Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) has come and gone in one deft swoop and in it's wake, left behind much speculation about what is to come for the Australian fashion industry and who are the next designers who will be snatched up by local and international buyers. Yes, it was a huge week, the biggest in fact that Fashion Week has ever seen.

Post-fashion week just a glance at the schedule is enough to send you into a bit of a meltdown, it was so overflowing with 'not to miss’ shows which made RAFW less of a cruise and more of a marathon. The schedule boasted some huge local and international names such as Alex Perry, Sass & Bide, Akira, Lisa Ho and Jayson Brunsdon. Also included on the bill were those elusive ‘ones-to-watch’ who have now, due to fantastic collections, been promoted from 'emerging' to emerged such as Daniel Avakian, Gary Bigeni and Friedrich Gray.

For those who think RAFW is all glamour, champers, stilettos and fun, you can rest assured that this isn’t always the case. Often it is waiting (and waiting and waiting) in lines surrounded by a suspect stench of otto bin (yes even at Fashion Week), fighting for seats, sore stilettoed feet, long days and little to eat, and then waking up to do it all over again. The jam packed schedule saw many attendees displaying chronic symptoms of FOMO (fear of missing out); ridiculously tired, hungry and sick of waiting in lines but not wanting to miss any of the shows because you could never be sure that the show you missed wouldn't turn out to be 'The One'.  But whinging and grumbling aside, in the end it was all well worth it, because sitting in the OPT, Studio or Cargo Hall afforded you the thrill of baring witness to some of Australia’s biggest and brightest designers and experiencing the joy of fashion and design.

Perhaps it is the fact that Australians are renowned for being easygoing and down to earth, but it can be noted that RAFW 2008 was largely void of pretence, except for a small handful of unmentionables. Kudos goes to Simon Locke the organiser of the event, who instead of swanning around in the VIP areas in all his importance, made himself quite accessible and seen on the streets of Circular Quay just like the rest of us mere mortals, and even brought his children along to some shows.  Also, special mention to Kirstie Clements the editor of  Vogue Australia who truly is an exception to the rule that all editors are uppity and unapproachable, by contrast she was all smiles and cheer throughout the week.

RAFW 2008 was all busy, testing and tiring, but 2threads wouldn’t have missed it for the world. We got to sit in on some amazing shows from both new and more established designers, we had coffee after coffee at our disposal as we rushed back to the media room between shows to tap out reviews, we gained much needed inspiration for our lack-lustre wardrobes and got to brush shoulders (albeit very lightly) with some of today’s biggest fashion fixtures such as editors, bloggers, photographers and the odd model.

For all the coverage of the event head here!

Check out the 2threads RAFW hits and misses here!