The L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival is like any fashion week anywhere in the world: designers, models, buyers, editors & stylists revelling in a sartorial orgy which lasts for the longest seven days of your life. By the time of the closing night party, blisters are rampant, skin is dehydrated and sallow, and everyone is feeling just a tad bit blind from the non-stop camera flashes. Your bed is calling your name; your name has never sounded sweeter. 
But this year, Melbourne’s fashion week has a point of difference. It has a simple and straightforward slogan: “Get Happy”. In the advertising campaign, there is nary a sour or sultry look to be had. No — instead, the models are smiling and laughing. Photographed by Stephen Chee, models Katya & Tina look delighted just to be in front of a camera, and let’s face it, they probably were.

It makes a wonderful change, but why the smiles?  The creative was about “celebrating the fun & success of Australian fashion”, in this case masterminded by paper stone scissors in collaboration with Festival Director Karen Webster. The L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival is now Australia’s biggest consumer and retail-driven fashion event. It attracts an international audience and features 350 of the country’s top models wearing Australia’s best designers.
Karen Webster said, “When you look at these images you can’t help but smile yourself. It dawned on me last year during one of our shows that there was a real buzz and so much excitement and anticipation. Yet at the time we were in the midst of an economic crisis and in Victoria we had just been through the most hideous time in our history. I was really concerned that the festival would be seen as flippant, but actually it was the opposite. People were looking for a feel-good factor that wasn’t going to cost them a fortune. So this year we’ve decided to embrace it. It’s about bringing people together to have a great time.”
“Personally, I love to see a model smile. I don’t want them to look miserable. I want them to look like they love wearing those clothes,” she added.

The L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival runs from March 14 to 21, & you can keep up with the Festival goings-on by checking their blog. 
Photos courtesy of lmff.com.au

Words by Gala Darling