What I wore this- week

It was the last night of fashion week. A flurry of sakurapetals came raining down on the runway, while Japanese performer Yumi Umiumare danced to the urgent rhythms of koto and taiko drums, positioned under a great cherry tree blossom. Last week’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia resort event was certainly a surprise to some of the international buyers who travelled up to 24 hours to get to Sydney.

Few were expecting an extravaganza like this from Camilla, which at 15 years old, is practically a heritage brand by antipodean standards. But Camilla’s Japanese theme wasn’t the only sign of Australia’s increasingly cosmopolitan approach to the fashion business. The brand is emblematic of a much wider internationalisation gripping the local industry — and the retail fault lines that are emerging as a result.