Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Janka Zachnikova in the Kate Sylvester outfit that Myf Shepherd was supposed to have worn
Sylvester eventually gave in and Shepherd - who is said to have appeared to have been quite embarrassed by the incident - opened.
According to Chic Management director Kathy Ward, it was Sylvester who changed the terms of the agreement.
Ward told frockwriter:
"Given the exposure that Myf has had in the past year, all the international shows and press, the deal was that she would open the show. And we were just making sure that what we agreed to was actually carried out. At no time was there talk of Myf closing the show. We are just choosing a couple of select shows [this week]. She wants to support Australian Fashion Week, she wants to support Australian designers. But if she is going to walk for a designer, she has to open the show”.
According to the Sylvester camp however, there was no deal. Sylvester's spokeswoman told frockwriter that negotiations with Chic had been going on for two days, with a contract signed yesterday. At no stage during the negotiations, and nowhere in the contract, did Chic stipulate that Shepherd's involvement in the show was contingent on her opening, says the spokeswoman - until 7.30am this morning, when Sylvester's casting director received a call from a Chic Management rep.
This time last year, as has been well documented on this blog, Shepherd was an unknown 17 year-old from Queensland who had only recently been scouted and had in fact been rejected by the producers of Australia's Next Top Model for the 2008 edition of the series.
Shepherd was the most-booked model in Chic Management's stable for the 2008 edition of RAFW.
She would go on to be booked by Prada and Gucci for the Resort 2009 collections in New York in July 2008, followed by a plethora of other major bookings during the SS09 season. From New York to London, Milan and Paris, Shepherd walked in over 50 SS09 shows.
Shepherd's sophomore international RTW season in February and March this year embraced 62 shows. Shepherd has also featured in a number of prestigious international fashion magazines and her campaign bookings include the Gucci FW0910 campaign.
Of those 62 FW0910 shows, Shepherd only opened - or closed - a very small handful.
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Zimmermann's spectacular jewellery designed by Sydney super stylist Tamila Purvis, her new label is called MANIAMANIA #RAFW
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IMG FASHION Asia Pacific md Simon Lock talks disaster planning after power outage before the Zimmermann show
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friedrich Gray SS0910
Short and sharp - unlike my BlackBerry photos unfortunately, however these were aimed primarily at giving the gist of the show on Twitter in real-time - tonight's Friedrich Gray show provided a slick debut to Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, which does not officially kick off until tomorrow morning. A crowd packed into the UTS Atrium on Broadway to see designer Ben Pollitt's eighth collection, with in fact so many people attending, they had to line the Atrium's mezzanines just to get a good view. Inspired by David Lynch's 1984 sci-fi turkey Dune, the collection showed all the hallmarks of Pollitt's early collections: long, linear, androgynous silhouettes, much black and draping, killer patchwork leggings and a striking series of graphic singlet dresses featuring a digital print designed in collaboration with Sydney contemporary artist Scrapwall. Brand new territory for Pollitt: resortwear, albeit of the pitch black variety, in a series of black cutoff shorts with matching bikini tops. Pollitt later quipped he was calling the look "alien beach couture".
Click here to see a backstage portfolio from Sonny Vandevelde.
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Thursday, April 23, 2009
Here's to you, Mrs Brunsdon
Jayson Brunsdon's customary illustrated RAFW show invitation has certainly had the fashpack aTwitter, with many scratching their heads trying to ID the subject. "Puzzled by sketch of Lindy Klim on Jayson Brunsdon invite..." noted The Melbourne Age fashion editor Jan Breen Burns. Whilst vogue.com.au editor Damien Woolnough found himself "Wondering why Cruella de Ville is on the front of Jayson Brundson's invite to RAFW". A simple enquiry provided the answer - and it promises to warm the cockles of even the hardest fashion cynics' hearts at Australia's biggest frockfest next week. The portrait is of Brunsdon's septuaganarian mother Dorothy, a retired professional model (see shots, below) who once made all her own clothes and who, hilariously, worked as a retail sales consultant for David Jones for a decade (whilst her son recently migrated from DJs to Myer). Dorothy Brunsdon is the muse for the SS0910 collection.
Noted Brunsdon via email:
"The collection is inspired by my mother Dorothy and the classic Australian woman. It's about a charming simplicity, an easy, pragmatic glamour and an appreciation of suburban ordinariness... barbeques, poolside parties, shirtdresses, shirts, shorts, sundresses. There's a little Revolutionary Road in this collection, a hint of Hitchcockian subversive intrigue in the suburbs".
Both Dorothy and Brunsdon's dad, Malcolm, who live in Ballina, will of course be front row.
What a sweet story.
all images: courtesy jayson brunsdon
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Olivier Zahm still channeling Michael Hutchence - with a little help from Lagerfeld
karl lagerfeld via purple diary
Look, we know some of you can’t get enough of PURPLE FASHION magazine co-counder, editor and all-round fashion perve Olivier Zahm and frankly, who could blame you? The latest Zahm portrait just posted on Purple Diary was, unusually, not taken by Zahm himself – but no less than German fashion maestro Karl Lagerfeld. Earlier this week we joked that we were looking forward to Zahm's insider glimpses of Lagerfeld’s immacutely-arranged arsenal of sex toys. In the interim, Kaiser Karl has stepped up to the kinky sex plate by dropping this little S&M gem in our laps. The caption reads “Olivier Zahm and Lara Stone photographed by Karl Largerfeld for the Maison Michel F/W 2009 catalog. Here is one of the portraits styled and art directed by Laetitia Crahay, the designer of the collection”. In the shot, Dutch supermod Stone looks to be restraining the bearded attention whore by the throat with a leather belt. There seems to be little doubt that Zahm does need restraining but seriously, considering that our very first Zahm post asked if the Michael Hutchence lookalike is well, the new Michael Hutchence, frockwriter is vaguely alarmed at the thought of where this may be heading. And does this by any chance mean Zahm reads our posts?
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tiah Eckhardt: Up the duff - and blogging
pedestrian.tv
Joyous news for Tiah Eckhardt, who is four months pregnant with her first child - to fellow model Patrick Delaney (^), according to Pedestrian.tv (via Sassybella). Sadly, due to Pedestrian.tv's liberal comments moderation policy, one party has marred the happy occasion by suggesting someone else (a tad more high profile) may be the daddy. Now you could be forgiven for thinking Eckhardt’s pregnancy comes at an awkward time for this Australian sex bomb, who seems to have difficultly keeping her clothes on in magazines. Although a near fullterm Demi Moore once appeared naked on the cover of Vanity Fair, there would appear to be a limited market for pregnant nudie spreads and toilet cubicle/pole dancing videos.
Pedestrian.tv also drew our attention to the facts that a/Eckhardt recently joined the model blogging ranks and b/her writing has attracted the attention of an Australian media outlet, which is said to have engaged Eckhardt as a blogger during next week’s RAFW. Frockwriter is sure that the blog’s plethora of nude self-portraits had absolutely nothing to do with things.
But while Eckhardt’s blog does show evidence of the self-absorbed angst exhibited, although to a less articulate degree, in the since-deleted first blog of her model mate, Stephanie Carta, some of it is quite entertaining.
And there is more than a hint of bitterness about the modelling industry.
In a post dated April 7, entitled “When the N-Y-C ain’t what it used to be (and why the ‘fashion’ industry will kill U)", Eckhardt notes:
“Don’t do heroin....Anyone over 20 that actually wants to be a model is fucking stupid. If it hasn't happened by now it's not gonna happen and no matter how many photographers you fuck or parties you go to or amount of blow you do at 7am is going to change that.
"Speaking of afters, that scene is over anyhow-now, don't you know, everyone iN New York is either cleaning up, cleaning out or killing themselves slowly? Were in a recession and your great depression is your own repression so don't think you can get someone else to buy you self-esteem in a fifty bag, when we've got bills to pay and people to actually care about.
“The cool thing to do now is stay at home, order in, bake cookies, watch cult-classics on-demand, get a dog, get a job, get a life, hang out, go to the park, go to the beach, stop breathing dirty air and just. start. breathing. So were gonna play scrabble and make mexican, make a coffee table, make babies, make money and roll around in the backyard grass with more abandon than that time me and L rolled around on the couches at Beatrice punching each other in the face and making out because it was giggleicous, summer 07 and the ride was still fine and fun”.
Congratulations to Eckhardt and Delaney. Frockwriter wishes them all the best.
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Paper, Castle, Runway... RAFW SS0910, the season of the comeback queens
toni maticevski backstage/sonny vandevelde
Well, well, well, Emma Balfour isn’t the only one making a runway comeback. As frockwriter Tweeted last night after Toni Maticevski's show, you can add Sophie Ward to the mix as well (UPDATE 23/04: and apparently also Alyssa Sutherland). But while 39 year-old Balfour has been working on her comeback for seven months – first popping up at the SS09 New York Fashion Week shows (and will open Friedrich Gray on Sunday) – to frockwriter’s knowledge, last night’s show was 23 year-old Ward’s first fashion gig in two years. Ward is currently being promoted for RAFW – and according to Viviens, is attending castings, with Romance Was Born already confirmed. Last week, Ward made mention of her runway return on her blog. As we recently reported, Ward, a professional writer, has been busy over the past 12-18 months establishing her own publishing company, Paper Castle Press. No word yet on the publication date of the imprint’s first titles (one a childrens book called The Ginger Marmalade Toastmeister, with illustrations by Ward’s mate, the talented American illustrator Danny Roberts). Modelling is not the easiest of professions - the older you are, the harder it gets to compete with reed-thin adolescents. As the Ward family is already well aware, it is particularly hard when you have been out of the game for a while. The big question is will both Ward sisters return to the runway in 2009?
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Snubbed by Coca Cola, supported by Schweppes
maticevski backstage/sonny vandevelde
As many may already be aware, Melbourne couturier Toni Maticevski will stage a presentation in Sydney tonight at The Ivy. It’s not a Spring/Summer 0910 collection per se, more a collection of 30 unseen looks (above, below) from the past two years. The presentation is being sponsored by Schweppes. As it happens, Maticevski’s Schweppes show comes a week before Diet Coke is to play a pivotal role at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week – an event which, of course, owes its current existence to the naming rights generosity of a beverage. In addition to the multibrand Diet Coke Little Black Dress show, frockwriter hears that Diet Coke is also sponsoring at least 10 other shows at the event. This is interesting, considering that Maticevski himself says that he approached Coca Cola for sponsorship several years ago, only to be informed “We don’t associate ourselves with fashion or celebrities”. Or so he told me on Sunday night when we bumped into each slap bang in the middle of Sydney’s Kings Cross – and amusingly, just a few metres from the suburb's iconic Coca Cola sign.
maticevski backstage/sonny vandevelde
As to why he’s not showing at RAFW proper, Maticevski told me that, beyond his representation in Myer, he’s just “not doing wholesale” at the moment. Given how hard it has proven of late for many designers to extract monies out of retailers - and notably in the US market - this is not difficult to understand.
Maticevski's private order business is, he reports, travelling well – even in the US. Maticevski is in fact planning to return to New York Fashion Week in September and reports that he self-funds all his shows.
all three studio images: justin ridler
Here are also two quite beautiful mid century Schweppes posters, illustrators unknown (even though the red one bears some resemblance to the style, and signature, of venerated French illustrator René Gruau).
Schweppes has plucked these illustrations from its archives, from an era when the brand was actively involved in the fashion business. A selection has been made into postcards, to be distributed tonight.
Wouldn’t it be nice if big commercial brands – and, yes, fashion magazines - once again became the champions of hand-rendered fashion illustration?
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Monday, April 20, 2009
Road to nowhere: Another Tallulahsnake portfolio
the cobrasnake
Speaking of the Cobrasnake and models, it’s been the longest time since we’ve had a Cobrasnake/Tallulah Morton update. But now, back by popular demand – and due in no small part to the fact that the now 17, but still technically underage Morton, continues to avail herself for such prestige photo diaries – here is the duo’s latest effort. It was just shot in and around an Adidas party at Frank Sinatra's former Palm Springs residence, Twin Palms, pegged on another collaboration between the sports giant and LA-based designer Jeremy Scott, and attended by, among others, Peaches Geldof and Kanye West. In post-party pics - several of which show a barefoot Morton standing in the middle of a highway - she looks, once again, to be very much the worse for wear. As has been pointed out in comments on previous posts however, this is no different to what most of the kids up in Morton's home town of Murwillumbah would be getting up to in the wee hours of a Sunday morning after a big pissup so really, what's the problem?
No word yet on the chances of seeing Morton at RAFW but we will keep you posted. (UPDATE 21/04: Morton will not be in Sydney for RAFW. According to her Oz mother agency Scene Models, Morton is currently in New York, where she is on hold for a major denim campaign that is due to be shot next week. Options aside, one international campaign that Morton definitely has in the bag is H&M - recently shot in Mauritius and Africa).
Priscillas confirms that Morton's great mate, and fellow Cobrasnake inductee, Stephanie Carta will definitely be in town. Rumours that Carta will be blogging from RAFW for vogue.com.au are, insists Priscillas, just idle gossip.
Shame, given the entertainment value of Carta's last blog.
the cobrasnake
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Members only: Purple people eater Olivier Zahm
olivier zahm self portrait/purple diary
When frockwriter recently asked is Olivier Zahm the new Michael Hutchence?, we did say that we looked forward to his future postings. And fashion’s favourite perv has not disappointed. In fact the more breasts, asses, twats and phalluses that Zahm posts in his three month-old personal photo blog Purple Diary, it is evident that the PURPLE FASHION magazine co-founder and editor is rapidly emerging as The Cobrasnake of the fashion elite. Make that the X-rated version. Warning: NSFW
While Mark ‘The Cobrasnake’ Hunter shoots trashed punters, and trashed wannabe big time models, Zahm appears to have intimate access to the downtime of some of fashion’s biggest names, from Kate Moss to Mischa Barton, Lou Doillon, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Stefano Pilati.
And the vignettes of their private lives that are being documented by Zahm would probably make some of these players' respective PR departments wince.
These include toilet trysts between Mischa Barton and Lou Doillon, a far more explicit dancefloor dalliance between French scenesters Juliette Dol and Lauren Bastide, sundry gratuitous shots of womens' bottoms and breasts, artist Terence Koh simulating fellatio, evidence of Marc Jacobs’ saucy taste in art and a full frontal shot of Zahm himself, who is apparently never separated from his trademark aviators – even whilst immersed in a Russian bath.
John Currin artwork @ Marc Jacobs' Paris apartment, April 19/purple diary
All of these lewd shots interspersed, strangely enough, in between a plethora of happy snaps of an innocent young child, Asia Zahm, who one assumes could be Zahm’s daughter.
Really looking forward to exclusive previews of Lagerfeld's neatly-arranged arsenal of sex toys and Princess Caroline's nipple ring.
natacha ramsay, paris, april 14/purple diary
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sweet clone Alabama
screengrab design professor
The term “fair use” in copyright legislation allows for the unauthorised reproduction of limited samples of copyrighted works for the purposes of news, review, comment and criticism. Fair is fair however and fair use does not license the unauthorised lifting of unlimited material, notably with zero attribution to the original. Those who partake in the unauthorised lifting of volumes of material without attribution to the original, and who attempt to pass said material off as their own work, are known as plagiarists. They walk amongst us in the media and academia and hold their heads up high - until sprung. As a blogger, moreover, I, like many others, have to contend with "content aggregators" – blogs and other websites which scrape content from around the blogosphere and repost entire blog posts under their own banners, with no permission and usually, with no attribution. When you spend a lot of time researching original material and others simply sit on their asses and rip it off – worse still, even receiving remuneration in the process – it’s enough to put anyone off blogging. But I really did have to giggle at the net’s latest content aggregator: Alabama-based academic Dr Marcy L Koontz.
Dr Marcy Koontz claims to be an assistant professor in the Department of Clothing, Textiles & Interior Design of the University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Sciences.
Koontz appears to operate a blog called Design Professor - which links through to her website and business email address.
On her blog, Koontz goes to some trouble to promote the importance of original content.
Indeed, the blog’s headline logo, writ large in bold type across the top of the blog is:
ORIGINAL – THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE ME
Also at the top of the blog, in plain view, Koontz notes:
“I am an educator who tries to constantly inspire, encourage and motivate my students to be original and cutting edge.
To be successful, you have to think outside the box, and continually challenge the mainstream.
In a world full of imitators & second-handers, being original is unique.
BE ORIGINAL - do not copy the looks & trends you see in mainstream papers & magazines if you want to be taken seriously as a designer. Industry experts will not be impressed - neither will 12 year old Tavi !”
That’s all well and good and this journalist wholeheartedly supports original thinking.
Like many other fashion blogs, Design Professor includes a blogroll of well-known fashion blogs and websites. Koontz calls those listed on her blogroll, “Inspiring People”.
The problem arises when you start scrolling through the actual content of Koontz’s blog, only to discover just how much inspiration has been taken from material published elsewhere.
Now frockwriter would like to give Koontz the benefit of the doubt in assuming that this whole thing may be some kind of misunderstanding. Lazy assistant perhaps who forgot to include links? Still wouldn’t give Koontz the right to aggregate the content without permission. Or is it not Koontz at all, but some kind of joke?
Frockwriter is seeking comment from Koontz and will let you know her response. But do check the blog as it stands – and prior to the removal of any incriminating material. (UPDATE 19/04: the blog has now been deleted, see Koontz's response below).
The only reason Design Professor popped up on frockwriter’s radar is because of a news alert on the term “Australian Fashion Week”. One recent such alert drew our attention to Design Professor’s cut-and-paste job of our own recent RAFW and Diet Coke story. It’s the entire first half of the post, complete with images (which were linked to sources in the original post). No permission was sought for this and there is no attribution whatsoever.
Curiously, Design Professor also picked up this journalist's recent social media story from WISH magazine – but on this occasion, chose to merely highlight the opening par and link through to The Australian’s website. Which suggests that Design Prof’s plagiarism may be selective.
But the Diet Coke story is just one example of a litany of Design Prof’s ripoffs, which include a cut-and-paste job of a feature from Fairfax’s The Vine website on RAFW’s Fashion Design Studio designers and another wholesale ripoff, complete with original layout, of Forbes’ Most Powerful Fashion Magazine Editors story from September 4.
One of the more alarming examples is a reproduction of The Business of Fashion’s “Valentino: Still In The Spotlight” post from April 2nd. It’s another cut-and-paste job, with a few subtle differences.
Carefully edited out of the original - conveniently drawing attention away from the fact that Design Professor did not actually sight the Valentino documentary at a special screening, or talk directly to people in the industry – are the following phrases. The original words that have been edited out are highlighted in bold type:
“I enjoyed the film at press screening in New York in October and have been waiting to see what the broader reaction would be after its wider release”.
“I think what I took away most from The film shows just how much fashion has changed. Fashion has become a world where companies focus on image creation and the marketing of dreams and cultivation of aspiration to drive sales. And, the film frames Valentino as the last of the great couturiers which, in and of itself, is a depressing thought”.
“But, I hope this is not the case. The more I speak to people in the industry, the more I think we are returning to a time of great craftsmanship, design and timelessness in fashion. The hope this that this is not the case. The more you hear from people in the industry, the more you understand that they are returning to a time of great craftsmanship, design and timelessness in fashion".
All links to earlier BOF stories have been removed from Design Professor's version, with the exception of one retained outward link: the story’s reference to the French Légion d'honneur.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
UPDATE 19/04 @ 10.16AM: Well if you did not get to check Design Professor after this post went up late yesterday, it's too late now because the entire blog has been deleted.
Overnight Koontz sent me the following, cryptic, email:
"This is | was an unfortunate and disappointing situation that is being corrected on many fronts."
Yes, extremely disappointing - and primarily because Koontz fails to provide any explanation whatsoever.
Koontz may have deleted the blog, however evidence remains via screen grabs taken by frockwriter - and of course all the material that remains cached on the web.
UPDATE 22/04 @ 8.15AM: Twenty-four hours after sending that initial, cryptic, email which offered no explanation, Koontz sent another, much longer, email, using what is known in cyber security circles as the "unknown hacker defence". Koontz now claims that her computer was hacked. In the interim I have been attempting to procure more detailed information from her - and other independent parties. Pending some other work commitments, will update as soon as possible.
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Gucci's double Aussie coup
sonny vandevelde
Well we know that Abbey Lee Kershaw already has four Gucci campaigns under her belt. But according to Kershaw’s Australian mother agency, Chic Management, Gucci has just shot Kershaw again for the FW0910 campaign – and this time she is joined by Chic stablemate Myf Shepherd. Given Gucci’s trademark multigirl campaigns, the Australians are unlikely to be the only models. Shepherd has now walked in three Gucci shows – most recently in February, as part of her blockbuster sophomore show season, which embraced 62 shows. And Gucci is Shepherd’s second luxury campaign get – after shooting Miu Miu last November. At this stage, the only Miu Miu SS09 campaign images to surface star Katie Holmes. It’s possible others will emerge in the coming months. In the event that that Miu Miu sticks with the standalone Holmes shots, Shepherd was neverthless definitely shot, and paid, for the gig says Chic - reportedly alongside seven other models. Kershaw and Shepherd are not the only Chic Management girls booking FW0910 campaigns. Sarah Stephens has just shot Benetton with David Sims and is confirmed to shoot Diesel in Slovenia next week.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
RAFW SS0910: Official schedule
models.com
Frockwriter brought you RAFW's SS0910 draft schedule, as it was coming together. We told you that Australia's newest international modelling sensation, Myf Shepherd, would most likely be on deck - now confirmed. Now frockwriter can confirm, via Priscillas, that Alice Burdeu (^) and comeback queen Emma Balfour will also be here for RAFW. And voilà the official schedule, hot off the IMG press.
At the end, you will find the 2008 schedule for comparison, with the show number totals from both years.
In 2009, there will be a total of 45 shows, compared to 60 in 2008, which is a 25percent drop in show numbers.
Savings pocketed via the decision to scrap the third, and largest, venue for this year's event, due to the economic crisis, should help amortise these losses.
Thirty-seven out of the total 45 shows for 2009 will be solo shows - compared to 51 solo shows in 2008. Some of these solo 'shows' will of course be static presentations - eg Aurelio Costarella, sass & bide and Willow.
MONDAY 27TH APRIL
08:00 Registration Opens
10:00 Camilla and Marc, The Opt
11:00 Bec & Bridge, The Cargo Theatre
12.30 Ginger & Smart, The OPT
13:00 Emerge, Boutique Showroom & Agent/Designer apptmts
14:30 Women's Ready to Wear # 1, The OPT
15.30 Arnsdorf, The Cargo Theatre
16:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
17:00 Wayne Cooper, The OPT
18:00 Therese Rawsthorne, The Cargo Theatre
19:30 Nicola Finetti, The OPT
20:30 MAC Special Event (By invitation only)
TUESDAY 28TH APRIL
09:00 Dion Lee, Off Site
10:00 Zimmermann, The OPT
11:00 Manning Cartell, The Cargo Theatre
12:30 Zambesi, The OPT
13:00 Emerge, Boutique Showroom & Agent/Designer apptmts
14:30 Men's and Women's Ready to Wear, The OPT
15:30 Illionaire, The Cargo Theatre
16:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
17:00 Ant!podium, The OPT
18:00 Alpha 60, The Cargo Theatre
19:30 Diet Coca-Cola Little Black Dress Show, The OPT
20:30 Ellery, Off Site
WEDNESDAY 29TH APRIL
09:00 Konstantina Mittas, The Cargo Theatre
10:00 Kate Sylvester, The OPT
11:00 Aurelio Costarella, The Cargo Theatre
12:30 Dhini | Gail Sorronda, The OPT
13:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
14:30 Swim Group Collection Show, The OPT
15:30 Marnie Skillings, The Cargo Theatre
16:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Designer/Agent apptmts
17:00 TV, The OPT
18:00 Jayson Brunsdon, The Cargo Theatre
19:30 Kirrily Johnston, The OPT
20:30 Willow, Carthona House
THURSDAY 30TH APRIL
09:00 Romance Was Born, Sydney Theatre Company
10:00 Lisa Ho, The OPT
11:00 Beat Poet, The Cargo Theatre
12:30 The Innovators, Fashion Design Studio, The OPT
13:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
14:30 Ready to Wear # 2, The OPT
15:30 Sara Phillips, The Cargo Theatre
16:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
17:00 Gary Bigeni, The OPT
18:00 Juli Grbac, The Cargo Theatre
19:30 Karla Spetic, The OPT
20:30 Sass & Bide, Off Site
FRIDAY 1ST MAY
09:00 Christopher Esber, Off Site
10:00 Anna & Boy, Rosemount Wine Bar
11:00 Magdalena Velevska, The Cargo Theatre
12:30 Michael Lo Sordo, The OPT
13:00 Emerge, Boutique showrooms & agent/designer apptmts
14:30 New Generation Group Show, The OPT
15:30 The Cassette Society, The Cargo Theatre
16:00 Emerge, Boutique Showrooms & Agent/Designer apptmts
17:00 Fernando Frisoni, The OPT
37 solo shows + 8 group shows = 45 shows
And here is the 2008 schedule, via Fully Chic (caps delineate shows not listed on the draft 2008 schedule).
MONDAY 28TH APRIL 2008
10.00 Kirrily Johnston
11.00 Nicola Finetti
12.00 ONE TEASPOON
13.00 Lee Mathews
14.00 RTW 1 (Brooke Benson, Dhini, Leonardo Salinas, GEORGE WU, BRIGID MCLAUGHLIN)
15.00 Hotel Bondi Swim
16.00 Anna Thomas
17.00 Wayne Cooper
18.00 Trimapee
19.00 RUTH TARVYDAS
20.00 Michelle Jank
TUESDAY 29TH APRIL 2008
09.00 camilla and marc
10.00 Lisa Ho
11.00 Zimmermann
12.00 Silence Is Golden
13.00 Life With Bird
14.00 RTW2 (AMAR, BODY, LEONARD ST, NICOLANGELA, VERDUCI-SMITH)
15.00 BEC & BRIDGE
16.00 Kate Sylvester
17.00 Jessie Hill
18.00 Daniel Avakian
19.00 Frisoni Finetti
20.00 Alex Perry
21.00 Friedrich Gray
WEDNESDAY 30TH APRIL 2008
09.00 BOWIE
10.00 Ginger & Smart
11.00 Konstantina Mittas
12.00 Flamingo Sands
13.00 WOOL PROTEGE
14.00 RTW3 (ANNAH STRETTON, ANUPAMA DAYAL, DORIAN HO, EILEEN KIRBY, GINA KIM)
15.00 Marnie Skillings
16.00 Stretsis
17.00 Material Boy
18.00 Thurley
19.00 Melanie Cutfield
20.00 Easton Pearson
21.00 Romance Was Born
THURSDAY 1ST MAY 2008
09.00 Ruby Smallbone
10.00 Cohen et Sabine
11.00 CAMILLA
12.00 Manning Cartell
13.00 Fashion Design Studio (Dion Lee, Spencer Webber, Guy Hastie, Christopher Esber)
14.00 RTW4 (Stitch Ministry, Rufus Green, Xenheist, Injury)
15.00 Shakuhachi
16.00 TV
17.00 RTW5 (ALEXANDRA NEA, HONEY HARTLEY, INDJAPINK, TALULAH)
18.00 Karla Spetic
19.00 TINA KALIVAS
20.00 sass & bide Vie
21.00 Antipodium
FRIDAY 2ND MAY 2008
09.00 James Cameron
10.00 JAYSON BRUNSDON PRESENTATION*
11.00 MAD CORTES
12.00 Gary Bigeni
13.00 Therese Rawsthorne
14.00 New Generation1 (White Kitten, Michael Lo Sordo, Inksoffjohn, Adam Wore Short Pants, Will + Roth, Miischa)
15.00 JACQUI ALEXANDER
16.00 ILLIONAIRE
17.00 New Generation2 (Yu, Who Am Eye, Pizzuto, Nina Field, Zocky, Vanguard)
18.00 Akira
20.00 Marie Claire show
51 solo shows + 9 group shows = 60 shows
Continues...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Balmain inspiration spotted in Balmain
ONTD
Fashion critics have been busy clocking comparisons between Christophe Decarnin’s rock trash relaunch of Balmain and Michael 'King of Pop' Jackson. On September 28, Style.com’s Sarah Mower noted the “Drummer-boy Michael Jackson jackets with the frogging picked out in crystal” in Balmain's Spring 2009 collection. On March 22, in a FW0910 wrapup, The LA Times’ Booth Moore suggested that if money is no object, punters should “Go for the Michael Jackson look at Balmain, the crystal-studded jackets and disco mini-dresses. Or buy the real thing at the Jackson memorabilia auction in Beverly Hills next month”. Thanks to the eagle runway-to-red carpet eyes of commenters over at LiveJournal's Oh No They Didn’t forum, it appears, hilariously, that that may have been a Balmain original that Jackson himself was sporting when papped in LA on April 10. Judge for yourself with this runway/pap mashup done by Red Carpet Fashion Awards - the blog's first ever runway comparison to a male celeb. The Neverland auction will take place from April 22-25 at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard. From today, the public will have one week to check out the 1390 lots before they go under the Julien’s Auctions hammer (UPDATE 15/4: auction now cancelled). What next? Joan Collins in Balenciaga FW0910?
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tourism Australia solicits fashion opinion
julia knolle (R) via myspace
Well last night's pre RAFW dinner was interesting in more ways than one. Last year I cancelled at the last minute because I felt a little guilty about having unleashed hell over that photo of IMG's then 13 year-old model Monika Jagaciak over at NEWS.com.au on the eve of the dinner. Vogue Australia was about to cancel Jagaciak's cover shoot and The Daily Telegraph was girding its loins to claim the story and ask, "Should Monika Jagaciak be at Australian Fashion Week?" - instead of what some might have considered to have been the far more pertinent question, "Should underage models be styled up to look like rent girls?". But back to last night's do - which IMG FASHION Asia Pacific md Simon Lock missed because, according to his 2IC Graeme Lewsey, Lock had to fly out last night for Swim Fashion Week meetings. Beyond the bombshell dropped by Rosemount senior winemaker Matt Koch, that chardonnay is the new black - or rather, white - to my mind the most interesting revelations of the evening hinged on social media.
Firstly, everywhere I turned last night, people wanted to talk about Twitter. I could not escape the topic.
Secondly, it was suggested (by stylist Ken Thompson), that given the likely volume of people Tweeting from the upcoming event, why not aggregate those Tweets into some kind of central bulletin board? IMG is currently looking into the possibility.
Thirdly, according to Koch, my tablemate, Rosemount's PR contingent recently deliberately targeted wine bloggers in Scandinavian markets - instead of traditional media.
And lastly, Scott Schuman and Garance Doré will not be the only international fashion bloggers new to the event this year.
Julia Knolle, the editor-in-chief of popular German fashion site Les Mads, is also en route down to RAFW.
Even more interesting, Knolle is being brought out under the same Tourism Australia program that is funding Schuman's visit - which, as it emerges, is called the Visiting Opinion Leaders Program.
According to Tourism Australia, Knolle's lifestyle, fashion, design and photography blog attracts in excess of 210,000 visits and 830,000 page impressions a month.
UPDATE 15/4: Knolle will now be travelling to Sydney accompanied by Les Mads writer, Jessica Weiß.
julia knolle via twitter
The VOLP is a new program that is designed to target digital opinion leaders, instead of traditional media specialists, who have previously travelled to Australia as part of TA's original Visiting Journalists Progam.
The VOLP recognises the influence of new media specialists.
According to a TA release:
"A key benefit of targeting these digital opinion leaders as opposed to traditional media outlets is that editorial output from one visitis likely to reach a far wider audience than a writer for a magazine from France, for example, by the very nature of the web and its global presence".
This is a fascinating development, especially in light of the problems that are frequently encountered by bloggers gaining access to high profile fashion events (as discussed in this month's WISH magazine).
Other bloggers travelling to Australia under the new Tourism Australian Visiting Opinion Leaders Program include UK nature blogger Andy Rouse and Chinese travel blogger Yibo FAN.
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