The Best Melbourne Fashion Festival

VAMFF

The Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF) is Australia’s largest fashion event. Taking place from March 1st until March 10th, there are tons of events going on all over the city such as shows, panels and exhibitions.

I had the opportunity to attend Runway 3, which was inspired by Harper’s BAZAAR, celebrating sophistication and simplicity. I arrived at about 5:30PM, as they had activities going on in The Plaza outside the Royal Exhibition Building until 11:00PM.

Exploring The Plaza

My favorite part was probably the Complimentary Beauty Bar. You could sign up to have your makeup, brows, lashes, or hair touched up. I had them put false eyelashes on me, though it was definitely a tough decision!

Outside of the Beauty Bar was the most perfect vending machine I could imagine. Instead of snacks, this was filled with beauty products such as eyeshadow, moisturizer and brushes and we could choose whatever product we wished free of charge! I chose a rose-hip moisturizer and this jar is so huge it will probably last me a year.

Other stops at the plaza included the Sunglasses Hut, Sketchers and tons of food and beverages. At the Sunglass Hut, you could try on any of their glasses and the team would take a picture of you, then crop it onto the cover of a magazine and print it out. Sorry to say, but I will not be sharing that gem-of-a-picture with you.

At the Sketchers gazebo, you were supposed to play a claw machine that didn’t cost an outrageous five dollars and win a prize. However, despite my years of practice in the arcade, I didn’t win anything. The food and beverages were all extremely exquisite [and expensive], though I will say it was all delicious. There was also a nice picnic area to sit and enjoy it all if you didn’t want to sit inside their pop-up restaurants.

Photo Opps

While all of this was going on, there were tons of photographers going around and taking elaborate photos of the fashionistas! I’m still trying to figure out just where my photos here are ending up, but, oh well.

At seven, they opened the doors to the runway and we were able to go in and find our seats. Upon entry, we were all greeted with San Pellegrino and a mob of cameras. Once I finally found my seat, there was a gift bag valued at $150 of product waiting for me. I won’t list everything that was in it, but I hope to do another post critiquing all the products!

The Fashion Show

As for the fashion show itself, I was amazed. The designer line-up was macgraw, Acler, VIKTORIA & WOODS, Manning Cartell, AJE, and Rachel Gilbert, ending with Ginger & Smart. It’s so cool to think that events such as these are parts of someone’s job-a dream job for me.

It was a bit difficult to get actual pictures or videos of the show due to the harsh lighting on the runway, but I did manage to snap a few of the event hall which was equally amazing. The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site that was built in 1880. It is still used for big events such as VAMFF or the Annual International Flower and Garden Show.

Though I only got tickets for the one show, I am planning to stop back at The Plaza once more before the Melbourne Fashion Festival ends on the 10th. This event was such a great experience, especially considering my major (Retailing & Consumer Behavior) and I hope to visit it again in the near future.

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