The debut of New Zealand label Georgia Alice was the most anticipated show of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia and I missed it. Don’t get me wrong, I was there in the front row but I couldn’t see a thing. A combination of a narrow runway, models moving at a pace Olympian sprinter Usain Bolt would find difficult to match, and more smoke and lasers than a Little Mix concert left me peering at snatches of shirting and snippets of suiting.

This blink-and-you-will-miss-it strategy would make sense if designer Georgia Currie (middle name Alice) didn’t know her cotton from polyester, but she has already won the attention of fashion editors with a sophisticated approach to volume expressed through simple fabrics. Georgia Alice has been earmarked as the next Kym Ellery but from today it was difficult to tell.

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Georgia Alice Resort 17
Credit: Getty Images

From what I could make out during the final bow, executed with less violent lighting, there was plenty of shirting with elongated cuffs and strips trailing like straitjackets. The stark palette of black and white was enlivened by the very occasional piece of grey tailoring, shimmering bandeau tops and shorts and liquid silver slip dresses and skirts.

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Georgia Alice Resort 17
Credit: Getty Images

Some serious ‘90s styling, with slips over long sleeved tops called to mind Linda Evangelista’s thankfully brief grunge period and Kirsten Owen at her glummest, while the puff and ruffle of skirts and shorts raised a few smiles amidst the smoke.
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Georgia Alice Resort 17
Credit: Getty Images

Many people left the show feeling bewildered and robbed of the chance to see new talent emerge. The feeling of being robbed was slightly exacerbated by people in the back row stealing the inconveniently monogrammed Mon Purse pouch bags intended for front row VIPs. Georgia Alice took the audience down the looking hole where we couldn’t see a thing. Hopefully next time we’ll be taken to the promised Wonderland.

See the all of the looks Georgia Alice Resort 2017 show.

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Georgia Alice Resort 17
Credit: Getty Images