Glitz and glamour at Fiji Fashion Week Melbourne Cup

It was glitz and glamour as people came out in colourful outfits with elaborate hats and hair pieces as Fiji Fashion Week pulled out all the stops hosting their second Melbourne Cup at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Britannia Ball Room.

Fiji Fashion Week Director, Ellen Whippy-Knight says this is the second time they are putting on this event because of its connection to fashion.

Whippy-Knight says they have some amazing prizes for the best outfits, hats and hair pieces and she does not want to be held responsible for making the wrong decision, so they have John Apted and a few others doing the judging.

Raksha Sukhia MacRae says she is there for the spirit of it all when asked on what horse she is betting on, although she is secretly cheering for a friend of hers who has a horse in the race.

MacRae says she and her friend Soko Jones went out shopping to get flowers and other colourful things to make their hats out of which they then put together.

Soni Matthews says she came all the way from Pacific Harbour and is wearing “Hefrani” by Aisea Konrote, after seeing the show at Sofitel on Saturday.

Matthews says she made her hair piece last night with items from Bargain Box and Threads which took her 30 minutes to put together.

She says the black butterfly on her hairpiece is inspired by her own label which is Black Butterfly Design Fiji.