“I think being a man designing for women gives you more flexibility as I don’t just design for what would suit and fit my figure, I design for all types of forms giving me a bigger scope,” says designer Gary Bigeni as we talk on the concrete street path outside his eponymous label’s sales agency United Front. Bigeni, who just presented his first solo show at Rosemount Fashion Week in Sydney, is wrapped in an ensemble of colourful clothes teamed with knee-high school boy socks. Every inch of his persona and nature is unique by design. Savvy asks how he feels about his designs being touted as ‘the next big thing’ in Australian Fashion.

“I’m totally fine with it,” he giggles. “Ye-ah… it was hard for me to fit you in, you know, now that I’m meant to be flying to Milan to be interviewed with Paris Hilton, so, you know, who are you again?” Bigeni asks in a deadpan voice, head lowered, feet kicking the concrete below as his eyes, shaded by a pair of black glasses, look up to catch Savvy’s gaze. He smiles wickedly through the frames. One thing is for sure, only a few moments with the designer and his collection and it isn’t hard to see why so many people are enamored with him. Both Bigeni’s personality and designs are infectious. A stickler for detail, Savvy is made aware that both his designs and the people he talks with acquire his 100% attention.

Born deaf, Bigeni’s childhood was anything but average, not unlike his creative process. It’s his belief being hard of hearing only encouraged him to listen to the voice of his own creativity more.

“I think from a very early age I was in my own world, I just would do my own thing happily and always be creating and visualising things,” he says.

“He is like Mozart, behold Gary Be-genius,” says his sales agent before they simultaneously burst into laughter. Then the wind of conversation changes and it becomes clear that not only is Bigeni an exceptional talent, but that he also has a killer personality.

“I would imagine what nature was saying, and therefore I was having conversations of a different kind, but I was happy to do this, I didn’t need to ask others what they thought I should be doing,” muses Bigeni. “I had my own conversations going on with myself, I learnt from a young age not to have to rely on what other people were saying.”

After leaving school, he studied fashion at premier Australia Fashion College, East Sydney Tafe graduating in Contemporary Designs before he caught the attention of leading stylist and style icon Belinda Seper, who championed his first season (2002) in her cult Sydney boutique, The Corner Shop.

"Our love affair with Gary Bigeni commenced at his first collection a few years ago. Beyond his masterful approach to pattern making and draping, he is a truly generous and genuine human being and without his involvement our little fashion world would be a darker and less fabulous place," said Seper when asked what it was that made someone of her experience champion for an unknown.

He then kept “working and perfecting” his signature fabric of jersey and creating the designs that fit and give a good line to the silhouette. “I’m obsessed with form; with how things fall, with the way material looks on certain angles,” says Bigeni.

“I also gain a lot of inspiration from the seasons, and the weather,” he says. The Earth and its ever-changing climate and conditions are the underlying inspirations for the Gary Bigeni Spring Summer 2008/09 collection.

“Just as day descends into night, the colours in this collection mirror the colour changes of our turning Earth. Fabrications twists, drapes and folds are likened to the weather change - searing heat followed by flash floods, hurricanes, tornados, tsunami, and drought, surprising us at every turn,” he says. This collection captures this by using natural fibers and delivering, organic and loose silhouettes. Black compliments midnight blue, matched with cool grays and striking coral orange to form a succinct colour palette.

The collection also draws on Gary’s penchant for clarity and precision, clean lines juxtaposed with dynamic twists and draping.

“I like to use classic tailoring techniques. Although they may seem simplistic, it’s challenging and unique at the same time,” he says. “I also really wanted to get nature and the effortless colour coordination into my designs.”

The only dark cloud that has shadowed over a sky full of sun in the land and label of Gary Bigeni was a rogue fashion reporter’s accusation that the styling of his range at Rosemount Fashion Week was similar to that of Josh Goot, who he once worked for. Savvy Style was keen to find out how an original person such as Bigeni felt about the accusations of plagiarism.

“I had my label and was doing my own designs before Josh even started. Sure I experimented with the same fabric, but that’s like saying that only one person in the world can use denim for jeans,” he laughs.

“I listen to all criticism, some good, some bad, as sometimes there are valid points and it only helps the label. But with the whole Josh Goot thing, I worked in a completely different area to design. I started my label three years before working for him, so I just totally ignore it,” he says. “When you compare the structure of my designs to those of Josh Goot, they are actually entirely different. We just both work some of our individual ranges with the same fabric.”

So what does the future have in store?

“More designing, I want to really crack the international market and keep making clothes that inspire me not only from a design perspective but the people who wear them, because they feel pleased with how they look aesthetically. When in a fashion storm, every girl needs a good cut to take shelter beneath,” he laughs.

It couldn’t be truer. Gary Bigeni, is a cut above the rest.