Canberra, get ready for a deluge of selfies across your social media accounts this weekend.
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Hundreds of Canberrans will converge on the National Convention Centre on Sunday morning, looking their best and vying for an opportunity to 'walk' at Fashfest 2017.
More than 400 models and aspiring models have registered for the casting call, hoping to capitalise on a one-in-four chance to stride the catwalk for one of Fashfest 2017's 40 designers.
While the casting call will run for a total of five hours, each model will have only a matter of minutes to impress Fashfest judges Tina Nikolovski (Devojka Models), Victoria Schnabl (Victoria's Models) and Leighton Hutchinson (Leighton Hutchinson Photography).
The process includes posing for a quick headshot at registration, having measurements taken and walking two lengths of a catwalk purpose-built for the day.
For Fashfest founder and director Andrea Hutchinson, Sunday is all about confidence and creativity.
"Our judges look for the whole vibe around a model - their movement, their creativity in posing, their confidence," Ms Hutchinson said.
"And I personally just love looking at the different styles, the unique walks, the diversity, the cultural backgrounds, that's what gets us really excited.
"We'll have some model briefs from our 2017 designers in front of us and we'll work hard to match models to the briefs."
Ms Hutchinson said the vibe is "fun but serious" on the day, with live music playing to keep models energised and relaxed.
"But it is, after all, a casting session so we do expect a level of professionalism," she said.
Now in its fifth year, Fashfest will "step up its creativity in 2017" according to Ms Hutchinson, who said Canberrans can expect more film and multimedia injected into each label showcase, and live music acting as the soundtrack to all six shows.
"Hair and makeup will be a lot more 'out there' than other fashion festivals, and same with the choreography - we're trying to do things a little differently," she said.
Those models who make it through Sunday's casting process will have a few months to practise their posing and walks, with rehearsals commencing early September.
Registrations for Sunday's casting call are open until midnight on Friday 2 June 2017. Head to fashfest.com.au to register. Fashfest 2017, National Convention Centre, Canberra, 28-30 September 2017. Tickets on sale early July.
The Fashfest casting process:
- Models register and are assigned a number.
- Models have their measurements taken and their 'mug shot' in front of a wall for height.
- They then walk alone, in pairs and sometimes in groups of four, to live music by Fashfest's Director of Music, Ashley Feraude.
- The judges rank each model and then, later, pair the winning models with winning designers.
- Out of 400 hopefuls, only 100 will make it through.
