Five minutes with Ruby Jean Wilson

Born in Scotland and raised in the UK, Ruby Jean Wilson emigrated to Australia with her family at age 13 and started modelling three years later. In a very short space of time she has certainly made her mark. One of Australia's most high profile catwalkers on the international show circuit over the past couple of seasons, at the Spring/Summer 2013 shows in September and October she opened and closed Marc Jacobs and then opened Louis Vuitton, subsequently scoring ad campaigns for both brands. The campaigns were lensed by Juergen Teller and Steven Meisel, respectively, and she is the sole star of the Marc Jacobs campaign. Back home briefly from her new, New York base for a summer holiday, frockwriter caught up Wilson just before Christmas at the Australian Fashion Foundation party to announce the winners of the foundation's 2013 burrs. Among the topics canvassed with RJW: which other family members might follow in her fashionable footsteps? And whose name does she have tattooed on her left wrist? 

Laura Brown hosts The Look

laura brown's twitter

Elle Macpherson has hosted the first season of Fashion Star on NBC in the US and two seasons, so far, of Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model on Sky Living. Now another Sydney expat, Laura Brown, is getting a crack at hosting a broadcast fashion show beyond these shores – at least, a mini online version. Here is a preview of The Look, which will debut on the new Hearst/YouTube channel Hello Style tomorrow.

Lanvin's Lucas Ossendrijver covers the launch issue of Manuscript

Sydney-based freelance fashion journo Mitchell Oakley-Smith isn’t one for resting on his laurels. Already the author of one coffee table book through Thames & Hudson Australia – Fashion: Australian and New Zealand designers – T&H Australia has just released a second collection of his designer vignettes, Interiors: Australian and New Zealand designers. And he’s just signed a third contract, this time with the Thames & Hudson mothership in London for another, slightly more complex tome that is due for release in late 2013 and is to be co-authored with Australian art curator and writer Alison Kubler. All under the age of 25. But that’s not all. Behold a preview of the first cover of a new menswear magazine called Manuscript, Oakley-Smith’s first effort as a publisher, which is out on Friday. Lensed by London-based Australian Paul Scala at the Lanvin headquarters in Paris, it stars Lanvin’s menswear director Lucas Ossendrijver, an extensive profile of whom features inside the issue. 

Manhattan transfer

krystal glynn at theyskens' theory SS12/getty via daylife

It was hard to miss the Australians in New York over the past week. In what is shaping up as another record season, by frockwriter's count at least 27 28 29 of them stalked the Spring/Summer 2012 runways of New York Fashion Week. On numerous occasions, they were cast alongside other compatriots. Six were cast at Richard Chai, for instance, with five at Marc Jacobs. Not counting a rapidly-expanding Kiwi posse led by Emily Baker, Jessica Clarke and Georgia Fowler, who did many of the same shows. No sign of the better-established Oz names Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil, even though McNeil was spotted at at least one casting, for Rag & Bone. Or for that matter, Bambi Northwood-Blyth, who made such a promising international start this time last year. Carving up the circuit in their place was a new Aussie power pack headed up by Julia Nobis, Codie Young, Dempsey Stewart, Rose Smith, Melissa Johannsen, Ruby-Jean Wilson, Ajak Deng and Amanda Ware, with a swag of new names getting their first bites of the Big Apple. The latter included Krystal Glynn, Nicole Pollard, Sarah Lorimer, Claire Collins, Chrystal Copland, Caris Tiivel and Philippa Gleeson. Fantastic to see two models who are well-established on Australia's runways, finally venturing onto the New York stage: Simone Kerr and Eliza Humble. After the Red Eye to Heathrow overnight, it starts all over again today at London Fashion Week.

Jessica Gomes is the Megan Gale of South Korea

There were only two models at last week’s Australians in New York Fashion Foundation party to announce the 2011 AINYFF grant winner, each representing opposite ends of the Australian modelling spectrum. The upwardly mobile high fashion girl Bambi Northwood-Blyth, who seems to be getting thinner and thinner. And the more voluptuous Jessica Gomes (whose surname FYI rhymes with “homes”). Gomes has, not surprisingly, found a niche in the ‘sexy’ arena, whose imagery primarily appeals to straight men - as distinct from the flatter-chested, ballerina-like gazelles who tend to populate the world’s top runways and ‘highbrow’ fashion editorial. A few models have managed to cross over between the two arenas, Miranda Kerr being a good case in point. Gomes is on the December cover of Australia’s Men’s Style magazine and has appeared in Sports Illustrated’s famous Swimsuit Edition three times. Not forgetting her lingerie-clad cameo in the 2007 tvc for Sean Combs’ steamy 'Unforgivable Woman' – which was banned in the US. 

Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, the sophomore edition

ainyff

Congrats to Sydney designer Dion Lee who won the fashion category of the 2010 Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards last night in Sydney. And congrats are also due to 10 other Australians who frockwriter can reveal are the 2010 Australians in New York Fashion Foundation finalists: Mitchell Oakley Smith, Laura Wade, Bronwyn O’Brien, Katherine Watson, Jacqueline Tyrrell, Natalia Catherine Muller, Ned Rogers, Darren McDonald, Saskia Wilson and Alice McConnell. The winner, to be announced at a function in Sydney on December 20th, will receive financial support to live in New York for one year, in addition to introductions to the cream of the New York fashion business from the AINYFF founders, Australians who have worked their way to the top there (without work experience or mentorship programs, it’s worth noting). UPDATE 21/12/10: Congratulations are due to Laura Wade, who has been awarded the AINYFF's 2011 grant, with Mitchell Oakley-Smith named runnerup.

A chat with Michael Angel

This blog has talked about New York-based Australian designer Michael Angel on several occasions. First, when his collection popped up in US Vogue, before there was a peep out of its Australian counterpart (which has yet to cover his work, reports Angel). Then we interviewed him via phone backstage, moments before he opened New York Fashion Week. Frockwriter just returned from a Calvin Klein dinner at Cutler & Co in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, where we finally got to meet Angel in person. Calvin Klein Collection designer Francisco Costa and the company's head of communications, Malcolm Carfrae, will both talk at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival's Business Seminar on Friday. Later today, Angel will take part in something called the Designer Forum. Here's a preview of a few points he will be discussing. The only quiet place we could find was the loo - hence the dim lighting - so we locked ourselves in one cubicle and filmed away.

“There’s a lot to be said for a place where creativity and intelligence are still valued cultural commodities” - Horacio Silva, The New York Times

On the eve of the launch of the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, the final instalment in frockwriter’s series of mini profiles of prominent Australians working in the New York fashion media: a chat with The New York Times’ Horacio Silva. A new media specialist, Silva arrived in New York over a decade ago with Ben Widdicombe and cut straight to the jugular of the fashion business via the outrageous Chic Happens online gossip column.

Describe your current position and what the job involves.
Horacio Silva: I work as the Features Director/Online Director for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, which means I basically write, assign and edit for print and online. It’s fair to say, though, that as the T web presence continues to grow beyond all expectations, my work is increasingly online. That said, we just undertook a really interesting experiment in reverse publishing in which we are running (obviously updated) content in the ‘Sunday Styles’ section of The New York Times newspaper that has already appeared on T’s website. It's a development I’m very excited about and though it’s early days it seems to have struck a chord with readers (not all of whom I can assume already knew about T online.) I think it’s a smart way to expand the brand and get our original content out there to as many people as possible.

How difficult was it to break into the New York media environment? Briefly describe the career trajectory which led you to your current position.
I don’t know that it was any harder than breaking into media in Australia. In most countries, it’s a pretty hermetically sealed industry that takes talent, gumption, luck and contacts to break into. But like a lot of people who work in New York media, I basically just made the move and took it from there. I had worked in Australian publishing for many years – in print then online for Microsoft Australia — and my then boyfriend, Ben Widdicombe, and I wanted a change so we moved at the beginning of 1998. NYC and Hong Kong were the two options on the table at the time, but New York, which I fell in love with when I used to visit for work, was an easy choice for me.

As for my trajectory, I was lucky to have some shekels left over from my previous job so I had the luxury of feeling out the city and meeting lots of people. As a result, I was privy to a lot of fun information that wasn’t being reported and so Ben and I started a catty online column called Chic Happens on hintmag.com. That got the attention of the late Amy Spindler, who was the editor of Fashions of the Times (as T was called during her tenure) and my beloved enabler, and I just kinda stayed.

What do you know now that you dearly wish someone had told you when you first arrived in New York?
Nothing career-related. Seriously. But I would have loved a head’s up about the Thai food being pretty awful. Learn to cook it if you’re a fan and plan to move.

Best part about working and living in New York.
Mmm… the fact that you have the option to compete and do good work on a big stage holds a lot of sway for me. Because I don’t drive, being able to get around the city easily is also a plus. And there’s a lot to be said for a place where creativity and intelligence are still valued cultural commodities.

Worst part about working and living in New York.
A lot of visitors to the city complain that New Yorkers never let up about work, that you can be at a late—night bar and people still find a way to go on about their job. But I don’t mind that so much. (What am I talking about? I’m probably the worst culprit.) For me, the worst thing is really the tyranny of distance.

Where are you from in Australia and what do you most miss about it?
I was raised in Sydney. I’m a Leichhardt boy, but I lived most of my adult life in the Eastern suburbs. Of course I miss my family and friends above all else. And did I mention the Thai food?

What advice would you give young Australians hoping to break into the media/fashion/beauty businesses in New York?
Regardless of where you’re from, geographically or socio-economically, the world doesn’t owe you a single favour. So if you want it badly enough, you have to work hard for it. One thing I do remember from back when I was still working for Microsoft and-–shhhh!!!—talking to headhunters about moving to New York, is that you have to be here, no ifs or buts, so find a way. You’re wasting your time sending out resumés from Australia and expecting people to follow up. To quote the sagacious words of the New South Wales State Lottery: You’ve got to be in it to win it.




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- “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE” – COLAC PICTURES PRESIDENT JULIE ANNE QUAY
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- “THERE IS SUCH A CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT IN NEW YORK, THE KIDS WHO WORK HARD ARE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR” – LAURA BROWN, HARPERS BAZAAR

“There is such a culture of entitlement in New York, kids who work hard are a breath of fresh air” – Laura Brown, Harpers BAZAAR

On the eve of the launch of the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, a chat with Laura Brown. For those unfamiliar with the name, Brown is the dynamo responsible for US Harpers BAZAAR's most press-worthy “cover coups” and conceptual editorials. Highlights have included a cartoon fashion spread depicting The Simpsons guided through Paris fashion salons by Linda Evangelista, Tyra Banks posing as Michelle Obama and the first interview with Katie Holmes following her wedding to Tom Cruise, with shots styled by Victoria Beckham. With Brown now also the public face of all BAZAAR's tv appearances, including a stint as guest judge on Bravo's The Fashion Show, her television franchise is building.



Describe your current position and what the job involves.
Laura Brown: I am the Features/Special Projects Director at Harper’s BAZAAR. I book our covers, conceptualise and produce our major pop culture/fashion portfolios, run the features department, coordinate our public relations strategy and represent the magazine on television.

How difficult was it to break into the New York media environment? Briefly describe the career trajectory which led you to your current position.
I left Australian Bazaar in 2001 and turned up here a week before September 11, so it was tricky. I knew precisely two people – one at The New York Post and one at Talk magazine (RIP). But that’s all you need if you’re passionate enough about succeeding here. I freelanced for a year, became senior editor at W, then to Details, then to BAZAAR four and a half years ago.

What do you know now that you dearly wish someone had told you when you first arrived in New York?
That just because everyone speaks English, it doesn’t mean they’re just like you! That, and a complete list of reliable doctors and real estate agents.

Best part about working and living in New York.
Working with people I never thought I’d meet, and seeing your ideas manifest themselves on a global stage. At the beginning of the week, never knowing how it’s going to end. And walking past the MOMA sculpture garden every morning on the way to the office.

Worst part about working and living in New York.
The size of apartments. My shoes are fighting for their life.

Where are you from in Australia and what do you most miss about it?
I’m from Sydney. Apart from friends and family – it’s the sea air from the harbour. I feel like I exhale when I get home, and take another deep breath to last me for a year!

What prompted you to participate in the launch of the foundation and how will it operate?
It’s just really gratifying for us to build a network of Australians who are really there for each other – alongside assisting the winner of the foundation prize, selfishly it’s been so encouraging to have that bedrock of people around. And anything to increase awareness of Australian design talent in New York is always worthwhile.

What advice would you give young Australians hoping to break into the New York media/fashion/beauty business?
Work hard – and keep focussed. I really believe that if you are passionate about something, and you’re good at it, you will do well. If you follow your interests, you will meet people organically that can help you achieve your goals. Don’t expect anything – there is such a culture of entitlement in New York, that kids who work hard are a breath of fresh air! Get a visa and get on a plane – I arrived here at possibly the worst time in history, and I’m still here.

Describe your typical day at Harpers Bazaar.
Wow, there really is no such thing as a typical day at BAZAAR. It feels often like we are making a film and are all producers instead of editors. The majority of time is spent coming up with concepts for stories – both written and visual – and finding the best teams to achieve them. Then it’s a matter of putting all the puzzle pieces together to achieve the most amazing result. Nothing like coming up with a crazy idea and having Karl Lagerfeld shoot it. The rest of the day depends on whether we are shooting something (I am on set often), on deadline to ship the issue, or coordinating our PR strategy. Then there’s the TV appearances! It is certainly not dull. I think my next job will be at the U.N.


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- “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE” – COLAC PICTURES PRESIDENT JULIE ANNE QUAY
- “DON’T LET THE RATS GET TO YOU” – COLIN BERTRAM, NY DAILY NEWS

"Don't let the rats get to you" - Colin Bertram, NY Daily News

On the eve of the launch of the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, a chat with Colin Bertram - pictured above at CNN, following an interview with Anderson Cooper. And looking remarkably comfortable in Cooper's anchor's chair.

Describe your current position and what the job involves.
Colin Bertram: Features Editor/Assistant Managing Editor of the NY Daily News. I’m responsible for all fashion, entertainment, lifestyle, gossip and news features across the paper.

How difficult was it to break into the New York media environment? Briefly describe the career trajectory which led you to your current position.
I worked retail for Giorgio Armani both in London and then in Sydney when Club 21 brought the Armani brand to Australia. When I transitioned to freelance fashion writing I was lucky to have Marion Hume as my first editor (she was at The Australian at the time) and learned very quickly under her eye. After spending a year in New York (2000) I returned to Sydney where Kirsty Cameron (then editor in chief of In Style Australia) offered me the position of fashion news editor at the magazine. I won my green card in the lottery and moved to New York in 2004 where my first job was as an associate editor on a Sunday insert celebrity magazine for the NY Daily News – I heard about the job through a friend – and then moved into the features department a year later and then worked my way up to my current position.

What do you know now that you dearly wish someone had told you when you first arrived in New York?
Don’t let the rats (both animal and human) get to you!

Best part about working and living in New York.
For work, I love the pace. For living, it was where I met the love of my life so you can’t really beat that!

Worst part about working and living in New York.
As anywhere, working in NY has good and bad aspects and like the city itself, both are a little larger than life. The good can be truly amazing and the bad, well, it can really freak you out. Best part of living in NY is being able to get out and put it all in perspective so that when you return you see the city for the truly amazing place it is. It’s all about not getting bogged down in the day to day struggle of surviving in such a crazy place.

Where are you from in Australia and what do you most miss about it?
Grew up in Brisbane and lived in Sydney prior to moving here. I miss family and friends. And Cherry Ripes…


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- “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE” – COLAC PICTURES PRESIDENT JULIE ANNE QUAY

"Anything is possible" - Colac Pictures president Julie Anne Quay

On the eve of the launch of the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, here is the second in a series of chinwags with a handful of the foundation’s board members – all prominent Australians working in the New York fashion media. Here, a (sadly very brief) chat with Julie Anne Quay, who landed in New York to a job as studio manager for no less than Steven Meisel. Quay then moved on to V Magazine as executive editor and other fashion consulting roles such as casting, for clients including Marc Jacobs.


Describe your current position and what the job involves.
Julie Anne Quay: President of Colac Pictures and Jaq Inc. Colac Pictures is a film production company. The main project in development right now is the film version of Australian author Lee Tulloch's fashionable cult classic Fabulous Nobodies. Jaq Inc is a fashion production company and right now the main focus is projects for Style.com.

How difficult was it to break into the New York media environment? Briefly describe the career trajectory which led you to your current position.
I really believe you make your own luck. My first job here was with the photographer Steven Meisel as his studio manager. I was recommended by an American friend I had worked with in Australia. If I hadn’t been right for the job Steven wouldn't have hired me.

Best part about working and living in New York.
The energy - anything is possible.

Worst part about working and living in New York.
The flight home to Australia.

Where are you from in Australia and what do you most miss about it?
Melbourne. I miss my family the most.

What prompted you to launch the foundation and how will it operate?
It is very hard when you first get here. There is a culture shock, namely that everything is not what you see on television. Australians have a unique sensibility and outlook and en masse we are a powerful entity. We wanted to encourage young Australians to be proud of the heritage here and draw on that to make their path in the US and as well create a way for Australians living in Australia to get great work experience here and bring it back home.


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"Milk every contact, take risks, work for nix" - New York power PR Malcolm Carfrae on getting a foot in the door of the fashion biz

Last week Frockwriter mentioned the new Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, whose mission statement is to facilitate connections for young Australians in the New York fashion and beauty businesses. A gumleaf mafia corroboree will convene tonight in the Big Apple to launch the foundation, with a number of highprofilers tipped to attend. Just how will the program work? In 2010, a foundation prize will be awarded to one Australian citizen aged 18-28 to cover travel and accommodation expenses for up to six months, with a work experience program organised. Applications open August 1, deadline is September 15, 10 finalists to be announced November 1, with a finalists dinner - apparently in Sydney - slated for late December. The winner will be announced mid January 2010. Click here for more details. In the interim, frockwriter thought we would pick the brains of a few foundation members who have made it to the top of the competitive New York fashion media market and ask their advice for industry newcomers. Here is the first of a series of Q&As: Calvin Klein's Malcolm Carfrae.

Describe your current position and what the job involves.
Malcolm Carfrae: I am the Executive Vice President of Global Communications at Calvin Klein Inc. I oversee public relations, corporate communications, celebrity services, special events and charitable initiatives for the company world-wide.

How difficult was it to break into the New York media environment? Briefly describe the career trajectory which led you to your current position.
The tough part was getting into the fashion industry in London. I worked in retail (on the shop floor) for two years until I could find a job in fashion PR there. I worked for almost nothing and earnt my keep by working seven days a week. I was lucky enough to work for a small fashion PR agency that gave me the opportunity to grow quickly. For me, getting a job in New York was the easy part, because I was head-hunted and relocated. Once in New York, it was all about hard work and initiative. I was promoted twice at Calvin Klein, and have had my current title for about a year.

What do you know now that you dearly wish someone had told you when you first arrived in New York?
Knowledge is power in New York. I hated not knowing the best place to eat, where to cut my hair, where to buy a lamp shade. I asked a lot of questions and never asked the same question twice.

Best part about working and living in New York.
It's the most professional city in the world. People are driven and very positive, very up. Fashion is taken very seriously and people are generally well paid. It's easy to get around - Manhattan is a small island and taxis are plentiful. And the beaches that are an easy drive away.... For an Australian, it's like being at home. London can't offer that.

Worst part about working and living in New York.
The distance from Europe and Australia. I can't think of another negative.

Where are you from in Australia and what do you most miss about it?
I'm from Sydney. I miss the easy sense of humor, the light and my family but after 20 years away, the sense of longing subsides.

Considering how many Australians already work in the New York media - without any specific assistance - what prompted you to launch the foundation and how will it operate?
It's true - a lot of us made it with no specific assistance but we liked the idea of combining a social networking group with a foundation that gave something back to young Australians. Maybe it will be a little easier for Australians to find work experience or jobs in New york with our support. We'd like to see the people we help taking the knowledge back to Australia. It will function as a work experience programme, not a scholarship. We'll provide the funding and the work placements for the recipients.

What advice would you give young Australians hoping to break into the New York media/fashion/beauty business?
Milk every contact you have without stalking the person. Having the right contacts gets you everywhere in New York. Take risks and do your research. Find out everything about the company you want to work for and email everyone there you can. Offer to work for free and work nights if you have to. My current executive assistant researched me so well before her job interview, she knew I wrote short stories when I was younger. And she knew the annual turn-over of our company - impressive.

Describe your typical day at Calvin Klein.
A typical day for me is answering the many emails I get overnight from Europe, Asia and Australia (before breakfast), get to the office before the deluge of emails from the US begin. Back to back meetings, usually a lunch with editors or stylists, meetings with my team to plan the next initiatives and strategize, sitting in on interviews with our designers and accompanying them to an event after work, normally two events per night or a work dinner. Home at 11 if I'm lucky.

Oz fashion expats gather to celebrate getting the hell out of here

americanaustralian.org

We might as well rename July 22nd 2009 Australia Day in New York. Frockwriter already mentioned Zimmermann’s presentation that night at the Empire Hotel on West 63rd Street. Now comes word of a second, much bigger, event on the same night, back downturn at a two storey loft on West 36th Street: the launch of the Australians in New York Fashion Foundation. What’s that exactly? An initiative to help young Australians gain a foothold in New York’s fashion and beauty industries. That’s right, there just aren’t enough Australians in New York already - and those who are there have really struggled to cut through. The foundation’s 11 Oz expat founding board members include Malcolm Carfrae, who is the executive vice president global communications for Calvin Klein; Julie-Anne Quay, former executive editor of V Magazine, now President of Colac Pictures; Harpers Bazaar features and special projects director Laura Brown; Elite Model Management director of development Doll Wright; The New York Daily News features editor Colin Bertram and V and V Man photo and bookings editor, Pippa Lord.

A swag of honorary board members - some of whom are tipped to turn up to the event - includes Horacio Silva, features director/online director of The New York Times’ T Magazine, Sarah Wynter, Rose Byrne, Miranda Kerr, Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Myf Shepherd, Nicole Trunfio, Skye Stracke, Jessica Hart and Lincoln Pilcher.

The foundation - which apparently has no connection to the G'Day USA program of events that take place in New York, Los Angeles etc in January each year - is designed to facilitate connections and, the website says, also scholarships, for young Australians in New York.

According to the mission statement:

"The philosophy of the Foundation is that young Australians can gain world-class, hands-on experience in New York, and return home with internationally recognized training and contacts. By opening these doors and creating this platform, the Foundation believes this will not only assist these individuals but also serve to further expand and enrich the future Australian fashion industry".

Quay's first project at Colac Pictures, meanwhile, is an adaptation of Lee Tulloch's 1989 club classic Fabulous Nobodies.

At a recent launch in New York, Tulloch noted that the novel was written as a “revenge” piece after she was fired from Harpers Bazaar Australia. Fired for being a little too fabulous for Australia, as frockwriter recalls.



americanaustralian.org