Hard Femme : Fashion: Romance Was Born

When I was a kid I used to tell people that my parents were not my actual parents, instead I was hatched from alien DNA and given to two Earth parents who resembled me. This originally came out of my natural embarrassment of my home situation more than my actually belief that I was an alien. But the older I get the more I'm not so sure. Certainly everyone has had times in their life where they felt like they didn't fit in, but I don't fit in anywhere.

I saw the runways pictures of Romance Was Born last season on tumblr and feel in love immediately. The strange, girl-who-fell-to-earth vibe was right up my alley.

"Few people can say they’ve turned down the chance to work with John Galliano, but the lives of Romance Was Born designers Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett seem full of weird and wonderful experiences such as this.

Since they first met while studying at East Sydney Technical College, the pair have carved their niche in the Australian fashion scene with their outlandish designs and theatrical catwalk shows.

Plunkett grew up in Albury, in south-western NSW. Plunkett and Sales became friends while studying at East Sydney Technical College and attended The Fourth International Support Awards in Italy where they turned Galliano down. Instead they pursued their love of kitsch and creativity gaining the attention of the fashion media at Australian Fashion Week in 2008.

In 2008 they produced a capsule collection for retail giant Sportsgirl. Romance Was Born won the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Designer Award in 2008. “We are bold and innovative in the way we design, so it’s good to know people can appreciate it,” Plunkett says. At Australian Fashion Week in 2009 they held an ocean themed collection at the Sydney Theatre Company’s wharf.

Myf Shepherd appeared on the cover of Vogue Australia, July 2009 in their designs. They have designed for a number of musicians, including Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Lilly Allen and Architecture in Helsinki.

Inspiration for their shows have included Captain Planet and Freddie Kruger. The pair are known for their unique catwalk shows, which have been shown at places such as the Sydney Conservatorium, the NSW State Library, the University of Sydney and the Sydney Theatre Company. According to Sales, the sets created witin these places enable them to convey the collection’s story better."