Designer DETAIL - Gail Sorronda

“The lady is born into the sky.” Gail Sorronda presents the summer collection ‘Birds of Prey’.

With a slew of awards under her belt and a highly anticipated summer collection just about to hit stores, it’s good to be Gail Sorronda right now. Of course, all of Gail Sorronda’s successes have come about thanks to the imagination and hard work of her alter ego, designer Gail Reid.

“Angel at my Table”

Before launching the label in 2005, Brisbane-born Gail worked as a model and stylist, and received her Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts (Fashion) from QUT in 2004. Gail began making her make on the fashion scene with her graduate collection, Angel at my Table, which was awarded first place within its category at the Mercedes-Benz Start Up Awards. The collection was extremely well received and met with interest from international fashion media and buyers.

Life in Black and White.

A viewing of any Gail Sorronda collection will result in a quick realisation – Gail is more than a fan of black and white. So who inspires such an outlook on life and fashion? A silent comic, an influential designer and a former French Vogue photographer. “Charlie Chaplin, Karl Lagerfeld, Helmut Newton photography, anyone really who sees the world in black and white,” Gail says. You will also note Gail’s inventive use of feminine silk jersey, velvet, georgette to taffeta to create her signature flowing dresses wrapped in billowing capes.

The ‘Bird of Prey’

Gail’s summer collection has been somewhat poetically inspired, coming to life through the lines below.

"Are you the bird or prey?
Pleats fan the body as the courtship begins
Translucent peepholes and soaring hemlines conceal, in order to reveal
Playfully masking intent and artfully provoking a response
Perched high, circling in the skies
A sudden, monochromatic clarity comes, looking down on graphic lines
A silent drama, set on pause, of static capes, serious collars and still
Volumes
A waiting comic applause
The lady is born into the sky"

Bird of Prey takes on a number of forms, from the naughty nurse to conservatively strictly buttoned up. Highlights include the highwaisted pants balanced out with the drawstring shirt (left), while Gail favours “my Sweet Tooth dress and the Lolita dress.”

Watch this space…

Having presented and sold her collections at Fashion Weeks from London and New York to Berlin and LA, Gail is currently working on her debut exhibition at Paris Fashion Week later this year, and planning her first freestanding concept store. For more information and a complete list of stockist, visit www.gailsorronda.com