An unlikely source of inspiration helped make the Ellery show stand out at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.

Kym Ellery’s guilt over discarding a soft toy from her childhood, a bear named Delicatessen, was the driving force behind the collection, according to the show notes.

Apart from Mickey Mouse-style silver ear headbands, one could hardly tell - the inspiration was subtle, but clearly inspired Ellery in all the right places. Fabrics were folded unexpectedly to give the gentle impression of a tummy while boldly rounded shoulders took their cues from the cuddliness of a bear to give tailored pieces a sense of intrigue.

The result was a collection that was directional and sophisticated, not saccharine, as nostalgia-inspired collections can sometimes be. Perhaps the guilt played into it? Whatever the case, the show was certainly a stand-out in a week of Not Another Floral Print. I asked Ellery to tell the full story after the show: 

So this resort 2012/13 collection was inspired by Delicatessen, your teddy bear. Can you tell me more? How old were you when you first got him/her?
Well he was one of a collection. I used to collect all these bears (which I haven’t really told anyone yet) and he was one of them and he was the one I saved up for the longest. I went on a trip when I was about 11 and purchased him.

What did he look like?
He was brown, and he was…. he was perfect. He had a pointy nose.

Aw. Where did the name Delicatessen come from?
There’s a famous bear named Delicatessen and I was so into him at a young age that I named him after the famous bear Delicatessen.

Oh! I’m a big bear person too but I didn’t know that. So what, when you were 18, you just thought ‘time to move on’?
Well I just went through a phase of cleaning out my life, I’d just moved to Sydney from Perth and tossed everything out. I was heartbroken.

View from the Magdalena Velevska show on Tuesday

Metal nail rings at Ellery show today by Sarina Suriano / Patty Huntington via Fashion Week Uncut

If the braids didn’t give it away, the vibrant colours, jungle florals and vaguely Aztec-looking panels would have: Manning Cartell were inspired by Frida Kahlo.

Steering away from Kahlo’s identity as tortured surrealist, the trio instead focused on the painter’s identity as a creative genius and uncompromising feminist. Digital prints and a warm and dare I say, spicy*, colour palette were transformed into sheer organza jackets and bold, athletic bottoms. Tight pencil skirts and bold shoulder pads gave a hint of eighties’ power-dressing, making the collection a story of contrasts juxtaposed for a purer aesthetic.

Another lesson learned from Kahlo, perhaps? I spoke with Cheryl Manning to find out.

So obviously that was inspired by Frida Kahlo.
Did you like it?

I loved it. What did you love about Frida that made you want to take inspiration from her?
We loved her rawness. We loved her signature colour. We loved that she was so passionate about what she did, and that she sort of broke the rules and she didn’t follow other people; she had her own character.

And she was also a little bit of a style icon, in the fact that she mixed up prints a lot so that was quite fun. And also, she was a bit of a tomboy - we liked that part about her as well.

And I guess the textures, the colours and the shapes. What did you have in mind when you considered these things?
I felt with all of that, I just wanted to give it a really sculptural feel. And [Kahlo] put a ton of colour into her work and I felt like that related, and then also black and white with elements of colour in it, I thought we’d do some of that too.

And the prints, where did you… did you come up with those?
We did.

Digital?
All digital.

And where did you get them from?
They’re actually off an antique artwork, a floral, and then we put it on the fabrics we wanted to put them on, and the other ones we sort of manipulated so it was more monochromatic and then yeah. Actually a couple of them were antique prints. And we just recoloured them.

And I guess how do you feel about the collection?
I feel really good. I feel really good, actually. I feel it was really strong and all the elements that we put into it, like the jewellery, and the hair, it all came together at the end.

*Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

To see the collection on the catwalk, check out Xiaohan Shen’s vid of the Zimmermann show on Xssat.

I’m not much of a street style person, but when I saw Connie of K is for Kani’s floral headband, I was like a Japanese fangirl: “OMG! So pretty! Photo, photo, PHOTO!”

…

Anyway, I then found out Connie makes and sells headbands on her Etsy store. Talk about petal prettiness to the max. 

What were you thinking when you styled the collection?
I was… thinking about who the girl was from the collection.

Okay, so who was the girl?
She was inspired by Frida Kahlo, so we kind of made a bit of a hardcore Latina bitch… can I say that? Just a strong type of woman.

A hardcore Latina… I don’t think I’ve ever met one of those.
You haven’t? Well you’ve just met 21 of them.