L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival preview

• Fashion
• Collections
• LMFF
• Melbourne
• Runway

• 
• 

L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival kicks off its eight-day program from Sunday 15th March to Sunday 22nd March.

Australia's definitive fashion festival, LMFF has been presenting the latest in Australian fashion to shoppers and fashion fans since 1997. Each year Melbourne booms with events both free and exclusive, living up to its reputation as Australia's fashion capital. This year's cultural program is so extensive, good luck to you if you were hoping to avoid fashion in this city.

Beyond ogling and gasping at glamorous runway shows, fashion industry types and up-and-comers can learn tricks of the trade at a range of seminars.

Ben Evans, Director of the London Design Festival, is one of six experts speaking at the Business Seminar on Friday March 20. A veteran of the acid house days in London, he is speaking on creative places, an idea that's firmly at the heart of Melbourne's perception of itself as a creative capital.

"Every city wants to be seen as a creative place. It is good for business. It attracts the right kind of talented people who in turn feed that reputation," he says. "When all that happens it is creativity that dominates popular thinking."

It's a tough job blending commerciality and creativity in an event like LMFF. Karen Webster and crew do it well. Evans says it's all about variety. "Big showcasing events should offer an umbrella for both ideas and commerciality. But it is easy to be swamped by money which ultimately pollutes ideas. When organising such events you need to make sure that there are enough quality creative ideas which tend to be the stories that interest both the press and most of the audience... it is something you have to continually monitor."

For the full rundown on free and not-so-free events visit LMFF.

Photo: from Sarah Schofield's student range