Four months later, VAMFF

Let’s cast our minds back to March this year for a stroll down memory lane. When the winds weren’t cold enough to induce real life chattering teeth, six months of the year hadn’t yet passed by in an unforeseen blur of binge-watching Brooklyn Nine Nine, catching up on lectures and adding clothes to my online cart before remembering my ghastly experiences with online shopping…

The Royal Exhibition Centre, Melbourne. A 36 degree day, sans air-conditioning. Fresh out of a uni O-week party and a 9am economics tute, loving living life. I’d say these were the perfect conditions for me to have the time of my life volunteering at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. VAMFF, held annually through the month of March in our beautiful Melbourne, celebrates local Australian fashion and appeals to the sleek and stylish, as well as the eccentric and the colourful, with its various themed runway shows throughout the week. I’ve always bought tickets and dressed up for the shows, so it was amazing to see from the other side of the curtain as a back-of-house volunteer and consequently become swamped in racks of beautiful garments and accessories.

My job as a back-of-house volunteer was to man a rack or two of outfits prepared for a model in that night’s catwalk. I’d prepare the clothes, help dress the models and frantically throw earrings and hats about in the madhouse of music, makeup and ill-fitting shoes that made up the backstage area. I walked into the exhibition centre with absolutely NBI (no bloody idea) what I was in for, dressed my first model with trembling fingers trying to do up buttons, and walked out of there tired, but excited and brain filled with the beat of the playlist I’d heard a hundred times that day in rehearsals stuck in my head. Being that close to the stylists at work, the models who walk tirelessly sporting blisters and sores, and the photographers capturing every moment was a dream come true.

I’ve said it before, but the fashion industry is such an intricate chain of collaboration and work put in at various levels. Every detail must be attended to, and from the designers, to the vision of the stylists, to the security and set-up of the building, to managing the models, it is all about teamwork, communication and the creative vision. In a show such as this, backstage hands are essential and important, and what I love most about VAMFF is that they entrust this important work to the hands of us keen volunteers. It was such an incredible learning opportunity and vibrant environment to be a part of, despite the sweat and need for constant hydration.

From being silly trying on hats and glasses, to dealing with broken steam machines, to freaking out about untamed shoe buckles mid-show with my fellow volunteers, VAMFF was not an experience to forget, and volunteering is definitely something I will be returning to next year. Plus, what’s not to love about a logo tee.