With a collection called “Tartt” it was immediately obvious who Kate Sylvester had been both reading, and had been influenced by with her new AW2015 collection.  Donna Tartt, Pulitzer prizewinning author of both The Secret History and The Goldfinch features with both influences from her books, and also Tartt’s own personal style. The collection has a very feminine, elegant “rich girl” feel to it.  With layers of silks and cashmere, knee length skirts and scarves tied at the neck – it is elegant and classic with a twist of almost grunge in there at times. With a a wonderful full colour palette, it all felt like it could have been a catwalk anywhere in the world – prim, polished and perfect (and just a little bit subverted). There was also an androgenous  feel (girls wearing blazers, mens shirts) which was given a further push by sending men down the catwalk dressed in the same collection.  There were mutterings in the audience of the re-immergence of menswear from KS, but it was just all part of the show.

The finale with the catwalk showered with pieces of The Goldfinch like confetti flung in handfuls from the lighting rig was one of the major highlights of the week and a fitting way to end it. We started with a bang (NOM*d) and ended with the perfect, elegant flutter reminding us of the breadth of designers working in New Zealand.