Alex Perry opens Sydney Fashion Festival

• Fashion
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Sydney’s very public week of fashion parties kicked off last night with a glam and celebrity soaked Alex Perry for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) show in a marquee that will fill most of Martin Place until Sunday.

The pre-show atmosphere was excited and buzzing as paying guests milled around the VIP bar waiting for their week of fashion to begin.

The first show of the inaugural Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival featured Alex Perry's flouncy gowns modelled by actors, models and celebs such as Tahyna Tozzi, Erin McNaught, Tara Moss and the glorious Anneliese Seubert.

Sarah Murdoch opened the evening, informing the audience that 13,000 women are diagnosed with the illness each year, and that 10% of those diagnosed are under 45. Confident and charming, Murdoch reminded us that FTBC does work, and has raised $15million for the cause in the past year. She lightened the mood, joking about how long it has been since she walked a catwalk as a model; for more than a decade she has been devoted to charity work for FTBC.

Anneliese Seubert another old-hand at the runway shows also made a return in a magnificent black and diamond full-bustle gown and it was an utter delight. She's still incredibly beautiful and elegant in a European ballerina kind of way. If you don't know who is, ask a 30ish sister and she will gush about the days when Seubert and Alison Brahe ruled the covers of Dolly magazine, how they looked up to her striking beauty and tried to avoid the sun just to look more like her.

FTBC promises an exciting new campaign for next year. If it involves a more wearable T-shirt design than the current target design, then that cannot be a bad thing. There must be thousands of stylish, conscientious fashion freaks out there who can't bring themselves to wear the current design despite all their best fundraising intentions.

RSFF is a public event, unlike the trade-focussed Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, so last night's guests paid $120 for their own fashion experience.

Three women from Menai in NSW's Sutherland Shire, Michele Semsarian, Nicole Semsarian and Eleni Parmagos enjoyed their first ever runway show, including the ample complimentary canapes and Rosemount wines before the show and the goodie bag stuffed with bits of paper, magazines, make-up and hair care products.

"It was a really great experience and definitely worth the money," said Michele Semsarian. "We just wish the show had gone for a bit longer."