Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS1213: The Survivor edition

So Australian Fashion Week is back in its third incarnation from April 30th to May 4th. Founded in 1996 as Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, Rosemount became the naming rights sponsor in 2007 and now, five years later, Mercedes-Benz is back on deck, to the reported tune of AUD 1million. The new official title is Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. For the past four years we have pulled together a preview schedule ahead of organiser IMG Fashion Asia Pacific's official schedule release. So here we go again. Why so soon? Because earlier this week IMG went out with a press release - unusually, some nine weeks ahead of the event - to announce which designers are on board so far this season. Could the timing of this release have anything to do with next week's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival? We have a hunch it might. UPDATE 07/04: FINAL CONFIRMED SCHEDULE BELOW, VIA MBFWA. UPDATE 16/04: BOTH DION LEE AND JOSH GOOT HAVE NOW CANCELLED THEIR MBFWA SHOWS. 

King Flinn

The live finale of Australia's Next Top Model is tomorrow night at the Sydney Opera House, a time that's sure to prompt a little soul-searching amongst ANTM-ites. Questions such as "Will the series be renewed for 2012?" and "Will I, won't I, have my contract renewed"? Although no Foxtel announcement is as yet forthcoming, given that ANTM is the highest-rating Australian production on pay tv, the chances of a Cycle 8 are good. Josh Flinn, the show's model mentor for the past two seasons already has, we hear, a few other tv irons in the fire. So stand by to see if he becomes ANTM's next breakout star. In the interim, here is Flinn like you have never seen him before. Produced and art directed by Mother & Father PR as a frockwriter exclusive, the story was lensed by Sonny Vandevelde, styled by James Dykes, with hair by Natalie-Anne Ayoub and makeup by Rebecca Hatherly for Napoleon. Entitled 'The thin white duke', it was inspired not by David Bowie, but in fact Edward VIII, British monarch from January-December 1936, who became the Duke of Windsor following his abdication.

Cassi van den Dungen won't be doing Alex Perry's show because it's not OK!

Less than 24 hours after we reported that Cassi van den Dungen would not be appearing at next week’s Rosemount Australian Fashion Week because she is four months pregnant, there have been a couple of developments. Upon learning the real reason why van den Dungen was mysteriously unavailable for runway bookings this season, frockwriter can reveal that earlier today, Alex Perry attempted to fly her up to walk in his show tomorrow morning. Perry, who cast van den Dungen in his Cuban Princess show at last month’s Melbourne Fashion Festival (above) and spoke to her agent this morning, has been told that van den Dungen is in fact five months along. “She won’t open it, but we’ve used her in shows before and I think she’s a really beautiful girl” said Perry this morning. “She’s five months pregnant. She’s probably not showing much. But even if she is, she’s still beautiful. Miranda walked for Balenciaga and she was fully pregnant”. We won't be seeing van den Dungen tomorrow, however, because Perry's plans have been nixed by OK! magazine, which bought the exclusive rights to the pregnancy story and won't release her from a contract which precludes any public engagements until May 14th. 

Alex Perry's Cuban revolution - LMFF 2011

Could Alex Perry have started something with his Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection unveiling last night at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival? A consumer event showcasing in-season collections to consumers, LMFF is popular with designers because its runways present what is in store right now - with some retailers reporting 30-50percent spikes in business during the event. But a wholesale collection that is traditionally shown to buyers and press six months ahead of the season? That's usually the territory of Australian Fashion Week. In reality, Perry showed 'first summer' last night - that is, the first half of next summer's offerings. He still plans to show at RAFW in May. Perry will show 'second summer' at that event - and according to his wingman, Josh Flinn, the second collection will be a lot more elaborate. With the fashion cycle continuing to accelerate, retailers offering far more frequent product drops than ever before and the rise and rise of Resort and Pre-Fall collections internationally, perhaps it makes sense for designers to gain additional exposure via consumer events such as this, at the same time providing some real news value for the fashion media. 

Australia's next top Photoshop job?

foxtel via sassi sam

As frockwriter’s Twitter flock may have spotted, last night we headed to the Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 6 launch at the heritage-listed Inglis Stables in Randwick. The season begins on Tuesday 20th July at 7.30pm on Fox 8. Although we weren't exactly invited (we tagged along with a friend), co-hosts Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson don't appear to hold a grudge over this blog's coverage of last year's Cassi van den Dungen fracas - which was ignited by incendiary Facebook comments made by Perry and Dawson and resulted in quite some publicity, not to mention the threat of a defamation suit against Foxtel by van den Dungen’s agent. The duo ran over to crash one model shot we were setting up, mugging for frockwriter's camera, with Dawson noting, “We thought you’d like to include us as well!”.

A chat with Tahnee Atkinson at Myer

Also on deck at Myer's SS0910 show last night was Tahnee Atkinson, the winner of Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 5. Here is the quick chat we had just prior to the show kickoff. On the agenda: her upcoming gigs and how she is finding the real world of modelling vis-à-vis the ANTM modelling hothouse. We also briefly touched on the recent Facebook imbroglio, which saw show co-hosts Charlotte Dawson and Alex Perry lambast Cycle 5 runnerup Cassi van den Dungen after the cameras had stopped rolling, over her decision to decline contract offers from Priscillas and Elite New York.

"We don't give a shit" - Charlotte Dawson on the Cassi Facebook fallout

getty via zimbo.com

Frockwriter mentioned that ANTM Cycle 5 runnerup Cassi van den Dungen was getting a bit of a rough trot on the Facebook accounts of ANTM hosts Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson, with both hosts engaging in some snarky banter with their Facebook followers about van den Dungen’s decision to turn down contracts with Priscillas and Elite New York. After receiving a Facebook friend request from van den Dungen moreover, Perry put the decision to accept or decline the friend request up to a vote. Well since Perry and Dawson are obviously so well-acquainted with the social networking phenomenon, they may be interested to learn that this week's ANTM posts have been discussed in at least five other web forums, including two forums of the behemoth US social networking site LiveJournal, which generates over 11million page views a day.

One of these, the celebrity gossip-skewed Oh No They Didn’t, is LiveJournal’s most popular forum and boasts over 90,000 members, who generate over 100,000 visits and 300,000 page views a day. Which, evidently, has the potential to take Perry’s and Dawson’s “semi-private” comments to their Facebook coteries, to a significantly wider audience.

One LiveJournal member who appears to have access to Perry’s Facebook account has shared some more of their vitriolic banter:


Alex Perry

"YES ITS TRUE, SHE WONT SIGN ELITE CONTRACT... WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A GIRL WITH LOW INTELLIGENCE, GOING OUT WITH A MAN TEN YEARS OLDER OF A SIMILAR IQ...THE COMBINATION IS POWERFULLY STUPID ... THE ICING ON THE IDIOT CAKE IS THAT SHE WANTS HIM TO BE HER MANAGER SO SHE DOESNT HAVE TO PAY AGENCY COMISSION (IM ASSUMING THEY WOULD ALSO HAVE AN ISSUE WITH PAYING TAX!!!) BUT CONSIDERING THAT HE DOESNT WORK, AND SHE'S TO STUPID TO, EVERYTHING MUST BE PEACHY KEEN IN SUNBURY!!!"

"SO OVER THE BOGAN...SO LAST WEEK...LETS TALK ABOUT THE GORGEOUS TAHNEE, JUST STARTED WORKING ON AN AMAZING TEN PAGE SHOOT FOR HARPERS BAZAAR OCTOBER ISSUE FEATURING TAHNEE IN ALEX PERRY... SHE WILL LOOK GOOOOOORGEOUS!!!"

"CASSIE JUST SENT ME A FRIEND REQUEST... PUBLIC VOTE PLEASE...YES? OR NO?on Tuesday"

"SO THE BOGAN WONT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH ELITE NY, AND MOVES BACK TO SUNBURY WITH THE OUT OF WORK BRICKKIE... NOW THATS WHAT I CALL A CLEVER GIRL!!!!"

Charlotte Dawson

"Apparently Cassi has signed with Tania Power (?) modelling agency and is coming to Sydney to model for Portmans. Nuff said."

"What's a Fella Hamilton? Sounds fascinating. Almost as fascinating as a Greenborough Plaza winter fashion parade. Stupid Cassi - she's really put her modelling career into a big suburban toilet."

"too true. Enough about the bogan ... she's someone elses nightmare now."

"Very kind comments .... thank you! I think Cassi's only going to end up being the poster girl for Sunbury Centrelink."

Update:

Although frockwriter has been unable to contact Perry, Dawson confirmed that these are her comments and that they were made on Perry's Facebook account.

Dawson added that she does recall Perry making the other comments, that she stands by the comments and does not see anything wrong with them.

Dawson told frockwriter, "Absolutely. I could not give a rat's ass. They're the sort of things I would say on the show. What's wrong with them being on a Facebook page? That's what I’m paid to do. I’m paid to call it as I see it.

"They’re not defamatory, they're said with humour, not vitriol, and honesty. It was a situation that I was very much involved with.

"Her boyfriend, during the live finale, was grabbing his crotch and sticking his tongue out at me. You don’t know what this girl has gone and done to evoke the ire of a lot of people.

"We don’t give a shit. We're coming from a place of personal experience and Cassi has very much frustrated and angered and disappointed a lot of people.... She's upset her family terribly, she's been a real nightmare and spat in the faces of people who supported her".

Cassi shoots Portmans, gets cyberbullied by ANTM hosts

On Thursday frockwriter first mentioned that ANTM 2009 runnerup Cassi van den Dungen was returning to her childhood modelling agency, Tanya Powell, and had booked a first job with Portmans. The shoot took place on Saturday in Sydney and here are three shots - two of which appeared in the Herald Sun yesterday (with the hilariously provincial headline, "Forget New York, this is the big time"). This is a lookbook designed to accompany Portman's September collection and it will be primarily featured online - but also possibly on point of sale material in-store. It was shot by Nicole Bentley, who also photographed Kelsey van Mook for Portmans' August campaign. The Tanya Powell agency reports that it is currently fielding approximately 10 job offers for van den Dungen. UPDATE 29/07: Van den Dungen signs with Work Agency.

Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson meanwhile - the two ugly step-sisters of the ANTM Cinderella machine - have both been whinging on Facebook about van den Dungen's decision not to accept the ANTM-affiliated offer of Priscillas and Elite contracts.

Perry, moreover, who noted on Facebook at one point that he is so "OVER THE BOGAN", has made quite some fuss over van den Dungen's nerve in sending him a Facebook friend request.

Perry put the decision to accept or decline the friend request up to Facebook vote and solicited the yays or nays of his follower posse. Over 60 responses ensued - most to the negative.

If you are going to berate your show's teen contestants for bitching, snarking and bullying, have the grace to follow your own example.

RAFW develops a Diet Coke habit

patricia field for diet coke/the budget fashionista

Well we know Karl Lagerfeld is a Diet Coke addict. According to sources now Alex Perry and nine of “Australia’s best designers” may be about to make a DC hookup as well. In further developments to the RAFW SS0910 schedule – which frockwriter has been tracking ahead of its official April 15 release – it emerges that a big bucks sponsor-driven show is in the pipeline for the event, at this stage mooted for a Tuesday night time slot (UPDATE 02/04: now confirmed for Tuesday 28th April @ 8.00pm). Contracts are still being locked in, but frockwriter hears that 10 big Australian fashion names have been approached to create three little black dresses apiece for the show, inspired by the Diet Coke bottle.

For anyone who finds the concept bizarre, just a reminder that this is the type of sponsor-driven show which is often seen at New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week – which, like RAFW, is also operated by IMG.

The most recent incarnations of these sponsor shows include the Barbie 50th anniversary celebration show, sponsored by Mattel and The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection, sponsored by Diet Coke - both staged at the FW0910 event in February.

America’s biggest fashion names participated in both shows and the Red Dress Collection was later auctioned for charity.

Diet Coke has also been heavily involving itself with the cream of the fashion business, having commissioned special bottle designs from names such as Patricia Field (pictured above) and Roberto Cavalli:


roberto cavalli for diet coke/catwalkqueen.tv

The Diet Coke show is one of no less than four projects via which Perry is expected to be hands-on at RAFW's SS0910 event – in spite of the fact that, as frockwriter already reported, he is not doing his own standalone runway show for the first time in AFW’s 14-year history.

Perry already presented his SS0910 show on February 26th aboard the Queen Mary, when the luxury superliner berthed in Sydney:


alex perry SS0910/getty via daylife

What else will Perry be doing at RAFW?

Filming Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 girls at five RAFW shows according to Perry: Ginger & Smart, Wayne Cooper, Anna & Boy, Nicola Finetti and a New Generation show.

ANTM Cycle 5 kicks off on April 28th on Fox 8, with Sarah 'Face of Bonds' Murdoch in the host driver’s seat, following the 2008 exit, in disgrace, of incumbent host Jodhi Meares.

Filming is underway and Perry reports that the show is currently down to the last three girls.

For those who have not yet seen the campy ANTM Cycle 5 trailer, in which Murdoch flies a lippie-shaped space craft, watch it in highres on the ANTM site.

Perry will also be filming for Nine’s nightly prime time current affairs show A Current Affair.

Perry recently slipped into the role of ACA’s defacto fashion reporter, filing two stories during the Melbourne Fashion Festival and one earlier story on the David Jones 2009 collections launch.

Perry is also likely to be involved in a fourth project at the event. Yes, it does involve a show – just not a show featuring his clothes specifically.

Of the lack of a more traditional Alex Perry runway presence at the event, the designer told frockwriter:

“Look, it [Fashion Week] is what it is – do you spend $100,000 doing that or do you do other things throughout the year that are sales-driven?. If we hadn’t sold [the SS0910 collection] then we would have done it. I feel OK about it because I’m going to be doing stuff down there, it’s not like I won’t have a presence at the event. Hats off to people that are actually doing it. I’m fortunate that I don’t need to at the moment and I can sail through”.

As for Perry’s little black Diet Coke dresses, apparently we can expect at least one of them to rival the designer's infamous pubis-grazing micromini of SS0708 – which, via this journalist's second-last blog at smh.com.au, earned the nickname of "The Toukley Skirt".

Quipped Perry, “It might well be a reprise of The Toukley Skirt - more brazen than ever before”.

AWOL from the runways, Alice Burdeu to resurface on Queen Mary 2

the cc via TFS

Wondering where the hell Alice Burdeu is? Well according to her Sydney agency Priscilla's, Burdeu is in town and about to make a special appearance at tomorrow’s Alex Perry show aboard Cunard cruise liner, the Queen Mary 2, which is due to glide into Sydney at 6am. That’s right, while 16 of Burdeu’s compatriots are walking up a storm on the FW0910 runways, Burdeu will be doing a Titanic, as it were, parading Perry’s AW09 collection in front of 100 of Sydney’s “A-listers”. That's after 2000 Cunard passengers have disembarked. Frockwriter attempted to find out precisely why Burdeu is not in Europe and if there is any chance she plans to return for the Milan and Paris legs of the season. The only information we could glean was that she has returned to see her family "after a busy 2008".

That's not a miniskirt, THIS is a miniskirt: Alex Perry courts danger and some Central Coast comparisons

What an utter hoot the Alex Perry show was last night. After such a flat morning, with some momentum starting to build after a couple of strong shows - notably Anna Thomas and the very confident debut of Melanie Cutfield - in walking across to Perry's Cargo Hall venue it really did feel like a big, buzzy show.

A long queue of people stood waiting in line to get in, a mini red carpet 'arrivals' section had been cordoned off to one side in order to capture the bevy of Australian celebrities who had turned up for the show. You name them, they were there: Tara Moss, Michelle Leslie, Sophie Faulkiner, Jodhi Meares, I even spotted Ros and Gretel Packer in the front row. They joined the usual horde of Perry's big-haired clients and fans - every last one of the latter, as per usual, guilty-as-sin of major Crimes Against Bronzer.

Inside there was a feeling of minor pandemonium - which was only exacerbated for me by the shrieks of laughter from New York retail ringin, Henri Bendel VP Fashion Director Ann Watson, as she opened up her goodie bag to find a complimentary ironing board cover, courtesy of Perry's sponsor Sunbeam.

"I've never been at a fashion show, where they've given an ironic board cover!" squealed Watson. "I can't wait to take it home and show everybody. In New York City, I don't know anyone who irons their clothes. I think it's because we live in such a service culture - everybody sends out. Next I'm going to get a can of starch to go with it".

The show started, and a series of mostly stick-thin models - three from the tv show, Australia's Next Top Model, on which Perry is of course a judge - charged out to the loud strains of heavily-remixed disco.

There were plenty of Perry's signature floor-length evening dresses and ensembles - the prettiest those with multicoloured skirts over corset tops, cinched by large belts. However the most striking feature of the Swarovski crystal-encrusted collection - many items from which featured satin versions of the moment's fashionable sporty racerback - was the length of the cocktail dresses. Or rather, lack of it. One coral garment in particularly clearly showed the model's buttock cheeks.

"That's a Britney Spears there" noted Watson.

"He definitely had the best models of the day" she added later, just as the models were doing their victory lap at the end of the show. "Why didn't the other designers have these girls?"

Here's Perry's post-show answer - in a quick backstage iv I did with him post-show:

Alex Perry: [stylist] Trevor Stones and I go through this laborious process of casting. It's really important, especially with what I do. If I put girls who are slightly elegant in my show, it gives it a different slant. And this season especially.

So what, you don't want them to be elegant, but brassy?
Well no, but if they're too elegant... They need to be a bit younger, king of racehorse lean, fresher-ooking girls. Because when you put them in something that's so heavily-jewelled, if I put it on somebody who looks a bit more sophisticated, it looks like I'm trying to create 50s Dior and that time is gone so it needs to be like a modern version of that and you do it on beautiful young girls. Casting is really important.

What was the brief you gave them? They were almost like automatons.
Just pummel out there and pummel back. No sauntering and swaying. Get out there as soon as you can and get back as fast as you can.

What was it like working with the ANTM girls?
You know what - they were fantastic. When we did the dress rehearsal, I didn't recognise two of them. I don't know that you would have guessed which ones they were in the show. Everyone would know Alice [Burdeau - the particularly skinny teenager whose weight has been the subject of recent controversy] because she's like a Nicole Kidman-esque kind of girl. But they fitted in seamlessly with the rest of the girls.

It was very short - particularly that coral number.
I took the reference from old 50s swimsuits. You know, those ones that have that panel in the front.

A Terrigal Skirt?
[Laughs] I wanted them to be dangerous. Everybody at some point has done short skirts since the beginning of fashion. And I thought, 'Alright, I'll show you how how to do a short skirt'. I've never touched that territory and I thought, 'I'm going to do it today, I'll jewel it and cut it to almost a dangerous level'.

Do you think you are going to actually sell the shortest versions?
I might have to lengthen them slightly. But those dresses, they could be made in any length and they're still beautiful - gorgeous cocktail dresses. And you know what? Some cheeky little girl is going to wear it like that. So long as she's got the legs. Let's hope it's not a bad leg offender.

Or a Crime Against Bronzer. There were more than a few of those here I have to say.
There could have been. If I had more time, I would have been too. They're tanned. They're healthy tans. They travel a lot. We're here pasty in the middle of winter and they've come back from somewhere. My clients - they can afford to go whenever they want.

Outside the venue, the lack of length of Perry's skirts was a subject of some debate - notably whether The Terrigal Skirt was in fact the appropriate term.

"Yes there's the Terrigal Skirt, which is just south of The Entrance" noted David Jones head buyer David Bush.

He added, "Then there's the Toukley Skirt - where you can actually see The Entrance".


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Alex Perry and Kate Fischer's decolletage

When a spot opened up on the schedule last week and Alex Perry stepped in - after already showing off-schedule because he couldn't get the opening spot, yada yada yada - he confessed he had a few butterflies.

"It's the Harbour Room - I've only ever shown in the Cargo Hall," he told me, referring to the medium-sized Fashion Week venue. Striding into the show yesterday however, it was a different story.

How was Perry feeling about the show?

"Piece of piss," he noted - adding that he didn't mind being blogged on the comment.

Fill the Harbour Room he did - notably with a bevvie televisual blondes. I was sandwiched in between Erika Heynatz and Holly Brisley - directly across the runway from Annalise Braakensiek and Catriona Rowntree. The biggest news of the night could be summed up into four points:

1/ No KAK. See my first blog entry for a rundown on Perry's KAK live cross obsession. KAK missed out on her first opportunity to see a Perry show in the flesh, in being AWOL in QLD.

2/ Kate Fischer's absurd decolletage. I did a double-take while walking past La Fischer, who was sporting a ludicrously lowcut black sweater, which appeared slashed almost to her naval. It would have been a brave enough look on a woman slightly less well-endowed.

"Kate has always been a big girl but as she's gotten older they have travelled south," noted one fashionisto.

3/ Perry's blonde standing ovation. Clearly overwhelmed by the glamour of Perry's big frocks, the TV blondes stood in unison at the end to cheer him on.

4/Big occasion dresses look much better on a full-scale runway - than the cramped photographic studio where Perry showed the same collection off-schedule last week under mostly natural light.

But apparently KAK wasn't the only one to miss out on her big Perry moment.

Before the show Perry also confessed to having been to Greek orthodox church last weekend for easter - without his signature sunglasses glued to his head.

"And Woman's Day wasn't there to capture it!" he noted.


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