The faces of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS 13/14

holly rose emery backstage at flannel SS1314

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is done and dusted for another year. Who were the top showgirls - and guys? Frockwriter asked all the major Sydney booking agencies for their top models at the event and here is the result. Yes there were a couple of high profile ring ins who flew in for show exclusives - Georgia May Jagger for Camilla and Hanne Gaby Odiele for Ellery. The list of 41 names, below, includes four other internationals (Solveig Hansen, Juliette Fazekas, Alanna Whittaker and Isabelle Sauer). Interestingly, however, the list is dominated by a plethora of new local faces who have never previously appeared at the event. Some recently profiled by frockwriter, notably Kiwi Holly Rose Emery, April Tiplady and Gabby Dover. Great to see some of Australia's biggest international runway names back in town supporting the local industry and it was no surprise at all to find Nicole Pollard, Julia Nobis and Ruby Jean Wilson at the top of the list. What is perhaps surprising is to see a newcomer such as Emery also at the very top of the list, ranked by her show numbers (not including off-schedule shows from the week before). 

Frockwriter Live at MBFWA...and Frockwriter heads to Fellt

backstage at christopher esber SS1213/MBFWA

It’s that time of the year when we gather around the campfire that is Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and celebrate – or eviscerate – fashion design from the land down under. Since this journalist’s blogging career kicked off with live coverage of the event back in 2006 at smh.com.au and we have experimented with a number of different live coverage formats in the interim (e.g. last year's Fashion Week Uncut live blog, in tandem with Emma Ashton), it’s also the time of year when we usually try to come up with a fresh format for real-time coverage. Because that's just how we roll. This year it’s a newlook Frockwriter Live, the site we launched back in 2010 through the Posterous microblogging platform. Since Posterous is due to close at the end of April (sad face), we needed to find an alternative and this is it – for the moment. The newlook Frockwriter Live was developed with Johan Bergström and Daniel Kjellsson, aka Sydney Stockholm. Which brings me to the bigger picture Frockwriter news here: yes, we are hooking up with the Swedish house mafia. 

Camilla Franks channels her inner Pachamama - MBFWA SS 13/14

Australians, we love us some colour. No kidding in the case of Camilla “kaftan queen” Franks. If the Great Barrier Reef suddenly rose from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, took on human form and headed out for dinner at Nautilus in Port Douglas, hands down it would be robed in her psychedelic resort wear, which has become a fave of Oprah, Beyoncé and Lily Allen, not to mention ram raiders. On Wednesday, Franks will unveil her “Pachamama” Spring/Summer 2013/2014 collection of womenswear, menswear, childrens wear and swimwear in Centennial Park, apparently the first fashion show to ever be staged inside the park, all part of its 125th birthday celebrations this year. The collection is named after the Pachamama goddess who is revered by indigenous tribes of the Andes and Franks has scored some rock royalty for opening honours - Georgia May Jagger, who will lead a pack of 30 models in a big budget production produced by Mark Vassallo. Justin Ridler recently shot a lookbook of the collection, which was inspired by Franks’ recent trip to South America. The setting for the shoot was Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens and the model, rising Kiwi modelling star Holly Rose Emery. Here is an exclusive preview.

Nicole Warne signs with IMG as the MBFWA Insider

via gary pepper vintage

Last year Nicole 'Gary Pepper Vintage' Warne became the first Australian blogger to walk the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia runways – modelling for the Talulah brand. As MBFWA dramatically ramps up its social media program for the Spring/Summer 2013/2014 event, which commences on Monday at the new Carriageworks venue, the twentysomething Japanese-Korean-Australian beauty is about to add a couple of other blogger firsts to her resumé.

Showcards: eMg Models (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

Last week frockwriter introduced new eMg Models face Mackenzie Baker – son of Hermès Australia’s head honchette Karin Upton Baker, who then wound up co-starring alongside Gemma Ward as a lead image in Saturday’s Private Sydney column on the back page of The Sydney Morning Herald. Now for eMg Models’ women’s showpack for next week’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. Of note, a brand new indigenous face.

Showcards: Priscilla's Model Management (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

jackson rado by damon baker/priscillas

Last week we brought you the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS1314 girls of Priscillas Model Management – including Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio (who has yet to be booked, but we hear other internationals repped by Priscillas are en route down under). Here are the Priscillas' MBFWA boys. They include yet another European who is no stranger to the international mens runways and who, just like Nicklas Kingo, just happens to be half Australian.

Showcards: Priscilla's Model Management (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

Could Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio really be a serious contender for the runways of next month’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia? Frockwriter was somewhat taken aback to spot the Brazilian bombshell at the head of the Priscilla's Model Management women’s show pack for the event. As we mentioned yesterday, the Oz modelling game has shifted into a new gear courtesy of last year’s arrival of IMG Models - which included some of its own big names, ie Gemma Ward and Miranda Kerr, in its show pack.

Showcards: eMg Models (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

mackenzie baker via emg models

There is really only a handful of shows that will either star or feature menswear at next month’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (including Emma Mulholland, Vanishing Elephant, Zambesi, Han and Romance Was Born). But that hasn’t stopped Australian model agencies from putting a swag of their best new male recruits forward for castings over the next fortnight. Of note, eMg Models and its mens show pack, which includes some intriguing new faces.

Showcards: IMG Models Australia - MBFWA SS 13/14

And now to the MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013 show pack from IMG Models Australia. A collaboration between the agency, Sydney-based collage artist and model (repped by IMG Models Australia) Mason Mulholland and graphic designer/photographer Mitchell McLennan, the pack of 57 cards comes in a smart, white laser-cut perspex box. Thirty seven of the names are definitely in town for MBFWA, with the others (including Gemma Ward and Miranda Kerr) just there for promotional purposes, but theoretically available for the event by special request.

Showcards: Work Agency - MBFWA SS 13/14

kellie williams via work agency

And now to part VIII of frockwriter’s MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 model showcards series – Work Agency. Although this show pack is so far the most compact of the season, we have to say it gets top marks for presentation. Internationally, model agencies go to some effort to make their show packs stand out, tapping art directors to create innovative concepts. Not so much down under. As competition increases in this market, branding is going to be increasingly important. Heading up Work Agency's MBFWA pack is the agency's star Cassi van den Dungen, who has just returned from making her international runway debut, walking for, among others, Miu Miu.

Showcards: Viviens Model Management (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

gene aliluev via viviens model management

Part VII in frockwriter’s MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 showcards series – the men of Viviens Model Management. Including... the world’s first model barrister?

Showcards: Viviens Model Management (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

courtney eaton via viviens model management

Abbey Lee Kershaw has been MIA on the runways since taking some time off after shooting George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road in Namibia last year. But one of her Mad Max co-stars will be at MBFWA next month: Courtney Eaton, who heads up the womens’ show pack from Sydney agency Viviens Model Management.

Showcards: Chadwick Models (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

nicklas kingo by brice hardelin via morphoman

Part V of frockwriter's MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 model showcards series is the men of Chadwick Models. Not only will three of this country’s top international male runway stars be in town for the event – Angus Low, Joel Meacock and Kye D’Arcy (via Chic Management) – they will be joined by another top new name in male modelling, Nicklas Kingo, who just happens to be half Australian.

Showcards: Chadwick Models (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

nicola walsh via chadwick models

Part IV of frockwriter's MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 model showcards series: the women of Chadwick Models in Sydney. The agency's show pack includes a dozen internationals who are flying in from the US, Canada, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Malaysia; a few local faves such as Katerina Chang, Sarah Lorimer and New Zealand's Samantha Shorter; and a hell of a lot of new Australian faces, who are brand new to the event this year, some of whom we have recently covered in our New Faces series and elsewhere.

Showcards: Chic Management (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

sam armstrong via chic management

Next up in frockwriter's MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 model showcards series: the men of Chic Management. Yesterday we brought you the Sydney agency's women's show pack, which includes some of the most successful Australian women on the international show circuit at present. The men's show pack is headed up by three of Australia's most successful male models. 

Showcards: The Agency Models - MBFWA SS13/14

maddison watling by romain duquesne

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is less than a month away and the preliminary schedule has just gone up (click here to download). Who will rock its runways? Herewith the first instalment in frockwriter's MBFWA showcards series from Australia’s leading model agencies. First up, Sydney's The Agency Models.

New faces: Jazmine Hikaka

thom kerr

Gemma Ward was first spotted sitting on the floor of a television studio in Perth in October 2002, on hand to support some mates who were trying out for Search For A Supermodel. Sixteen year old Gold Coaster Jazmine Hikaka has a strikingly similar reality show connection. 

Zimmermann swaps MBFWA for New York Fashion Week

krystal glynn backstage at zimmermann SS1213

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is counting down to the Spring/Summer 2013/2014 showcase from April 8 -12 at its brand new venue, Carriageworks. That’s nearly a month ahead of the event’s traditional time slot of late April/early May, a change that was made last year after concerns were raised by many in the industry that the timing was too late for contemporary buying cycles. But it seems you can’t keep everyone happy.