Hidden in an underground concrete bunker in Auckland’s suburb of Avondale, New Zealand designer Stolen Girlfriends Club debuted its final apparel collection of 2022 – American Dream – to 1200 people.

In true Stolen style, they flipped the script on a traditional runway kitting out the venue with a giant LED screen, festival style speakers and lights, as a backdrop to their collection which explored America’s major eras of the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

For this season, the brand partnered with the Elvis Presley estate to channel their traditionally nonchalant and rebellious spirit, and looked to the palates of Palm Springs and the Wild West to bring it all together.

Noteworthy elements included the hero print of Elvis Presley rendered with grit and edge, followed by a stream of soft pink hues – two juxtaposing ideas that were expertly captured in the beauty aesthetic by international makeup artist Kiekie Stanners.

“For beauty direction, I wanted to take inspiration from the collection – the Elvis collaboration, the nods to punk and the candy pink accents that reminded me of Palm Springs design,” says Stanners.

“So, I designed different beauty looks to suit each model – some with a graphic eyeliner and block colour pink up to the brow, some with a candy floss glossy lip if they were wearing sunglasses and for the finale ‘bride’ we did a singular black lip with hyper glowy skin to close the show.”

The Stolen Girlfriends Club collection employed a paradox of material combinations throughout including soft metallic glo-mesh with black graffiti motifs of handwritten Elvis quotes, or the same graffiti motif woven into a delicate white lace. And to achieve the Presley-inspired rock ‘n roll edge? Stolen delivered lashings of croc embossed leather and sharp metal spikes proving that pretty and punk are the perfect pairing.

Check out our favourite looks from the evening in the gallery below: