Frockwriter loves the fact that the late Alexander McQueen finally did what more than one scifi makeup artist must have dreamed of doing for his Spring/Summer 2010 ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ show last October: use prosthetics in runway makeup. But we really didn’t anticipate that the alien-esque look would be adopted quite so literally by the fash pack. Imagine our surprise, then, to check into Vogue Italia’s website and spot the headline, The Now Idea - Focus on cheekbones, accompanied by a gallery of backstage images from the show, a video and the following instructions, which naturally squeeze in as many plugs for Vogue advertisers as possible:
“A rebuilt face, yes, but just for one night. Implants become toys you put on your cheeks to change your features and live a special night as if you were a creature from outer space or a nymph who escaped from the forest. In a soft version they are more structured types of foundation that create a smoothing and reconstructive effect, while soins help features to get lifted.
Cheekbones Volumizer by Pupa acts with a lipo-filling cosmetic action which increases volume thanks to Volufiline and Kio Pulp Complex V10. You will already see the effect after a few applications.
For the treatment of the whole face, there's the Recompacting High Definition Foundation SPF10 with anti-wrinkle action by Collistar. The special formula extends your features and strengthens the facial contours, while the marine collagen acts in the tissues giving you a long compacting action”.
Hilariously, the story sits directly opposite a second beauty story entitled Beauty Victim, which warns about the dangers of too much plastic surgery:
“Cosmetic surgery can dramatically improve our physical appearance. But be careful not to go in for too many operations in an attempt to achieve an impossible model of aesthetic perfection. Don't become a beauty victim.
This is what happened to American socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, also known as Catwoman, who spent four million dollars on plastic surgery. The outcome? Her face was radically altered, giving her a grotesque, unnatural look”.
If you missed the shots coming in overnight, here are some excerpts from Christian Dior's magnificent Spring/Summer 2010 haute couture show in Paris, via UK Telegraph fashion editor, Hilary Alexander. Frockwriter does not have the benefit of the show notes to hand, but the equestrienne and Gibson Girl influences seem fairly self evident. Given that American couturier Charles James was however not born until 1906, Alexander's suggestion that James was active at the "turn of the century" should be taken with a grain of salt. Judging by the two-tone hair, one might assume that contemporary Irish aristo Daphne Guiness may also have been a muse.
Seasons greetings and a Happy New Year to all frockwriter’s readers. I’m working through summer and have not had much of a chance to blog this very busy past week and a bit. But I just wanted to say thanks once again for your interest and feedback over the past twelve months. I hope that wherever you may be, 2010 brings good things. The fashion countdown is on to the mens Fall/Winter 2010/2011 shows, the Golden Globes, the Spring/Summer 2010 haute couture season and the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 womens RTW marathon, which kicks off in New York on February 11th. The following day, in Vancouver, sees the launch of the winter Olympics, which are sure to produce some eye-popping sport ensembles, at the very least in the ice skating arena. On the graphic design side, frockwriter is already smitten with the event’s mascots. They are:
Miga, a snowboarding sea bear who is part killer whale, part bear; Quatchi, a wannabe hockeyplayer Sasquatch and Sumi, a chimera who is part whale, part Thunderbird, part black bear. Not forgetting Mukmuk, a relatively prosaic marmot.
The mascots were created by Vicki Wong and Michael Murphye of Meomi Design.
Frockwriter mentioned that newly repatriated sex bomb Lisa Seiffert would be shooting the SS10 campaign for stellar Australian swim label Zimmermann this week. But hot diggity dog, if US Make Me A Supermodel model mentor, imminent NIDA student and newbie jeweller Nicole Trunfio isn't in the campaign as well. As it happens, Trunfio, like Seiffert, recently defected from Sydney’s Viviens agency to Chic Management. This behind-the-scenes shot from the shoot popped up in frockwriter’s inbox today. Photographer was Simon Lekias, with New York import art director Louisa Gent, stylist Tamila Purvis, Sophie Roberts on hair and Linda Jefferies on makeup. Anyone in and around Sydney’s Hamptons northern beaches over summer, meanwhile, should definitely pop in to Zimmermann's popup store at Whale Beach. Supremely cool idea for a summer store.
Had a chat to Abbey Lee Kershaw Monday afternoon while she was working in Sydney. The details of the shoot are yet to be revealed, but I can share one of the more amusing model gossip gems to surface. When talking about how models navigate the runway in increasingly ludicrous designer shoes, we touched on the so-called 'armadillo' shoes from Alexander McQueen's S/S 2010 show (below). Wonder why we didn't see Kershaw, Sasha Pivovarova or Natasha Poly in the show? According to Kershaw, that's because after taking one look at the shoes, the supermod trio convened for a powow and decided to nix it.
With killer heels already causing one catwalk catastrophe for Kershaw at Rodarte in New York last September, followed by another near miss with similarly extreme shoes in February this year - the latter prompting her to skip the rest of the FW0910 season in order to nurse a knee injury - little wonder she was loathe to take the risk.
And all that's not counting, of course, the too-tight corset at McQueen's SS09 show one year earlier in Paris, in which Kershaw fainted.
Well that's one theory floated by today's edition of The Sunday Telegraph in a story about McNeil's absence from the SS10 show season. McNeil's Australian agent, Kathy Ward, tells the paper that she has not "heard anything". Even if, one assumes, McNeil's mother agency Chic Management must have a good idea why McNeil was promoted on showcards for the New York and Paris legs, but failed to show at either. Frockwriter understands the weight theory has a little more credibility than the other option suggested by the paper - a "mystery virus". If correct, this would make two of Australia's most successful models - coincidentally both Chic Management girls - forced to sit out the season because of the draconian casting criteria of the high fashion runway circuit. It's fascinating that although everyone in the business knows that that's exactly how things work in fashion and that this is the reason why Myf Shepherd did not book more shows in New York and why she skipped the rest of the season, ditto Ali Michael two years ago and Gemma Ward one year prior to that, few are willing to go on the record about it.
Frockwriter told you that promising RAFW newcomer Anaessia was showing at New York Fashion Week. And that Anaessia designer Sue Vanikiotis bumped into Vera Wang while in the Big Apple. Well, demonstrating that Sue and husband Nick Vanikiotis are as canny marketers as they are highend eveningwear specialists, here’s a brand new fash tourist shot of Sue with none other than Karl Lagerfeld, into whom the duo bumped at famed Parisian emporium Colette over the weekend. The encounter was in between appointments at the Tranoi trade show during Paris Fashion Week. Kaiser Karl was, they report, surrounded by five bodyguards.
As reported by frockwriter, Sydney-based Sue Vanikiotis has been at New York Fashion Week showing her Anaessia label. And things appear to have gone very well - unexpectedly so, one could say, given the retail climate in the US, which has seen stores close right, left and centre. Vanikiotis' business partner and husband, Nick Vanikiotis, reports that not only was the collection warmly received on September 15, the duo has been approached by an investor to open a store in Mercer Street, SoHo. While visiting The Mercer Hotel one day they bumped into legendary New York eveningwear designer Vera Wang, who reportedly said to Sue, "I like your top - is it one of yours?". When Sue told her that she had just done her first runway show in New York, Wang offered her congratulations. See below for a video of the show, which featured more of Anaessia's trademark lace party dresses trimmed with ribbon and crystal embellishments - as first spotted at Sydney's RAFW in May.
As it emerges, two other Australian brands also showed at the same Nolcha Fashion Week umbrella event in New York as Anaessia: Telina Webb's designer kimono brand KabukiU and Suzie Rose Vella’s Pizzuto.
Together with Yeojin Bae, who showed as part of the Gen Art collective, also on September 15, that makes in fact at least seven Australian brands on the runway in New York last week.
Click here to see Harper's Bazaar Australia's gallery from the Yeojin Bae show.
Frockwriteralready mentioned that Myf Shepherd booked eight New York Fashion Week shows last week. And while for a new model that would be wonderful news, considering how quickly Shepherd's star has risen in the modelling business over the past 18 months, walking for almost every major name and booking campaigns for Gucci and Sonia Rykiel, among others, her eight (mostly) low-profile SS10 NY shows surprised more than one. No response from Shepherd's mother agency Chic Management on speculation that Shepherd may have gained weight but in this journalist's experience, that's not unusual. In fact we recall that when we first learned of casting problems that Gemma Ward was experiencing three years ago, with sources indicating a weight gain was the problem, many laughed off the proposition. Including Ward's mother agency, Viviens. Twelve months later however, even the public criticised Ward's apparent weight gain. Ward's runway career virtually evaporated shortly thereafter. Shepherd has a showcard for Milan but are we likely to see her there? Time will tell. In the meantime, Shepherd has told sources in New York that she is thinking of taking a break.
If the issue is casting directors, many would find this news interesting, coming hot on the heels of the controversy surrounding Mark Fast's decision to cast three plus size models in his SS10 show in London overnight - with Fast's stylist (a high profile London fashion editor) reportedly either quitting, or else being fired, over her resistance to the idea.
However it needs to be remembered that neither Ward nor Shepherd are plus size models.
They are both mainstream high fashion models working in an intensely competitive business that dictates draconian terms. Just like the ballet.
It should also be remembered that although Shepherd was 17 when she entered the business - compared to Ward, who was just 15 - over the past 12 months Shepherd has worked flat out, at show times pushing an insane schedule and she has been the focus of intense publicity in Australia, including much speculationabout her sexuality.
It's rather a lot to take in in your first year out of school.
Whatever the reason for Shepherd's low profile in New York, we wish her all the best. In the event that she does decide to take an extremely well-earned break, we hope to see her back on the runways soon. If indeed that's what she chooses to pursue.
She is a fantastic model and has achieved an extraordinary amount in 12 months.
The question perhaps remains, should she have been in New York at all? Models miss runway seasons all the time and for a variety of reasons, with few questions asked.
While the models were still walking Mark Fast's SS10 runway show at London Fashion Week, Twitter - and this blog - were abuzz with the news that the designer's signature embellished bodycon knitwear was being showcased on a cast that included three size 14 girls. One Twitterer hinted that Fast's stylist quit over the casting. Well an insider has claimed on a comment on this blog that the stylist did not quit but was let go over her position on Fast's choice of larger models. Frockwriter is waiting to hear back from Fast but in the meantime, it emerges that Fast's favourite stylist is Erika Kurihara, better-known as the fashion editor of iconic London style magazine i-D (and we have also attempted to make contact with her). Another studio insider, Amanda May, has since tweeted that the names of the three models in question are Hayley, Laura and Gwyneth and that the company is "so happy we stuck to our guns about the casting". Update 20/09: This story has now been picked up by The Guardian. Click here to see the complete collection on wwd.com. Still no response from either Fast or Kurihara.
Some claimed that City Chic’s recent plus size fashion show at the Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival was an “historic” moment, because it was the first time larger models had been included in a major fashion event. Given that City Chic has not traditionally been integrated with the regular fashion industry, but remains a plus size retailer, frockwriter is not convinced. Myer recently made a lot of noise about including plus size models in its suburban spring fashion shows – but refused to incorporate them into its most high profile media showcase in Sydney. Why? Your guess is as good as ours. Well London-based Canadian knitwear designer Mark Fast has just broken with fashion tradition - and may well have made history - not by making a big song and dance about creating specifically for larger sizes, or by incorporating a token fat girl, but by simply including several size 14 models in his Spring/Summer 2010 show, which has literally just wrapped at London Fashion Week. The remainder of the cast included Aussie Rachel Rutt, who continued her assault on the SS10 season by closing the show. With even Vogue UK editor Alexandra ‘No size 0’ Shulman expressing doubts just one week ago that she would be seeing larger sample fashion sizes any time soon, frockwriter predicts we are going to be hearing a lot more about this show in the days ahead. Particularly since one hilarious early Twitter report suggests that Fast’s stylist may have quit over the casting. Related: Fast's stylist didn't quit over the casting of size 14 models, she was fired - source. Click here for the complete collection on wwd.com.
The venue might have been half empty due to a schedule ambush engineered by no less than the British PM – who was staging a fashion reception at Downing Street – but some are hailing sass & bide’s return to London Fashion Week after a six year hiatus, as “totally awesome” and even, the label's "best”. According to the show notes, designers Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke were inspired by both futurism and Argentinian gaucho cowboys, the latter evidenced in a swathe of full-legged harem pants – short versions of which were dubbed “sharems” by one wag. Teamed with the full lower silhouettes: a suite of heavily-embellished tunics, signature harnesses and singlet-like vests with elongated bretelles, as seen in the top of a male dancer’s leotard. Bodycon enjoyed a lookin via a series of embellished microdresses and a knockout pair of embellished tulle leggings. All up, a dazzling collection, and one that was accompanied by accessories from new hire Pip Edwards, including vertiginous pumps and sandals with chopine platform soles. With a new London store on the agenda, and talk of even moving to London, the duo may never return to the runways of New York. Click here for more images on the LFW website.
Sadly frockwriter has been otherwise occupied for the duration of New York Fashion Week, so this blog has been incredibly quiet. Australian models, on the other hand, have been busy, with at least 12 local names walking in shows. Anyone we have missed, feel free to add in. According to Chadwicks Jessica Hart and Louise van der Vorst were also on deck, but so far the photos have yet to emerge. Priscillas says that Lauren Brown did eight shows, but we have only managed to spot her in two. A few models of note. After skipping last season altogether due to an ankle injury, Abbey Lee Kershaw powered back last week booking an impressive 20 shows, including some of the week’s biggest names. As expected, Rachel Rutt made an impressive RTW debut, also clocking 20 shows.
Surely everybody knows by now that Burberry is ditching its regular Milan show digs this season to help celebrate London Fashion Week's 25th anniversary by closing the event with its Spring/Summer 2010 womens runway show at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22nd September. Well officially, there is another day of shows after that but it sounds a little like the Milan show schedule, which drags on with a few lowkey presentations, while the larger fashion caravan moves on to the next city. What you may not know is that Burberry is planning to take a leaf out of Dolce e Gabbana's books and stream its show live to the net. Just head to live.burberry.com, where apparently there may be even be some form of comments facility. A fantastic move on Burberry's part and one that frockwriter predicts we will be seeing a lot more of in seasons to come.
Closely following the release of the spooky, Paul Rowland-lensed supplement to V Magazine's issue 61, which showcases models from the New York agencies Supreme and Women by way of "corpse paint" makeup and styling that appear to have been directly inspired by the Norwegian black metal scene, comes Supreme's model showcards for the New York Spring/Summer 2010 runway season. The makeup and styling are equally horrific and coincidentally, the photographer is Scandinavian: Swedish-born Hanna Linden. Horror is a dominant theme in Linden's work, which has depicted nightmarescapes haunted by masked, spectral figures, with titles in one 2006 New York exhibition including "Death Gate", "Death Upon a Black Horse", "Playing Dead" and "Skeleton Creek". Linden, a fan of the Davids Lynch and Cronenberg, described her work to PAPER magazine as "dystopia after a catastrophe".
For sure, the horror film genre has enjoyed a resurgence over the past decade and given its popularity, it is perhaps surprising that it has taken this long to hit fashion.
Could the current economic climate of doom and gloom have anything to do with things? September's W magazine for instance also delivers a Craig McDean spread of a down-on-her-luck Sasha Pivovarova, dressed as a stylish vagrant in shredded luxury shopping bags.
Scandinavia, as it emerges, has quite a vibrant horror film culture.
After the Japanese and South Korean horror waves that delivered film franchises such as The Ring and The Grudge, some horror aficionados are tipping Scandinavian horror as the next big wave. This follows a spate of recent Scandinavian horror releases, including Let The Right One In, Dark Floors and Tommy Wirkola's Dead Snow Nazi zombie spoof, which had its world premier at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
This is not the first time that horror has raised its hand in fashion this year.
Some might recall Steven Klein's "Lara fiction noire" editorial in the February edition of Paris Vogue, for which Klein shot Stone in a horror-inspired, and quite bloody, series of images depicting simulated violence. Although the original series ran on Klein's website, some images were reportedly censored from the magazine.
It's interesting that Supreme believes this is the best way to showcase its models to prospective clients. Of course, the series is bound to stand out amongst the myriad of agency showcards that do the rounds at this time of year, with agencies vigorously competing for a slice of the season's runway action.
But while most shots are clearly in the fantasy realm, a couple look like outtakes from a community service announcement about domestic violence.
So it’s official. Confirming an August 7 report in frockwriter that sass & bide was close to securing a slot on the SS10 London Fashion Week schedule, the British Fashion Council has just confirmed the brand will show on day one of its 25th anniversary event: Friday 18th September at 7.15pm. Sass & bide also celebrates a milestone this year: 2009 marks 10 years since Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke first launched the brand, and coincidentally, in London. The duo then returned to Australia, debuting at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in May 2000 in a group show, before making their solo runway debut the following year at the event. In 2002 they began showing at London Fashion Week and in February 2004, joined the New York Fashion Week schedule. London sales have been particularly good and the city is to be the location of the brand’s first offshore boutique, Middleton recently told frockwriter.
So Rachel Rutt was back in town for last week’s David Jones show. While in town, she shot a lookbook for Wish. Click here to see more out-takes on photographer Sonny Vandevelde’s blog. Frockwriter mentioned that after her stellar Australian Fashion Week in May, Rutt headed to New York for the cruise season, during which she shot lookbooks for Phillip Lim and Doo.Ri and featured on big buzz model industry websites models.com and COACD. Add to this several as yet unseen new jobs: a lookbook for eveningwear brand Marchesa, a shoot with Scott ‘The Sartorialist’ Schuman for Vogue Italia, presentations for Mulberry and Giles Deacon in London and a 14-page editorial shot in London by Andrew Hobbs for NZ's PILOT magazine. Rutt is now gearing up for the SS10 shows, which kick off in New York on September 9. As is Vandevelde who, in addition to covering the season, will unveil the first of two upcoming retrospectives showcasing a decade of his backstage photography at New York's Tribeca Grand Hotel from September 10-30. The second is due to take place during the 2010 Melbourne Fashion Festival.
New York Fashion Week runs from September 9-17 and after several quiet seasons on the Oz front – with Toni Maticevski making the pilgrimage alone last season - things look to be picking up. Which is interesting, given the ongoing problems of the US retail sector. WWD reports that 4,600 retail outlets are tipped to close this year, on top of 6,913 closures last year, in what the paper has dubbed “the Great Retail Rationalization of the Great Recession”. Nevertheless, as frockwriter can reveal, four Australians will be showing in New York next month. Joining Kit Willow Podgornik, Toni Maticevski and New York-based Michael Angel is Sydney’s Anaessia, designed by Lisa Vanikiotis (pictured above) – first spotted at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May. Maticevski, Podgornik and Vanikiotis are in fact showing on the same day: Tuesday 15th September.
Anaessia’s romantic cocktail dresses and embellished skull print sheath – which we dared sheath otaku Michelle Obama to wear – were in fact this journalist’s pick of brands in RAFW’s group shows.
Sold in Australia exclusively through its own boutique at the Sofitel Wentworth hotel and, from October, a second boutique in The Strand, the five year-old highend label, whose Australian retail prices range from A$800-3500, has been wholesaling for just over a year.
Anaessia has 10 international stockists so far, from the US to Jakarta to Kuwait.
The brand’s first US client, interestingly, was the head of wardrobe for ABC TV, who has purchased outfits from three collections for All My Children’s Susan Lucci – and according to Vanikiotis, to wear on the show.
Anaessia will show in New York as part of an umbrella event called Nolcha Fashion Week.
London Fashion Week, which runs September 18-22, also looks to be shaping up as a major Australian fashion showcase.
Josh Goot will show at LFW for the third consecutive season, on September 21st at 3.30pm, venue TBC.
It also seems likely that sass & bide will return to the event after numerous seasons showing in New York
At the David Jones show on Tuesday morning, Sarah-Jane Clarke told frockwriter that she was awaiting confirmation on a time slot from LFW organisers, who have a bumper season on their hands due to the event’s 25th anniversary. Burberry and Clements Ribeiro, among others, are returning to the London runways to help celebrate the milestone.
A second show venue has just been announced for the event, 180 The Strand - which is located adjacent to LFW's brand new main venue this season, Somerset House.
The second venue will house, among other initiatives, On|Off, LFW's regular off-schedule showcase.
According to a series of reports about the new venue, Ksubi is planning to show at 180 The Strand.
At the same venue, the Robinson Pfeffer Showroom is also due to showcase a number of Australian brands, including Tina Kalivas, Alpha 60 and Arnsdorf.
For your reference, here are the Australasian shows at New York Fashion Week:
September 10 at 09.00 – Michael Angel, The Salon, Bryant Park September 12 at 16.00 – Karen Walker, the Altman Building September 15 at 12.00 – Toni Maticevski, the Altman Building September 15 at 18.00 – Willow, The Salon, Bryant Park September 15 at 19.30 – Anaessia, Bohemian National Hall
Also, a first draft of New York's Fashion Calendar:
Many railed over the quality of images that were snapped by mobile phone and uploaded to Twitter at Sydney's Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May. “Blurry”, “average” and “grainy” were terms used to slag the images off, with several parties asking the Twitterati to cease and desist. Some derided the phenomenon as “the failure of new media”. We, the new media douchebags, girded our loins and smartphones, dubbed the movement Bluralism and joked that we might one day stage an exhibition. Well, typically, New York has beaten us to it. On Wednesday, the Stephan Weiss Studio staged an exhibition of camera phone images taken by 14 artists including Cass Bird, Justin Giunta, Richard Kern, Danielle Levitt and Chrissy Miller, who were each given a Casio Exilim Mobile with which to document one week. Although one great big promo for Casio, photos taken using other mobile phone brands were also included. With New York Fashion Week eight weeks away and more and more fashion players piling onto Twitter, frockwriter wonders if any of the city's more social media-savvy types have considered aggregating the best images from the anticipated deluge of SM coverage.
The fashion world is also mourning Michael Jackson – and not just opportunistic retailers such as Supré who are hopping onto the MJ tribute merchandise bandwagon. Two days before Jackson died, it was revealed that the costumes for his upcoming This Is It tour would be festooned with 300,000 Swarovski crystals. At Givenchy’s menswear show on Friday, Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci told The New York Times that he had been working on some of those costumes and that his show (which featured some embellishment) paid homage to Jackson. John Galliano was the first to add Jackson’s music to his soundtrack. Also on Friday, Australia’s Jethro Cave upstaged yet another SS10 menswear show with his personal styling - Comme des Garçons. Although Cave lost the Gumby earring that prompted commentary at Costume National in Milan earlier in the week, he lifted the sleeve of his jacket during one CDG exit to reveal the words 'RIP Smooth Criminal' scrawled on his forearm. The 'Thriller' finale of Paul Smith’s show which closed the season last night was all over Twitter when Smith emerged on the runway, dancing with his models (here is a video). Jackson had of course recently been rediscovered by the fashion industry.
The Balmain/Givenchy connection reportedly came via a hookup between Jackson and French Vogue fashion director Emmanuelle Alt.
But while Jackson has been cited by more than one as the inspiration for the rock trash aesthetic of Christophe Decarnin's recent collections for Balmain, notably a series of influential embellished military jackets, it seems that Jackson himself may have been more than a little inspired by fashion.
Together with the sequinned white glove, the beaded socks and the red bomber jacket worn in Thriller, the heavily-embellished vintage-look naval/military jacket was one of Jackson’s signature looks.
On several occasions the LA Times has credited Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins as Jackson’s costumiers for the past 20 years, including this style obit from Friday.
Jackson may have worked with Bush and Tompkins in the latter part of his stage careeer, however the embellished military jackets that he wore to the 1984 Grammys and a series of other events in the 1980s – along with the original concept for the rhinestone glove – are widelyattributed to Bill Whitten.
An LA-based costume designer, Whitten already worked with the Jackson 5 in the disco-infused 1970s, when the sibling group were performing in dazzling glitter stage outfits.
Here is one performance on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, which ran from 1971-1974 on CBS.
Jackson was of course not the first entertainment industry figure to make a style claim on the vintage-look military jacket.
In the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix's stage look included genuine antique naval jackets, while the high-colour versions sported by The Beatles on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club were authored by Mexican designer Manuel Cuevas.
But according to Stuart Goddard – aka Adam Ant - Jackson's jacket inspiration was more London New Romantic than Sixties psychedelia.
Goddard claims that shortly after the release of his Kings of the Wild Frontier album and videos from 1980-1981, he received a phone call from Jackson asking where he had sourced the heavily-embellished vintage naval jacket worn in the videos.
Goddard told Jackson that it came from the costume hire company Berman's and Nathan's in London's Covent Garden.
At the time the fashion and music scenes were heavily entwined in London.
However in case you are wondering if that makes Vivienne Westwood not only a godmother to punk, but also to the King of Pop, according to Goddard, the jacket was his own call.
Westwood's then creative partner, Malcolm McLaren, was the band's manager at the time.
In Goddard's autobiography, he claims that although McLaren suggested he wear something from Westwood’s debut collection, entitled Pirate (shown in March 1981 in London), Goddard declined, preferring to source the genuine article.
