FASHION Magazine

See the street style shots from Sydney »

For those of you who attended any of the recent fashion weeks, the thought of attending shows during the summer is but a mere fantasy. Sandals! Crop tops! A far cry from February’s blizzards. Fantasy proves reality in Australia, where Sydney Fashion Week is underway and while it’s technically considered autumn down under, the street style outside the shows is anything but covered up.

In this first batch of photos, photographer Stefania Yarhi captures the Sydney fashion crowd in a mix of local labels like Discount Universe and international must haves from Prada, Kenzo and Céline. Aussie street style stars like Margaret Zhang and Nicole Warne seem perfectly in element, wearing airy neon pieces. Stay tuned for more epic street style out of Sydney. Summer can’t come soon enough.

It seems like whenever the Mulleavy sisters seek inspiration from other countries, a little bit of controversy is sure to follow. Two years ago there was backlash against the name of a nail polish from Rodarte’s Mexico-inspired collaboration with M.A.C Cosmetics, and this week the brand is under fire for using sacred Aboriginal prints.

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Well, hellooooo down under! We’re loving Dress Up, the Melbourne-based label designed by Stephanie Downey. Dress Up started in 2006 after Downey completed a Bachelor of Arts Fashion from Melbourne’s famous design school RMIT, and has been gaining fans ever since. Recently, the label was a finalist in the 2011 L’oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Design Awards, and Downey and her simple-but-chic wears and subtle stylings have been getting attention outside the far-away continent.

At just 25, Dion Lee is the latest face in a crop of designers helping to make Australia a driving force in contemporary fashion. After graduating from Fashion Design at the Sydney Institute of Technology in 2007, Lee has already impressed the likes of Net-A-Porter who began carrying his line last year.