation three days later and it was, ‘I want what you did for [Circular Fashion Festival]. I want that here’,” she said.
“The City of Fremantle came on board, Destination Perth came on board, everyone came on board, and it’s happening. It’s going to be really big, actually.”
The festival will feature three runway showcases, more than 150 fashion market stalls, workshops, a clothes swap and industry talks.
The RE.IMAGINE runway will combine pre-loved and vintage fashion with work by upcyclers, while RE.VOLUTIONISE will showcase the latest work of more than 20 independent labels, fashion students and graduates.
Ms O’Driscoll said the combination of new designs and pre-loved clothing reflected the changing nature of fashion.
“It all goes hand in hand these days, to be honest,” she said.
“The way everything is manufactured, all the designers that we’ve brought in are slow designers, so everything’s done with intent.”
She said Fremantle was particularly suited to a festival that brought new designers together with vintage and pre-loved clothing.
“Fremantle is synonymous with pre-loved and vintage fashion. That’s just a given, and it’s the future of fashion,” she said.
• Models Tamara Kosgei and Jemma Cryer. Photo by Mehrdad Saver.
The event will also involve students from both TAFEs, with almost 20 South Metropolitan TAFE fashion students volunteering backstage and North Metropolitan TAFE hair and makeup students also participating.
One of the more unusual attractions will be The Pre-Loved Parade, a flash mob runway involving 24 models and 10 professional dancers.
The dancers will begin the performance before models join them for a walk up Henderson Street Mall.
“We’ve engaged 10 professional dancers who are currently in choreography,” Ms O’Driscoll said.
“All the dancers come in first and then all the models come in. We’ve got 24 models joining the flash mob and doing the big walk up the whole Henderson Street Mall. Visually, it looks amazing.”
The festival has also partnered with Fremantle op shops including Salvos Stores, Save the Children, Red Cross, Vinnies, Good Sammy and St Pat’s as part of World Op Shop Day.
Ms O’Driscoll said the festival was intended to showcase a strong existing community of independent designers.
“There are so many of the most insane designers in Fremantle, and they’re WA independent designers. So for me, it just goes hand in hand.”
Among those involved are Anjelms, Gaelle Beech, Algarabia and Natalie Diaz, as well as Giuseppina and Katja Epis.
The Rag Pop Up Market will occupy Walyalup Koort, while a pre-loved and vintage clothing market will be held at FOMO.
The festival will also feature upcycling workshops, a community clothes swap and sustainability talks.
Ms O’Driscoll said the aim was to show that fashion did not have to mean constantly producing new clothes.
“Upcyclists take what would otherwise go into landfill, rework it and make it into magic,” she said.
“We also have wearable art — wearable art from discarded waste and what should have been thrown away, now made into something beautiful.”
Entry to the main marketplace and runway showcases will be free, with some workshops and the clothes swap ticketed.
The F.RE.O Fashion Festival will run at Walyalup Koort on Saturday, October 17.
by STEVE GRANT