LEADING LIGHT

FASHION, HISTORICALLY, HAS long celebrated the design perspectives of individuals, but some of the best work can happen when creatives join forces. Inside Marina Afonina’s clean-lined, minimalist premises in Sydney’s Bondi, the Albus Lumen designer is hard at work making local industry collaboration the new norm. Called Albus Lumen Societé, the 18-month-old space is not a typical store, but rather a multipurpose concept space that has functioned as a place to showcase new projects, collections – including appointments for the label’s bridal collections – and a staging venue for the showing of her film, created for her current resort ’22 collection. It is also a gathering space, somewhere to bring people together – and something she has grand designs to expand on this year. “New creatives bring a different angle to anything you do. It’s like bringing different life into something,” she says. “In Australia, people don’t like collaborating much, unless it’s money-related. I think it’s nice to collaborate; it’s all about our [local] industry.”