Australia's premier fashion event is strutting in the right direction Alex Perry targets a younger audience with a thigh-high dress and laced boots yesterday. Photo: Craig Greenhill Source: Getty Images NEW dates, a new venue and the absence of some old favourites from the official schedule had Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia starting on the back foot of some very shaky Christian Louboutin heels yesterday. After the picture-perfect surrounds of Circular Quay, the industrial Carriageworks at Eveleigh in Sydney seemed a strange venue, but the opening show by Camilla and Marc powerfully demonstrated that Australia's premier fashion event is strutting in the right direction with contagious confidence. Brother and sister act Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman celebrated their label's 10th anniversary with a polished collection of cute cocktail dresses, acidic animal prints and brilliant gold jacquard skirts and dresses. The sight of gossamer lace skirts floating like dark clouds beneath jacquard jackets was enough to forgive unflattering drop-crotch trousers. Elongated white leather vests and white military suits were perfect palate cleansers in the onslaught of sumptuous colours and textures. After the designers took their bows, Jarrad Clark, director of global production for MBFWA's owner IMG, could breathe easily about the new venue. "It's working and we couldn't be happier," Clark said. It's allowing designers to express their collections creatively. Alex Perry, one of the few names familiar to the general public this week, took that creativity to the limit, showing backstage. The raw environment suited his creative renaissance, targeting a younger audience with sweet baby doll shapes toughened by exposed zips and underwear. Laced thigh-high boots and panty-skimming hemlines made it clear what Perry was selling but his stripped-back style and impressive workmanship meant plenty of people will be buying. MBFWA can now look to the future with shows by Ginger and Smart, Camilla featuring Georgia May Jagger and Lisa Ho to come.