In Australia, where there tends to be a set dictum for design, the three-year-old womenswear label Toni Maticevski is subverting the standard. Eschewing the image of scantily clad pre-pubescent girls in sun and surf wear, Maticevski instead dresses grown-up ladies with a little vamp to them.

Like a scene out of one of Weegee’s photograph, his most recent collection takes a trip back in time to the culture clash of ’30s New York, where the upper class in their evening glad rags mixed with the streetwalkers, prostitutes, and homeless. Looks include delicate washed-out organza dresses with exposed seams set amongst bias cut floor length evening gowns, embroidered silk blouses, A-line cashmere coats, and worsted wool suits–in a palette of faded neutrals, black, and silver–the effect is emotional, winsome, and utterly feminine.

Utilizing the skills he developed while working for Donna Karan in New York and Cerruti in Paris, Maticevski has determinedly fostered an international sensibility in his work, a decision which included turning down the opportunity to participate in the marketing campaign of David Jones, Australia’s most reputable department store. Selling at Neiman Marcus and Elizabeth Charles in New York, Maticevski comments, “I design, that’s it … I don’t mean to be pigeonholed as an Australian designer.”

-Gudrun Willcocks

Photo: Toni Maticevski fall ’04