In the grand tradition of the New Zealand Four (Karen Walker, Nom*D, Zambesi and World – the participants of the groundbreaking New Zealand 99/00 London Fashion Week group show) and the Antwerp Six (Dries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee – the avant-garde alumni of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts) the Sydney Morning Herald have today dubbed Romance Was Born, Dion Lee, Christopher Esber, Friedrich Gray, Konstantina Mittas and Therese Rawsthorne “The Sydney Six”.
Apparently the Sydney-dwelling collective are characterized by a penchant for the avant-garde or as the SMH explains: “this darker face of Australian design has ditched predictable wearable fashion, instead taking delight in their power to thrill”. You’d think most labels would have an aversion to “predictable wearable fashion” so what then, unites these designers? The article also describes the collective as “edgy designers ready to play havoc at Australian Fashion Week next month” which might be of note if said Fashion Week wasn’t held in the city they all reside in.
Mmm still a bit ambiguous if you ask us. The Antwerp Six was united by an institution, The Zealand Four by a group showing overseas – what then unites The Sydney Six aside from the most tenuous of connections and some serious spinning?
Have you ever heard of The Sydney Six and do they really share an aesthetic kinship? If not, what location/number collective would you suggest instead?
