Stitching up a mega fashion show – the stats about Fashfest 2014

Posted on 7 May, 2014

It was epic in its own right. This year, Fashfest proved it’s here to stay as the pre-eminent, red-carpet fashion event on Canberra’s annual social calendar.

Saturday night sold out with more than 900 guests attending, including 65 who showed up at the last minute at the venue provided by Canberra Airport to buy standing-room-only tickets (released that day).

The statistics are mind boggling.

VIPs in the FASHFEST front row. Photo by Avon Dissanayake.

Fashfest’s Makeup Director, Karen Mathias of M:Artistry, had a team of 70 making the event’s 70 models look absolutely stunning. The makeup team included 30 fully qualified artists and 40 students, including from the Canberra Makeup Academy. Together they applied 70 sets of full lashes, used 350 disposable mascara wands, 200 disposable sponges, 21 packets of makeup remover pads, and six full kits of makeup (including 24 lipstick colours, 12 foundation colours and 24 eyeshadows and blush colours).

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Director of Hair, Wayne Friend from Form Hair, says his team used more than 160 cans of product, around 300 bands and 50 tubs of pins. The hair team was an impressive size, with 40 hairdressers on hand for Saturday night only. Fourteen salons assigned staff to Fashfest 2014 and CIT students were on hand too.

This year Fashfest broke record after record, starting with its model call which attracted more than 160 applicants, including models travelling from interstate to see if they could get their foot in the door.

The 2014 event entertained more guests than its inaugural year, had more volunteers than ever and organisers even worked on a collaboration with four local artists, designer Shelley Campton and Jets Digital to design its own swimsuits. Stay tuned on this one—the swimmers may well become commercially available.

But it was the music and fashion and the lighting and sound that kept guests wanting more. As the Face of Fashfest Belinda Riding said, the production was superb, the show truly amazing, the energy in the room incredible.

Indeed, organisers estimate the production value was close to $1 million all up. Elite Sound and Lighting did an superb job lighting up the building, inside and out. It was wow factor.

There’s no doubt that Fashfest was an opportunity to be seen, to be interviewed and to have a giggle taking the Ultimate Selfie at a booth hosted by eventpix. The do-it-yourself fashion shoot drew crowds who created their own selfie in a makeshift studio and were within minutes tagging themselves in the photos on Fashfest’s Facebook page.

As designer Louisa de Smet, from the label Corr Blimey said of the event, ‘Even if you’re not showing, it’s a great event to be part of as a volunteer or in another capacity.’