Biological Wear-Fair
At the end of Sydney Fashion week, the Mekanarky studios declared a war on fashion – hosting the only Fashion week fringe event, called Biological Wair-fair. A no-holds barred performance where the clothes both on and off the catwalk, were political, provocative and even offensive. Mekanarky studios formed two years ago by a group of ten artists, who like many others had been pushed out of Sydney because of soaring real estate prices. In their search for a more economical workshop, they stumbled upon an old ice-cream factory in Turella, Sydney’s south. The space is now an active workshop housing more than thirty emerging and established Sydney artists. Elissar Mukhtar headed down to Biological Weat-fair, managed to bypass the fashion police at the front door, and caught up with one of the eight Director’s of Mekanarky studios, Isabel Peppard, Strip-tease artist, Elizabeth Burton and a number of bystanders and participants in the show.