Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Designer unveils crystal underwear

IT may look uncomfortable but designers of Swarovski's Lingerie and swimwear collection promise the clothing is wearable.
Swarovski today showcased prototype designs from 31 top international designers including Robert Cavalli, Christian Lacroix and La Perla.

Australian designs were also shown including Cheetah, Manik Mercian and Sarina Suriano.

"Swarovski has a long history in the fashion area," said the fashion houses' head of South-East Asian operations Olivier Camus.

"We are able to be creative in coming up with new products, colours, affects and applications."

The collection was displayed in an unusual fashion parade at the Fashion Exposed Trade Fair in Sydney, which runs from March 12-14.

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The Swarovski collection featured lingerie and swimming of varying prices.

Camus added that some items were for "show" and others were for "everyday wear".

"Lingerie and crystal do blend very well," Camus said. "We work with different brands from exclusive couture to mass market."

Sarina Suriano's designs are on the exclusive end, costing up to $30,000 an item.

"The pieces are really quite big, bold and fabulous," Suriano said of her design which takes up to three months to make.

"They are all handmade so they are not meant to be worn every day."

Suriano's designs include vests, necklaces, belts and skirts.

Individually, she said, the items were more comfortable than if worn as an ensemble.

"When you break them down, they do become more versatile," she said.

"The pieces are quite light ... so they are comfortable.

"If you have it all on ... I would say it's definitely for standing up only."

The Swarovski Lingerie and Swimwear collection shown today is not yet available for sale, with most pieces being one-off prototypes.