The first time I went to a Penthouse Mouse event was in a disused warehouse in the back streets of Collingwood, just behind Smith Street. Edgy, raw, and achingly Melbourne (there was nothing but empty milk crates for guests to sit on as they drank beer and smoked cigarettes on a fine, sunny afternoon), Penthouse Mouse was cool even in its early days. Progressing into newer spaces, with more innovative concepts and an increasingly impressive stable of artists and designers to showcase, year after year, Penthouse Mouse goes from strength to strength as one of Melbourne’s preeminent cultural and fashion events.

This year, the Penthouse Mouse spread continues to drive the bar upward. As always, PHM will open during L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival to bringing together shopping, installation art, parties and live photo shoots all under one glorious roof. But this year (PHM’s fifth consecutive year in existence) is moving to the Docklands to throw an all-together bigger, bolder and more fashionable event than ever before. With PHM veterans Leonard Street, Trimapee, Limedrop, Thom Finch, Alexi Freeman and Mecurialist back on the bandwagon and new comers Maytide, Jolet, Above, Flocks with more to be announced, PHM is a Melbourne affair not to be missed in 2011.

And did I mention there will be beer? A lovely cold Coopers beer, in fact! PHM opens on March 13 so stick it in your diary (in pen, none of this pencilling rubbish thank you very much!) and head down to check out some of the most celebrated AW collections coming out of Melbourne this year. Curated by Moth Designs, there’s a million reasons not to miss out on PHM- keep yourself updated by registering for the calender of events at www.penthousemouse.com

Dates: 11th – 19th March 2011