Forecast  as Australian fashion’s next big thing, Eduardo Calucag may just be the designer to watch. From a subtle debut at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week in 2007 he has, after his spring/summer show at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in April this year, become Australia’s latest fashion prodigy. And with his effortlessly chic and feminine vision for the season ahead, Calucag’s future certainly looks like being a stylish one.

Born and trained in Canada, Calucag emigrated to Melbourne in 2006, setting up his own label in 2007 after almost a decade in the industry. Though he may not be a native, his spring/summer collection seems to capture the very essence of Australian style. It is light, airy and easy to wear: the soft caress of silky satin dresses that skirt the body’s contours; the cool crispness of a white shirt on a sunny spring day. It is the nonchalance of timeless elegance, the aspiration of a lifestyle we’d love to have: the gleaming gold of softly tailored trousers; polka dots for a polo match or a day at the races.

Hemlines float with an air of youth, slip-like mini dresses skimming the thigh, and frivolous frills are simplified to make refined trimmings and two-tiered skirts. With a colour story of latte, mocha and sandstone the colour of Collins Street in the sunshine, it was a show of urban sophistication with an accent of a yellowy green, the shade of lime marmalade, to freshen the palette.

In terms of key pieces, the jumpsuit is a persevering trend and Calucag’s neat silhouette with tapered trousers and belted waist oozes city chic. His catwalk opener, a white cotton dress with short, puffy sleeves and a large frill edging an oversized neckline seems to epitomise summer style. His asymmetric mini skirt however, draped to look like a wrap-over, is the most beautiful piece in the collection and alludes to some deeper skills that have not yet been employed to their full potential. With the catwalks already being primed for the autumn/winter collections though, we won’t have to wait long to see if this new star can fulfil his promise.

Perfect prose by Gail Appleby