Annie Brown.
Perhaps the best indicator that all things sparkly are shimmying into the spotlight is the sudden, almost inexplicable internet popularity of an app called KiraKira.
The app, developed by Japanese programmers nearly two years ago, found a whole new audience when the fashion crowd, including model Kendall Jenner and legendary make-up artist Pat McGrath, discovered it – and its ability to highlight and enhance sparkle via a choice of eight filters – during fashion month in September.
This week it was the App Store’s fourth most downloaded paid app.
Proof then that it’s not just fashion types (and Rihanna) Instagramming themselves in the now cult-status (and wait-listed) $11,798 slouchy pirate-style glitter boots Saint Laurent sent down the runway earlier this year, or the street-style set wearing the similarly in-demand Chanel space age glitter go go boots.
Meanwhile the trailers for Margot Robbie’s stint as controversial ice-skating champion and sequin aficionado, Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, have landed and the runways at the recent shows were kaleidoscopic with New York-based label Monse, Dolce & Gabanna and Versace all sending down kilowatt designs.
It’s a movement, if not a mood. ‘‘Sequins reflect optimism,’’ Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse told New York Magazine of their New York Fashion Week show, which featured dresses slashed into sequinned ribbons adorned with stars.
It’s an idea that resonates with Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales of the fabulously optimistic label Romance Was Born.
No strangers to using sequins in their colourful creations, a highlight of their new collection Electro Orchid, a collaboration with their friend, artist Del Kathryn Barton, are the gleaming, tiered dresses and rainbow mesh flared trousers that are made for a wood fairy on her way to a disco.
For Plunkett and Sales, glitter and sequins – something they point out can be labour intensive to work with – are all about capturing an essence.
‘‘We love working with elements that catch the light and add depth or sparkle to a print or texture that we’ve used in our collections. There is always an element of happiness, fun and optimism with our work, and we feel like a bit of shimmer makes most women smile,’’ say Plunkett and Sales.
‘‘We have used sparkle throughout our collections for years, whether that is glitter, Swarovski crystals or even agate slices that we have embroidered into a jacket. For us it’s not about trends at all.
‘‘It’s about a feeling of being uplifted and living in the moment. We think that this is the vibe that other global brands have also wanted to inspire.’’
Rachel Gilbert is another Australian designer who knows her way around a sequin. For Gilbert, who often uses sequins and metallics in her evening gowns, sequins are ideal for dressing up and down.
And there’s a whole lot of fun to be had with both.
‘‘There’s something about sequins that evokes a feeling of occasion and celebration – the fun of dressing up and going out – there’s a certain charm in that emotion,’’ she says.
Just in time for party season (or at least your annual boogie at the work Christmas do) all things shimmery are back, writes