After a whirlwind few days of meetings in Sydney and Melbourne I landed back in Sydney to take part in this fun little project between Westfield, Zanita and I. The Neo-Nineties exhibition at Westfield Miranda pays tribute to fashion’s return to the 1990′s and was curated by Charlotte Smith, the owner of the Darnell Collection which is the largest private vintage clothing collection in Australia and consists of over 8,000 vintage pieces. Yes that’s correct, 8,000 vintage pieces… Can you possibly imagine? Even for someone who owns their own online vintage store I never had anywhere near that amount of vintage pieces in one place at the same time. I wouldn’t be able to physically fit everything in my office space!
So after visiting the Neo-Nineties exhibition last week I was asked by Westfield if I’d like to create a shoot with some of my favourite vintage pieces from the collection. Considering I’d already spotted several key pieces within this tightly curated collection of only 44 looks it was a little hard to say no to as I knew it would be more fun than anything. The sultry satin skirt by Ralph Lauren, the strong red power suit by Versace, and the sequined sunflower dress (famous for being worn by Naomi Campbell in the 90′s) were some of my favourites to shoot.
What I loved about this project the most is it’s a nice reminder of how trends from past era’s tend to repeat themselves and how vintage can still look modern when mixed with other elements. In this case; sleek hair, minimal accessories and a roof top car park which was deserted because everyone was celebrating Anzac Day in Australia like any normal people would be doing. I guess I thought celebrating Anzac Day would be more enjoyable with sequined sunflowers appropriately placed across my bust region?
The exhibition runs from April 18th – May 12th so if you’re around Sydney this weekend be sure to make the short trip out to Westfield Miranda to have a look before the exhibition closes on Sunday!
Photos by Zanita / All vintage clothing from the Neo-Nineties exhibition