Few personalities in Australian history carry the same level of infamy that Rosaleen Norton, the Witch of Kings Cross, does. A devotee of the greek god Pan, openly bisexual, Norton was defiant of conservative rules and gender norms (she would often be spotted around Darlinghurst Road, smoking, dressed in men’s clothing). This rebellious and seductive spirit that Norton personified was invoked (perhaps literally, via the powerful performance from Fetu Taku at the start) in Thorn, the new collection form Newtown-based demi-couture atelier Nicol and Ford shown at Australian Fashion Week.

Thorn, Norton’s magical name, hints at the hidden pain beneath the beauty of the rose. Likewise were models playing with similar tensions in a collection that explored 50s kink aesthetics. Arms restrained behind their back, some consciously doing so while others tied up with the horsetail-like plaits that, on others, flicked through the air like a whip. Clothes juxtaposed between soft, floating looks with python print, cinched corsetry and lace loungewear. One look was made with what looked like Shibari, a Japanese rope bondage practice.

One of Norton’s biggest influences, the equally notorious Aleister Crowley, allegedly once said that magick (his spelling) was “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.” What is fashion, if not the same thing? The art of dressing to influence our own mind and change the perception of those around us. This magic is what co-designers, Katie-Louise and Lil Nicol-Ford, created with Thorn, pulling the beauty out of our darkest fantasies.

There’s few designers in Sydney who currently operate to the technical skill of Nicol and Ford, let alone work in the unfettered, while still precise, manner they do when it comes to their creative process. This was evident in a chainmail dress that despite its apparent weight, managed to still moved with the fluidity and lightness of satin.

The look that closed the show also stole the show: a dress made entirely of clam shells, worn by performance artist Jamaica Moana who became a literal Venus in her half shell on the runway.

Blessed be indeed.

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