House of Cannon Interview: “I Always Call Our Pieces ‘Conversation-Starters'”

Photo: House of Cannon

Annie Cannon-Brookes only launched her label, House of Cannon, in 2013, but she’s already managed to land runway space at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. We caught up with her just days ahead of her presentation for the St. George New Generation show, to see how her nerves were, the inspiration behind the new collection, and why colour is so important in her pieces.

Speaking about presenting at MBFWA for the very first time, Annie tells us that showing your collection on a runway is miles apart from photo shoots which she’s used to. “There’s no Photoshop, there’s no pinning in the background,” she explains as she ducks out of her fitting. “Everything has to fit perfectly and look beautiful on the runway.”

House of Cannon is known for its vibrant use of colour, drawing inspiration from locations around the world. Annie calls her graphic pieces “conversation-starters”. “Colour is fun. I think it makes you feel differently when you put on something amazing and colourful, and people talk to you.”

The current collection, inspired by the city of Zhucheng in China, is full of colours from bright reds to muted greys. “The cities that we’ve chosen so far have all had very conflicting elements that have made them interesting,” Annie says. 

“[Zhucheng] is an interesting city because they have found more dinosaur skeletons there than anywhere else in the world. We’ve really played with dinosaurs ruling the world, and now China arguably ruling the world.”

See House of Cannon’s Spring 2015 collection below, or check out the entire St. George New Generation showcase here.