Amusingly referred to as “Perth’s version of the Oscars”, the WA Design Awards brought together Perth’s version of “celebrities”, established designers and design students to honour the abundance of creativity WA has to offer.

Usually the longest night on the Festival calendar, the event featured ten diverse categories that gave the audience a visual smörgasboard of the wearable and the seemingly unwearable (but creative all the same).

Beginning the ceremony was the STM Reader’s Choice Award, which, unlike the other categories, was decided by a public vote through The Sunday Times newspaper. The theme for this year’s award was “Red Carpet Glamour” with entrants providing many individual takes on the celebrity gown. However, classic won out with Ingrid Hocking’s satin-bodiced, tulle-skirted offering scooping the majority of reader votes.

Always a highlight, the often-eccentric student categories followed with the contemporary styling of Eveningwear starting the division. A line-up of eight designs took to the runway, but Kirby-Lee Calderwood’s crocheted creation stole all the attention. The long black lacy gown not only acquired her the winner’s cheque, but later the coveted Supreme Student Award, which is bestowed upon the student winner whose designs have garnered the most points.

Childish, babydoll designs were hot property in the Women’s Ready-to-Wear category, with two cheeky ensembles taking top honours. Claire Collister’s second-placed effort was a circle-skirted smock with leg-of-mutton sleeves, while Kirsten Shadbolt’s winning design featured pale pink tiers worn over old-fashioned bloomers.

A small field of four entries comprised Men’s Ready-to-Wear, where the winner was an easy pick (though we might be biased). One of our PFF Guest Editors, Hayley Barsden, combined with Yasmin Kopij to produce a very unusual navy ensemble influenced by desert nomads. The winning designers showed great attention to detail, even making their model’s leather shoes themselves.

Previously named “Fantasia”, the Costume Design category allowed entrants to think well outside the square and possibly into space with a couple of the creations channelling Star Wars and The Jetsons. But the judges favoured fairytales instead, with Sophie Webber’s “Little Wooly Riding Hood” costume taking the title, displaying a fur-like cape over a little red frock.

The experienced designers from the Open division began their winning campaigns with the hotly contested Directional Lifestyle category. Eight ranges from seven labels made the cut, with annual campaigner Hue Le Designs presenting two collections. Hue Le managed to reap the runner-up award for its black and grey women’s wear, but it was the lads from Chauncey who took the major prize with their beige, blue and bold printed jersey creations.

The boys’ favourite category – swimwear – followed with an array of super-bright, cut-out bikinis. The brightest of them all, by Lascivious, was crowned winner and featured multicoloured striped briefs completed with braces, worn over a checkerboard bandeau top.

First-timer category Racewear was a puzzle for most entrants, and a cringe-worthy affair for those very few racetrack regulars present. Steeped in tradition, racewear has rules that should be adhered to, with the crucial one being to show minimal skin (skirts should be longer, shoulders should be covered). Runner-Up Alice Nolan was probably the only designer in the field with previous experience, having worn her delicate, pale gold and black lace dress in the finals of this year’s Ascot Fashions on the Field. This set up a controversial win for Adam Wore Short Pants, with their name giving a hint as to what was wrong with their entry – the tiered silk frock was simply too short (and strapless).

The sweeping, silk-laden creations of the Bridal category brought the Open division to a close. While most designers elected to stick with virginal white, one finalist presented an unconventional lime green take on the wedding dress. But it was one of two entries from Eimear Lynn’s Brides by Design label that took honours. Created in white brocade, the strapless gown featured a thigh-high bow and was paired with an off-the-shoulder, shawl-cum-bolero.

The final award of the evening was the most important of the Festival, as it would honour WA’s favourite designer for 2007. The finalists were announced at the first event of the Festival – the Media Launch – and again paraded their wares for the Design Awards crowd.

Joveeba, by Ali Cotton, displayed a sweet, innocent collection of creamy tones with a 70s vibe. The trio behind One Fell Swoop also showed an outwardly feminine collection, with subdued pinky tones taking prominence in their pleated, puckered and tucked tailoring. Kylie Radford of Morrison presented her luxe take on casual wear, with silks falling like liquid into loungy silhouettes that were gathered softly around necklines, waists and hems. Perennial finalists Sonia Audino and Silvana Cristillo from Sü used a predominantly red and black palette to sculpt their feminine daywear. And former winner Alvin Fernandez from Ae’lkemi created drama with his striking eveningwear and interesting use of feathers.

In one of the few non-surprising decisions of the night, Kylie Radford’s Morrison was crowned WA Designer of the Year, with the label also receiving $5,000 cash for its impressive endeavours. But it’s not as if Radford is strapped for cash – her immediate plans including opening a fifth retail store, this time in Melbourne’s Chadstone shopping centre.

Question of the night: “What were the judges thinking??” (In a lot of cases, it was a rhetorical question.)

Talking point of the night: the gift bags supplied to attendees, which contained very little at the beginning of the evening but somehow wound up very heavy at the end of the night. Coincidentally, there were plenty of unopened bottles of sponsors’ products present at the close of proceedings, but half an hour later not a full bottle could be found… Unfortunately, security guards soon clued in to what was happening, but not soon enough for most patrons to leave with a more adequately filled goodie bag.

Photos from the Runway