Charity Begins At Fashion Week @ ChinaShop

[ 22 September 2009 ]

September is a month which revolves around fashion. As the seasons change, Vogue’s biggest issue of the year is released, & fashion events kick off all around the planet, from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week & Couture Fashion Week in New York to Moda Donna in Italy & London Fashion Week in the United Kingdom.

Of course, fashion week has its issues. People who don’t care about fashion — of which there are many — look down on it as a shallow, meaningless event, & this is not always helped by what occurs on & off the runway. Fashion shows are notorious for tyrannical egos, staunch clipboard-holders & enormous cups of Starbucks. Celebrities descend in droves, designers take theatrical bows, & street-style snappers are worshipped with an almost religious fervour.

However, down in the antipodes — or more specifically, in Auckland, New Zealand, home of Air New Zealand Fashion Week — the atmosphere is different. Yes, there will be shows, parties, gaggles of journalists foaming at the mouth, all commencing on Monday the 21st of September. But in a strange & fabulous twist, 240 of New Zealand’s most well-known & glamorous names will shirk their stilettos in exchange for sneakers. They’re going to take up hammers & build a house right in the middle of the furor…