ALIX HIGGINS
Alix Higgins from
He’s made his name as a master of poetry-adorned luxe Lycra, but Alix Higgins’ real talent is the ability to blend diaphanous silk couture and pop-vibe saturated colour. Because while he takes himself and his work seriously, the 27-year-old believes good fashion should include an element of fun.
“My collections are always about creating an image of a future, a safe space for friends, a protection of sorts for my community, a new freedom.”
In fact, his first nylon collection was born from a desire to wrap himself in “a kind of digital sunset”. “As a child, I was obsessed with fantasy, cartoons, video games, and kind of playing with my own identity [through] supernatural spaces in a colour-saturated, fake backlit world,” he explains.
It wasn’t until he came across images of the Dior Haute Couture spring/summer 2004 show when he was 10 years old that he realised fashion was a place in the real world where you could pretend to be anyone or anything.
A little over a decade later, Higgins became one of just 10 international students accepted by the prestigious Institut Français de la Mode in Paris to study a Master of Arts in fashion. It was there that he learnt to combine commercial elements of business with his fantastical ideas. “I learnt couture techniques and drapery in my Master’s and I always want to exercise that part of my brain, [but] the Australian fashion industry feels so open and collaborative at the moment,” he says. “Things feel energetic again.”
Higgins starts each collection from an emotional point, “finding a word or sentence that forms the cornerstone. Then I start draping, developing textiles, researching shape and garment archetypes, writing poetry, sketching, making music, collaging and planning.
It is quite an immersive process and each collection feels cathartic in the sense that I’m putting my emotions out in the world through deeply personal printed poetry across the garments,” says Higgins, who moonlights as a lyricist and vocalist for electronic avant-pop duo Patamon. “Making music with my closest collaborator Joan Banoit has a similar catharsis. I hope to continue both ... music and fashion, as I’m not sure what else I would give to the world.”
“AUSTRALIAN FASHION FEELS SO COLLABORATIVE. THINGS FEEL ENERGETIC AGAIN”
“EACH PIECE IS DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU FEEL POLISHED AND CONFIDENT, NEVER SELF-CONSCIOUS”
To investment sensibilities, it was a risk, but one that paid off. Reviews were glowing, with one critic referring to the capsule range as a masterclass in understated chic. “There was a real sense of anticipation and excitement around being an unknown brand presenting our debut on such a large scale. I think this definitely contributed to the interest surrounding our show,” Pereira says.
From oversized blazers and relaxed wool trousers to crisp collared shirt dresses and full-length day-to-night gowns, Pereira’s offerings are trendless in a way that makes them statement pieces – just change shoes and go.
“My design intention with every Beare Park piece is to present a decisively simple approach to luxurious dressing ... to make you feel effortlessly polished and confident, never selfconscious,” she says. And as each piece is made in Sydney, Pereira can monitor the entire process, and she knows every artisan and tailor in her supply chain.
While the wool is from Australia’s finest merino, other materials, such as silks, are sourced from the world’s best in Japan and Italy. “Because of this, I feel the pieces need to be physically touched and worn to be fully appreciated. I’m looking forward to growing our audience to allow this on a greater scale.”