Sara Phillips has become widely known for her cute use of prints and easy to wear shapes. This rather reflects the designer herself, un-fussy and cute! Last years outing was a spectacular Buffalo Stance homage, playing with the idea of cowboys and western dressing. For SS1112 Phillips has done a 180 with an Australian inspired collection featuring a lot of local flora and fauna. It was evident this was the way it was heading when we basically sat on a bottlebrush placed on our seat. The show centrepiece was more on this theme, but enormous!

Ochre and rust made for a fitting opening colour palette, more than slightly referencing our unofficial national colour palette. So the land was brought to the garments, what would be next? The prints were quietly spectacular, with a snakeskin offering to rival any Roberto Cavalli number. Combined with more subdued colourings it didn’t seem ostentatious, more fun than anything. The prints just kept on coming, with floral motifs covering all number of pieces – shirts, jackets, dresses, pants. You name it, it was printed. The most successful pieces were those where prints were combined in a mash of textures. It’s a very Dries Van Noten thing to do, and always makes for a great presentation.

Drape was back in full force, wrapped around the body in skirts and dresses. After last years more masculine theme, this truly was an exercise in femininity. Embellishment is a rather new technique for Phillips, but it seems to be quite successful. We particularly liked the gold and black looks towards the end, which screamed fashion editorial. The styling was minimal, with only short ankle boots and a granny style loafer. It was lovely, and the next step up for the Sara Phillips label.

Photos courtesy Luke Byrne, pages’ official RAFW photographer