Pip Edwards goes incognito in extraordinary look at Derby Day as new trend emerges
Brush off your fascinators – racing season has officially arrived! This season, however, it appears subtle just won’t do when it comes to headwear.
Australia’s most talked-about stars gathered at Derby Day in extraordinary looks that garnered some serious double takes. Case in point: Pip Edwards.
With layers of ruffles, towering boots, and a helmet fit for the track, Edwards certainly found a way to stand out. Getty Images
The Australian fashion designer made a grand entrance at the event that marks the beginning of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in a delicately ruffled Mariam Seddiq dress with a train.
The 46-year-old joked of her train to The Sydney Morning Herald she was “just a street cleaner”.
“I was like, ’f--- it.”
A closer look at the back and train. Stunning! Getty Images
But it wasn’t the exquisite design that captured people’s attention – it was the headdress that obscured almost half her face. (You can be forgiven for not realising it was her.)
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It was all in the details for Edwards, who teamed her equestrian-style helmet with netting that draped over her ears and beneath the chin by Samantha Cook Millinery, with the most dramatic boots on the ground.
Jimmy Choo thigh-high lace-up, of course.
Sharing a collection of photos with her Instagram followers, she described the look “femme noir”.
In an interview with nine.com.au, stylist Tara Pokarier predicted we would see more daring looks this spring as racegoers are far less interested in playing it safe.
Lana brought the drama in futuristic, yet femme look Getty Images
“It’s going to be an exciting year for fashion because we are moving away from those traditional, safe, expected outfits into more of the trend-driven but also reworkable looks,” Pokarier explained.
And her prediction appears to have been bang on because it wasn’t just the Australian designer turning heads at the event.
Stylist Lana Wilkinson shimmied through the event in a futuristic fringed skirt and sculptured top with a folded three-dimensional effect toward the collarbone by Toni Maticevski.
With an outfit that dramatic, Wilkinson left the details simple: a layered headband by Melissa Jackson Millinery and Toni Maticevski, sparkling almond-shaped earrings and transparent heels – of course, from her eponymous collection.
It’s just Day One at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, which means the drama has no chance of slowing down any time soon. Especially as colour comes into play in the coming days.
If Pokarier is to be believed we can expect to see butter yellow “sculptural silhouettes, fringe, feathers statement millinery and floral embellishments”.
