It seems Australians aren’t the only ones from the Antipodes captured by fashion’s new pastel mood. Kiwi cool kids Stolen Girlfriends Club have given us a sneak peek at their new resort range, and it’s flushing with the same sense of soft sophistication we saw on the RAFW runways earlier this year at Gary Bigeni, Sara Phillips, Karla Spetic, Therese Rawsthorne and Arnsdorf. The look is a mix of loose tailoring, relaxed shapes and delicate fabrics, rendered in feminine shades of peach, sky, sand and virgin white. 

This is a take on femininity that is distinctly southern. Flowing shifts, feather-light layers and soft, sheer cottons are ideal for our scorching, sticky summers, and yet, it’s such a departure from what one usually associates with Australian summer style. Gone are the florescent hued body-con dresses, the unraveling, five-day-festival-bender slouchiness of the neo-boho look and the unfortunate tendencies towards swimmers as outerwear.  

Hemlines still skim the thigh and shoulders, spines and sometimes even stomachs remain revealed in this new look, yet it feels more demure, done-up and delicate. Perhaps flesh-tones help neutralize flesh exposure, or maybe it’s just harder to look brash in silk chiffon, but whatever the reason for Oceania’s sudden maturation in style, we applaud it.

Of course, this being Stolen Girlfriends Club, they’re hardly playing the look straight, for every flounce of femme they add a cheeky twist. Poet sleeved blouses rise up to skim the navel, cut-offs and boyfriend jeans have cheese-grater fray marks, while sheer panels provide false modesty on short shorts, shifts and party frocks… and then there are the circle cupped blouses, that reminds us of Regina George's teeshirt incident in Mean Girls, although Stolen’s take is done with aplomb. 

The sheer detailing and elements of drape are carried into menswear, although the result here is more punk than prairie, with a khaki replacing sorbet shades for added weight. 


The Stolen Girlfriends Club member’s identity remains unaltered – they’re still the kid at the party that manages to be both hot and cool, if a little inaccessible – but they show an impressive ability to adapt this aesthetic according to trends. Not surprising then that the label has been tipped to gain the crown once worn by ksubi when it comes to hipster fashion.