FORM

FORM chatted to emerging fashion designer Kate Macfarlane about Boom - a collaborative exhibition that examines the influence of the recent mining boom on young WA creatives.

Working across a variety of fields, these visual artists, fashion designers, architectural designers, musicians, photographers and writers considered how Perth’s famed mining boom and its resulting economic prosperity impacted their lives, their practices, and their approach to being a young artist in WA.

From this shared starting point comes boom., a publication and exhibition of collaborative and solo artworks and fictional text that seek to map out the disparate responses of all involved.

For the exhibition, Kate worked with her friend Esther Sandler, who she met at Central TAFE. Since graduating in 2007, the designers have taken alternate steps to establish themselves within the fashion industry. Kate has been working for the Perth-based fashion label Joveeba and Esther is currently undertaking an internship with Parisian designer Veronique Leroy.

'I guess with the work that my friend and I did, it was moreso responding to our environment (Perth) and creating work that was inspired by elements of Australiana and our natural surrounds. The actual garments in a sense represent what we as designers can create even though we may be in Perth, and as such, have limited resources in terms of fabric availability and selections...

'Perth is a lot smaller in terms of the number of labels that are based here, and so on one hand the opportunities for gaining work in the industry are limited, but because the industry is so close-knit, perhaps emerging labels feel somewhat more confident to launch here than straight away in Melbourne... in some ways I think the most important thing is to gain as much experience as you can in the industry, whether it's paid or unpaid.'

boom. is running at Spectrum Project Space, 221 Beaufort Street until Sunday July 12.

Gallery opening hours are 2pm to 6pm Wednesday-Sunday.