When is a travel event not a travel event? When it becomes a full blown fashion show!
Last night in Sydney the great and the good swathed themselves in silk as Uniworld celebrated the launch of Australian designer Camilla Frank’s latest collection.
Entitled ‘House of the Sun’, it is Camilla’s homage to all things Egypt, which coincidentally is just one of the places Uniworld cruise to on their luxury vessels.
There was music, there was dancing…and there were more Camilla dresses than Dhow’s on the Nile. This included five lucky agents from across Australia who paraded their new Camilla creations having won a sales incentive with Uniworld.
Little wonder that the designer, one of the VIP guests at the event, was beaming as bright as the sun at the sight before her.
“What Camilla does and why this has come together so beautifully tonight is because she uses her incredible storytelling to spread our message as travel agents and as the travel industry. And that is that travel changes the world,” said Alice Ager, Managing Director for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Australia and New Zealand.
“Egypt is back. We’ve done eight new Egypt groups just in the last month so it is definitely trending for Aussie travellers. My objective is to give Egypt that extra boost, to get tourists really excited and to get more Australians travelling there.”
Another of the VIP guests was Ellen Bettridge, President and Chief Executive Officer of Uniworld, who dodged the worldwide IT outages to make it to the event. She had some big news to impart.
“To kick off our 50th anniversary in 2026, Uniworld has curated a 50-night ‘Rivers Of The World’ cruise.”
Starting in Brussels on April 16, 2026, the voyage includes Paris, Lyon and a mystery cruise before ending in Egypt.
“There’s no better way than to end there because we want to ensure that we bring tourism back. We have that power to bring people to fantastic places and we need to bring people back to Egypt.
“Uniworld continues to innovate and elevate, that’s why we’re focused on implementing things differently. We don’t want to be like everybody else. We want to motivate you and your guests.”
But really this event was less about cruising, more about couture. Camilla’s new collection is designed to showcase “the artisanal adventures, divine encounters and sacred symbols of Egypt.”
So where dd she get her inspiration?
“When I go to a country, I don’t like the normal tourist itinerary, I have to do something expected,” said Camilla.
“I’m always in search of the unknown, the unexpected and getting off the beaten path and immersing myself into something that really ignites my creativity. And Egypt has so many layers to it.
“When I’m designing a print collection, I try to really pay homage to the people I’ve met, the places I’ve gone, the experiences I’ve been on. So this collection, it’s called House Of The Sun because it made an imprint on my heart and soul like the sun does.”
Pictured above: Ellen Bettridge,President and Chief Executive Officer of Uniworld (left), Camilla Franks and Alice Ager, Managing Director for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Australia and New Zealand (right) at last night’s event.
