Camilla: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Australia

The Camilla show was nothing short of a performance: the splashes of colour, the mass of accessories, the flock of models + one guy strutting the runway and the horde of children that ran down alongside Camilla Franks in her finale celebratory walk.

Firstly, lets discuss the snafoo that had the fash pack all a-twitter for the duration of the festival: The Great Invitation Debacle. It became apparent on show day that Camilla HO and their PR firm both seem to have invited a full capacity crowd each. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been a massive issue, but this is Camilla we are talking about here! Her reputation for the aforementioned colour, accessories and an all-out spectacular ensured that there were none of the usual no-shows, and everyone who had been invited turned up with bells on.

This crowd queued for over an hour, and the show actually ran another 40minutes late. Due to the invitation mix up, many of the invitees were omitted from the entrance list, and found themselves without an allocated seat, standing behind the back row. 400 or so general admissions were simply turned away, in what I would consider not the label's finest PR moment. Camilla should be satisfied knowing everyone wanted to see her show, especially in such hard retail times, but let's just hope that what the crowd remembers about Camilla is the spectacle, and not how they felt slighted or forgotten.

That little negative aside, Camilla did present a collection of multi-coloured, beautifully embellished kaftans that women will swoon over. Beautiful coloured patterns used in every shade of the rainbow, there is definitely a kaftan for every woman.

I have to say the accessories stole the show. Whilst watching the show, I was overwhelmed with the mass of accessories packed on to every model. A little too distracted I must admit, instead of watching the actual kaftans.

I know you can't always have just the kaftans but I do feel last season her show showed the kaftans in their true glory. You could fully see the detailed pattern, embellishment and the actual cut of the kaftan. In her recent show, the over accessorised looks were very creative but weren't really able to see the kaftans. I suppose that is always a designer's dilemma by showing the fit and cut of a garment but also styling the garments enough to create an exciting runway look.

Overall, Camilla stayed true to her aesthetic providing a colorful collection and a great runway show. I'm sure many women will be waiting on tender hooks for the stock boy to deliver the collection in store.