Julia Nobis - the face of Fall

nobis backstage at thierry mugler FW1213 via style bistro

It was just two years ago when Julia Nobis came to the fashion world's attention, thanks to a New York Fashion Week exclusive with Calvin Klein. She then proceeded to power ahead on the world's runways, booking some of the best shows in the business: 33 in that first international show season, Fall/Winter 2010/2011; 43 shows in her second, six months later; 50 in her third; 72 in her fourth; and 73 shows in total in her fifth and most recent season – Fall/Winter 2012/2013 in February and March this year. For two consecutive seasons, the now 19 year-old Sydney-ite has had the biggest individual show tally of any international model. And all that hard work looks to have finally paid off.

Andrej Pejic nabs Marc by Marc Jacobs to boot

armin morbach for tush via fashion gone rogue

 
Ah the Andrej Pejic story. There's just no end to the updates. So after mesmerising the Paris Spring/Summer 2011 mens runways in June, booking editorials with, among others, Vogue Paris and Vogue Italia, not to mention Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring/Summer 2011 ad campaign, WWD reported an hour ago in Monday's Fashion Scoops column (here) that Pejic has just shot the Marc by Marc Jacobs SS11 campaign (confirming previous reports on frockwriter that he had booked a second campaign). Last week Pejic debuted at No 40 on models.com's Top 50 Male Models. Notes MDC: "Andrej, in a few short months has become the face of a new sort of male beauty, the kind that sparks comments, controversies and intense scrutiny... look for Andrej's stock to rise even higher in 2011". You can count on it.

Sydney and Auckland street style in WWD

Street style photography is an enormous component of the fashion blogosphere, which has in fact launched blogging empires (The Sartorialist and Jak + Jil to name but a few). This photoreportage genre however definitely predates the net. Bill Cunningham’s first street style shots were published in The New York Times in 1978, but he first began documenting the fashion choices of ordinary people on the street during WWII. British style magazine i-D has a 30 year archive of its signature street style shots - aka “Straight-Ups” - on its website. And WWD, where Cunningham worked briefly, has had its own longstanding series of street style shots called They Are Wearing. As the paper's Australasian correspondent since 1996, I have shot quite a few “TAWs” in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Seoul and Taipei for WWD FAST and (Fairchild News Service's now defunct menswear paper) DNR. During the Spring/Summer 2011 show season WWD kicked off a series of global TAW galleries in the 'Eye Scoop' section and yesterday two of mine went up, both shot last month. Here is the Sydney gallery and here is the Auckland one, which was shot around Vulcan Lane during New Zealand Fashion Week. Not including this random shot, above, which was taken for WWD FAST at Sydney's Glenmore Road, Paddington intersection in May this year. Perhaps you might recognise some of your mates. 

Kelvin Ho and co in WWD FAST

Click here to download the latest edition of WWD's youth-skewed sportswear mag FAST (you will need Adobe Reader v 9). My Australian content includes a full-page feature on how Kelvin Ho became Australia's premier independent fashion retail architect, designing 13 boutiques for sass & bide and Belinda Seper, with other clients including Willow, Fleur Wood and Terry Biviano (p 28). There are also mini profiles on Chic Management's Kate Budrodeen (p 14), Hotel Bondi Swim (p 22) and Gideon sneakers (p 58) - together with the latest data from the best arbiters of Oz youth stats, LifeLounge.

Bryancam

bryanboy

Guys, our buddy Bryanboy is winging his way to New York Fashion Week as I type on the next leg of the "surreal" Marc Jacobs journey on which he's found himself over the past 12 months. Above is a self-portrait taken at Manila airport in the wee hours of Sunday morning. WWD got the scoop on precisely what he's going to be doing in the Big Apple. Check the story out here.

Fly-by shoot in the Highlands

Sonny Vandevelde and I have a double-page spread in the latest issue of WWD Scoop magazine, which came out yesterday. It's a feature on the NSW Southern Highlands, its iconic properties - which include Nicole Kidman's sprawling new Bunya Hill estate - and the region's newfound favour with the Sydney fashion crew. One veeeeeeery cold weekend in August, we whizzed around to a few hotspots.

We shot at Milton Park, Centennial Vineyards and also popped in to see Chic Management's Kathy Ward at her farm in Kangaloon.

Ward is one of a plethora of Sydney fashion/modelling peeps who have either moved down and commute to Sydney, or else have weekenders.

And as it emerges Ward, who reps Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Miranda Kerr and Myf Shepherd, among many others, is not only shuttling her children and horses between Sydney and Kangaloon on weekends.

As she told me:

"If any models are staying with me, part of the deal is they have to come down to the farm with me".

While down on the farm, Sonny discovered a hidden talent.

We know he's a model whisperer - but who knew he had such a knack with horses?

Up the front of the same issue Sonny's buddy (and Paris shows flatmate), model-turned-photographer Iekeliene Stange, has her own DPS of backstage shots that she took during New York Fashion Week.

So Sonneliene strike again, kind of.

Let's call it the Sonnepatteliene issue.

Sydney: Finally relevant to someone

jayson brunsdon SS0809 show, may 2/getty

Those with WWD subscriptions may have already seen my Letter From Sydney on Thursday. Letters From… is a running series that is distinct from WWD’s regular global fashion news coverage in that the reports focus specifically on the cities themselves, looking at growth, real estate, vital stats and of course fashion developments. Here are some interview outtakes from a couple of key local players which did not make it into the story due to space restrictions.


Philip Corne, CEO Oceania, Louis Vuitton (the world’s biggest luxury brand)

On the Australian LV customer:

“I think the Australian consumer sits somewhere for me between London and New York. In terms of the way they shop. We’re part of Asia geographically, but I think shopping in Asia is a recreational activity, whereas in Australia it’s not quite the same. We shop with a purpose I would say, if I could put it that way”.

On where to take the guys from head office when they’re in town:

“The thing that we find impresses, and you can kind of roll a lot of things about Sydney into one, is those great restaurants around the harbour. And we find somewhere like Guilluame at Bennelong or Quay restaurant, if you’re there and you’re looking out over the harbour and you’re experiencing that level of service, that level of food and that level of wine….. For the French, who love their food and wine, to be able to do that and look out over Sydney Harbour, they’re gobsmacked”.

On the long haul factor:

“The day they [jets] get faster I think will be the day that travel to Australia will change dramatically. [It needs to be] Twice as fast. I think that the Americans can handle going to Europe and the Europeans can handle going to America, but it’s once you start to get into 24 hours they go, ‘You’ve got to be joking’. For me I just turn my brain into solid neutral and try not to think about anything, because it’s too hard”.

Robert Jordan, managing director Australia and New Zealand, Westfield Group (the world’s largest listed real estate property group by market equity capitalisation)

On the city of Sydney – and Australian retail culture:

“I think it’s naturally one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But as a retail location, I think the Australian culture of being fashion-conscious, being casual, being free, all leads to an interesting environment for retail, because I believe it’s a fairly open environment to that”.

On the difference between Australian and US malls:

“I think that Sydney and Australia is quite a competitive environment to be in. I think we also have land blocks that aren’t large, that are quite small, that we need to deal with. I think we have been quite entrepreneurial and inventive in being able to cope with a number of issues. It’s different to the US, which is the home of shopping centres, which traditionally have had very large blocks of land available, at intersections to freeways… We’ve had to deal with town centres. We have small blocks of land, have to develop on multi levels, we have to work out how they work. I think our centres are more vibrant. They actually attract a number of different disciplines, from food, fashion, homewares… Whereas a lot of the other countries have just been focussing on fashion, we’ve been focussing on a true town centre”.

On Westfield Group’s Oz roots:

“Australia has always been our base from which we’ve grown and it’s also probably our origins and where our intellectual knowledge has actually come from. Australia really is the breeding ground for what we do around the world. And if you look at [new A$600million CBD development] Sydney City for instance, it’s probably the culmination of many years work, which started at Bondi [Junction]…. I think a lot of people were surprised at what we could do [at WBJ]. We were regional mall developers and we actually challenged ourselves to reinvent ourselves”.

And of course, who could forget the inimitable response from the Sydney Chamber of Commerce communications director Nick Davy, following my request for an interview (for in fact this story) with the Chamber’s executive director Patricia Forsythe:

“this is..... just not relevant".

Michelle Jank helps reimage Oz wool

awi

Sydney is certainly a fashion hub this week – and the inaugural Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival doesn’t even officially kick off until tomorrow. After yesterday’s Fashion Laureate announcement, this morning Australian Wool Innovation relaunched its new corporate identity and brand stable – together with a spectacular A$120million campaign styled by Paris-based Australian fashion and jewellery designer Michelle Jank.

Couldn’t get to this presentation either (I’m flat out with other work - thanks for hanging in there on the blog) but I do have a story about the launch in today’s WWD.

I thought I would share some of the images not used in the story.



The new relaunch includes three new brands: Australian Merino, Superior Merino and Superior Merino Blend.

The new marketing push aims to relaunch Australian merino wool into the global market as a clean, green - read sustainable and biodegradable - luxury fibre.

Images 1, 2 and 3 are from the Superior Merino campaign, styled by Jank and shot by David Mandelberg.

Images 4 and 5 are from the Australian Merino campaign – once again styled (and designed) by Jank. John Macarthur also provided knit garments for this shoot, which took place in the Kimberleys in WA. The photographer is Georges Antoni.

The ideas of “clean” wool and corporate social responsibility vis-à-vis the Australian wool industry probably won’t go down well with the animal rights lobby.

The latter regards the industry as barbaric and has been on its back over the past four years over the mulesing issue - and even with the industry commitment to a 2010 mulesing phaseout, still does not appear to be satisfied.



PETA would presumably like nothing better than for Australia’s 55,000 woolgrowers to shift to hemp production and for Australia’s 80 million sheep to be released into the wild - where they would irrefutably die agonising deaths from, take your pick, predators, flystrike, parasitic infestation or heat exhaustion.

Or perhaps PETA could rescue them and then simply put them all down en masse? As with the 10,000 animals it reportedly euthanised from 1998 to 2003.



While PETA has been busy trying to win over retailers to its anti-wool cause, apparently you can’t keep designers away from wool.

Over the past eight months the rollcall of designers putting their hands up to become involved with various AWI initiatives, from the Protégé Project to the Woolmark Prize, has included Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Paul Smith, Francisco Costa and Sonia Rykiel.

At today’s presentation that designer rollcall also included the winner of the 2008 Woolmark Prize Qui Hao from China, Jank and Sydney-based Jayson Brunsdon and Ben Pollitt.

Merino suits from Herringbone were modelled by Wallabies players.

sass & bide's page one

Sass & Bide on the cover of today's WWD.

It might just be a beaded cotton camisole and not their signature jeans - they have to share page one billings with Earl Jean on that regard - but it's a cover nonetheless.



And it follows one week after Collette Dinnigan made WWD's page one with a white lace dress from her resort 2009 collection, styled up with yet another floppy hat:

Collette's page one

Missed this yesterday. But congrats to Collette Dinnigan on her Tuesday WWD cover with this cute little white lace dress.

It's not Dinnigan's first WWD cover - as far as I recall, that was way back in 1996. The paper ran a shot of a model in a Dinnigan dress, together with the coverline (from memory) "The Lace Maker".

Dinnigan had just emerged on the Paris runways and it was a pretty big deal for her at the time. As I recall, she took the issue in with her to the studio when rocking up for an interview on Nine's Midday show with Kerri Anne Kennerley.

Sydney Chamber of Commerce on fashion: "Not relevant"

camilla & marc backstage, Sydney Theatre Company, Australian Fashion Week. April 2007/Getty

At some time or another, everybody's job gives them occasion to laugh out loud. I had two such moments this week. The first was when I called the Sydney Chamber of Commerce concerning a story I am writing for Womens Wear Daily.

Some local readers already know that I am the paper's Australasian correspondent.

On Monday, in the course of researching upcoming Sydney events - which include next month's inaugural Sydney Fashion Festival - the city's growth, retail potential etc... I thought the Chamber of Commerce would be well-positioned to comment.

As not everyone is familiar with the publication, I explained to communications director Nick Davy that WWD is a high profile, New York-based, business-to-business publication which is read all over the world by movers and shakers in the global fashion, retail, luxury and beauty businesses.

Many of these companies, I added, may already have business operations in Australia - with others contemplating so doing in the future.

Davy said he would check if executive director Patricia Forsythe was available for a phone interview, adding that she is "very busy".

Davy's response, delivered some time later, was that neither Forsythe nor indeed anyone from the Chamber would be available to talk to me. He added:

"We've checked your website. It's a women's fashion publication and frankly, this is..... just not relevant".

Fast forward to yesterday and a news alert in one of my inboxes.

It was from travel retail e-letter The Moodie Report and covered a Sydney Airport Corporation callout to international luxury brands to open inside a new T1 "luxury precinct" called The Forum.

According to the release:

“This is a unique opportunity for world famous designers to join prominent, global fashion houses who have already indicated their intent to open flagship boutiques in Sydney International Airport’s Terminal (T1), which is currently undergoing redevelopment.

“As Australia's major gateway, T1 handled more than 10 million passengers in 2007 and designer brands are lining up to secure a retail site in the airport's much-anticipated expanded, world-class shopping precinct.”

As I say, I did have to laugh.