Behind the Scenes Assisting Visionary Stylist Karinda Mutabazi at Melbourne Fashion Week

WORDS BY NFC STUDENT, CHARLOTTE YANKO

If you had told me six months ago that I would be assisting one of Australia’s best stylists at Melbourne Fashion Week (MFW), I wouldn’t have believed you for a second, but here we are. I had the most unbelievable time. It was such a whirlwind, ten days of crazy hard work and incredible styling that led us to our final shows — but let’s go back to how it all started.

Melbourne Fashion Week, believe it or not, does not start the week of; there are months of preparation. I had just started at the National Fashion College when I was given the amazing opportunity to meet with Karinda Mutabazi for an internship, and I couldn’t have been more excited. Karinda is an incredible stylist and creative who has a vision like no other.

One Month before First Show Day: My internship began with a photoshoot styled by Karinda for The Herald Sun, showcasing Melbourne Fashion Week looks and setting up Student Graduate designs showcased in boxes at the Emporium. This is to give the Melbourne general public a taste of what’s to come with MFW.

Twenty Days before First Show Day: For MFW, Karinda was a stylist for two runway shows; Media Preview and The Emporium.

Media Preview brings together twenty looks from shows across the week into a small showcase to kick off the program for Melbourne’s  media. This runway was held in an empty office building in Melbourne’s CBD, including looks from the Student Graduate collection, Australian Designers and The Emporium.

The Emporium Runway was a collection of different brands showcased at the Emporium shopping centre; this included clothing taken directly from the stores and then styled by Karinda. It was a really fun day as Karinda, Joshua the Head-dresser and I went into various stores including Marimekko, Maje, Sandro, and Altea to style and pull looks. The exciting part about working on the Emporium Runway was that we were able to go into stores to actually look and feel the clothes. This usually doesn’t happen until the fittings or prep days, so it made the process a lot smoother.

Karinda and Joshua had been prepping for months prior to this, casting models and working on the concept. The Emporium runway was to be held outside on Little Bourke Street, and Karinda’s concept was to showcase Melbourne people and their street style in a real-life setting. The concept was so cool, with attitude and performance from the models and props to tell a story.

Ten Days until First Show Day: And finally, we were here, MFW prep. The runways are prepped in The Goods Shed in Melbourne’s Docklands, which is where the crazy ten days started.

First things first, we needed to do inventory of all the products and designs that had been sent to us, to ensure there were no damages prior. This is highly important because, if you weren’t aware, in the fashion industry a lot of the time stylists need to front the costs of any damages made to clothing and shoes.

Once we had inventoried all of the items, it was on to taping shoes. Taping the bottoms of shoes is highly important for the same reason — to prevent any damage. As our shoes were being worn on asphalt on Little Bourke Street, we had to do layers of masking tape and a special textured adhesive.

Once we had sorted the inventory, we went about organising the looks for our fittings day.

Fittings: Fittings were a highlight of mine. It was a huge couple of days as we fitted ninety-four looks in total. Fittings are the foundation of a runway, by ensuring the designs are being worn by the right model. It is a process consisting of many different aspects.

On fittings day, a model would come in and try four to five looks. We would dress them with accessories and potential shoes, making sure to check sizing, fit, and the general vibe of the garment on a particular model. Karinda would then style them, change accessories and shoes accordingly, and would then sign off on the look. We then took photos of the model for the runway board and spec sheets.

A runway board is a large plastic board that has every look in order from the start of the runway to finish. It is a vital tool to ensure the colours of the outfits and looks of the models suit the concept. It also helps to ensure a variety of different styles and pieces are spread out and displayed in a way that is appealing to the audience.

A spec sheet is a sheet of paper that details the specifics of how an outfit with accessories is to be worn. It is the bible for a runway show, as it tells the dressers on the day exactly how an outfit should be styled. Most dressers haven’t seen the looks until a dress rehearsal, so it is very important to be specific.

I loved getting to know the models and networking throughout the fittings days.

Showdays: Here we are; we made it to the show days. Our first show was the Media Preview. It was a whirlwind; we arrived for an early start at 530 Collins Street, where we had an entire floor of the office building as our runway. Once we got there, we set up all the looks onto racks for each model. Our models had two looks for the show. We then met the dressers, and our models came in from hair and makeup. Dress rehearsals are so important because you can catch anything that is not working and figure out the timing for getting the models dressed into each look. We had a dresser allocated to each model, with our team there to help with quick changes and styling.

Finally, they called five minutes; all the models were dressed in their first looks. It was incredible seeing our hard work come to life. Clothes being draped everywhere, five people trying to get one model dressed in twenty seconds — it was crazy but honestly couldn’t have been more fun. The music playing, the fast-paced nature of getting models dressed, and checking the monitor to view how the models look on the runway made me feel emotional. Karinda’s styling was unmatched. Each model told a story with their look and accessories. It was theatrical in the way Karinda had styled the outfits. The adrenaline running through my body was similar to riding a rollercoaster.

We weren’t finished there; our Emporium Runway was the coolest event I have ever been to. We had two shows — no dress rehearsal as it would give away our looks to the public, and a tiny tent with about a hundred guests inside. The way the looks and music told a story was breathtaking, all in the heart of Melbourne. There were up to four looks per model, so it was a little crazier than our Media Preview Show, but so rewarding.

I’d have to say it was probably one of the best two weeks of my life. It solidified how much I want to work in the fashion industry. Karinda is a fantastic mentor with amazing talent, and I am so grateful to have been able to see how she approaches her work.

If you are thinking about assisting on a runway with a stylist and have the opportunity to do so, do it! Some tips I would share are to be open to learning, say yes to as many opportunities as possible, and network as much as you can. Forming a good rapport with someone goes a long way, and you never know who you might be working with in the future. 

Runways until I die, please!

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