When Michelle Jank decided to pursue a career in fashion design, it was because it was her “calling.” Perhaps calling is the right word to describe her vision; after all, this is the designer whom Cate Blanchett once called the “anointed one” and who counts Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts as fans.

Like designers Akira Isogawa and Nicole Zimmermann, Jank began her career at Fashion Design Studio at East Sydney TAFE. She debuted at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in 2000, where Joan Burstein famously ran backstage to buy Jank's entire collection. Jank was dubbed the “Next Big Thing” and the hype surrounding her was unstoppable.

Eight years since her debut at MAFW, the hype surrounding Jank has settled but she is still extremely relevant to the fashion landscape. As well as being a designer, she has been a stylist for magazines such as Vogue Australian and Good Living Fashion. Add model (Jank modelled when she was younger) and jewellery designer to her credentials, and you have a designer who can do pretty much anything.

Jank’s Spring/Summer 08/09 collection debuted at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week this year, the first to include clothing with her jewellery in three years. Titled “Suspending Belief,” the collection may be a somewhat ‘safe’ palette of black, white and grey but the designs of the clothing are fit for a goddess. Highlights include a white, jewel-encrusted tier dress and a flowing, grey Grecian gown.

(www.vogue.com.au

What do you guys think of Michelle Jank’s spring/summer collection? Will you be buying it this season?