I.AM.GIA made its first runway appearance on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia on Wednesday 16th of May at 6pm. Hosted at Carriage Works in Sydney, the venue was dimmed with red lights that perfectly complemented the ‘90s inspired collection and bold makeup by ModelCo cosmetics. It comes as no surprise that I.AM.GIA reached this latest milestone, since the brand quickly catapulted into the limelight from the beginning and has been hailed as having one of the most diverse runways at the 2018 Sydney Fashion Week.
I.AM.GIA, has been described as “bad ass”, “powerful and “strong”. This brand has successfully achieved a cult following in a mere year thanks to its cool-girl, edgy streetwear aesthetic. Celebrities like Emily Ratajowski, Bella Hadid, Romee Strijd and Kendall Jenner are wearing pieces from the line and posting on their socials. If you have an Instagram account, Australian clothing brand I.AM.GIA has likely popped up on your feed.
The concept of the brand came about while Alana Pallister – Co-founder and creative director was meditating in a sensory deprivation tank. Within four weeks the concept for the first line was complete and dropped on Instagram where it immediately blew up barely four weeks into its May 2017 launch, after Bella Hadid wore the label at Paris Fashion Week.
I.Am.Gia’s wares are an amalgamation of the top runway trends du jour, but at a wallet-friendly price point and with fresh product released on a monthly basis.
I.Am.Gia’s various “inspirations” often veer into knockoff territory; the brand has been accused of lifting ideas from brands large and small. According to Pallister, both the show and the collection were all about creating Gia’s world. “What we did was brainstorm some of Gia’s favorite things, and what we would like to put into her world to show on the runway,” she explained.
“It was all about creating her virtual character inside the world.” In a landscape where digital influencers like Lil Miquela and Shudu are steadily rising in popularity, it’s easy to imagine Gia as a Jenner- or Hadid-adjacent California beauty, albeit with a bit more edge — maybe some tattoos, a buzz cut or a septum piercing — that a CGI designer could effortlessly whip up. An “Instagirl by numbers,” if you will.
Pallister was inspired by social media and hype around Instagram “it” girls and felt that brands weren’t engaging with that concept. So, she decided to create a character that embodied her, and supermodel Gia Carangi came to mind as a source of inspiration. Now, a year later, I.AM.GIA proves that you can’t underestimate the power of social media and that high-quality products at a low cost are indeed possible and have never looked better.
However, I.Am.Gia might never actually need to create its own influencer: The audience itself looked a bit like a sentient Instagram feed. Dozens of twenty-somethings fans of the brand filled the front row, all wearing skimpy pieces by I.Am.Gia and posting photos of themselves on social media.
It was the kind of organic marketing for which most companies would deplete their budget. But I.Am.Gia has no need to pay an influencer to wear their stuff, which has been such an exciting thing to see.
Given the success of the event’s shift to the global resort schedule, the increase in international buyers and media now attending the event and the talent that does exist in this country, surely we should be hearing more about I.Am.Gia from now on.
I.AM.GIA made its first runway appearance on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia on Wednesday 16th of May at 6pm. Hosted at Carriage Works in Sydney, the venue was dimmed with red lights that perfectly complemented the ‘90s inspired collection and bold makeup by ModelCo cosmetics.
Damn
1:02 & 10:32 Ondria Hardin ?
Can’t wait for this collection to drop ❤️❤️❤️