Walking into the Alix Higgins show at Carriageworks, the venue hosting most of the shows during Australian Fashion week, the energy felt different than prior days: electric and youthful. A draped red velvet cape-gown printed with splotches of color and the word PRETENSION opened the show, followed by a model in a sheer sleeveless shell top tucked into a mini skirt made from a deconstructed polo shirt. Models of all genders whizzed by in reconstructed pieces that seemed like they had been pieced together in an urgent fury, including striped polos slashed on the sides, a shirt and skirt made from myriad white t-shirts. It was exactly the impression Higgins was after. “I introduced a pre-collection this year, which came out in January; so this [resort] collection happened very fast,” he said after the show. “I wanted the process to reflect that speed, the energy of running towards something, not questioning, not refining too much.”
Elsewhere, bold prints mixed color and text in Higgins’s signature style. It happens to be one of the recognizable graphic design styles of the day—the words placed in a seemingly haphazard manner that is of course anything but. It was especially effective on a white tank top with black polka dots, where the dots were actually Higgins’s own thumbprints, with the words “electricity” and “sometimes” sprinkled above them. Also cool: a shell top with expressive swathes of yellow and lilac and the word “crush” boldly taking up space across the shoulders and a poignant black turtleneck sweater with the words “tulips, roses” in red intarsia on the chest. Though many of the words on the clothes seemed to be screaming, there was a melancholy about them. “My work is about poetry and emotion,” the designer said. “This season I wanted to have language that was quite direct and evocative of an image, text that can have maybe multiple meanings.”
Other standouts included woven separates. A midi-length nylon jacket and matching trousers (worn by an older model and accessorized with a scalloped lace scarf in a way that felt very natural) and an oversized gray plaid blazer paired with shiny navy narrow trousers are silhouettes that Higgins should continue to explore in future seasons. A romantic floral print was, in fact, an iPhone image of the wallpaper in his rented flat.
