Hey guys, happy fashion week here in Melbourne! Today is the first day of spring and even before this day arrived, it felt like spring thanks to Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out last week.

If you follow my instagram and snapchat, you would have seen that I hosted an event last Friday at Collins Place in Melbourne’s CBD for VAEFNO. I am on a high right now because I am so happy with what a fabulous night it was and all the nerves I had in the lead up, completely disappeared when I walked out onto that stage and saw many of you in the audience, the relaxed and warm set up the style team set up for you and just the excitement I saw on the faces of the audience to hear about all things Spring/Summer fashion.

The runway was supported by Rokk Ebony hair stylists, lead by Charlene Fernandez (women’s hair) and Rob Ferlaino for Rokk Man Barbers and as you can see, it was hair braid city and I am completely obsessed. I am such a hair girl, I prefer hair trends to makeup trends and when I saw the hair forecast with braiding for S/S17′ I got so excited that I needed a little feature in my hair too!

Now, as for the fashion, this year for VAEFNO the theme was ‘sports luxe’ and yes, we have seen this trend in the years gone by but what I loved about the Collins Place runway, was that lead fashion stylist, Anika Walker (who I must admit is my new current girl crush! agh! mum of three and one of the best stylists I have met!) made the sports luxe trend her own and showed it in a more nautical way, something most of us can really relate to, think Hampton’s style, polo and pool side. White trousers, striped tops and over sized sunglasses took to the stage and one key styling point I loved was that Anika worked back sneakers into skirts and dresses, a fresh take on a ‘go-to-look’. My highlight retailers from the event were Seed, Feathers, Mollini, Rhodes and Beckett and Milliner Felicity Northeast.

I had a Q&A with Anika on stage and I got some great tips and trends from her for Spring Racing and for S/S17′ in general:

  • Off the shoulder tops, dresses, jumpsuits are going to be huge!
  • White sneakers are great for everyday and try pairing them back with striped dresses.
  • Black is still our friend for the Melbourne fashionista, find great black wardrobe basics such as leather jackets or perhaps a black off-shoulder jumpsuit.
  • When thinking about your spring racing outfit, start with the dress/garments first and then millinery second.
  • Keep the colour element of your racing outfit to a maximum of three colours to work with.
  • Dress for your style, your body shape, your colours and if you are comfortable you will feel confident.
  • For the guys, a pop of colour in your socks, square pocket or tie is a great way to embrace some life into your racing look.

Thanks so much to Collins Place x Rokk Ebony for having me host their fantastic event, I had such a great time, Anika and her team at Your Look are the best in the biz and I left the event feeling so inspired ready to take on the spring racing carnival!