Vogue Australia's Model Series is an IMG Models exclusive

The competition in Australia's modelling market was already heating up before IMG Models rolled into town last July. Sydney agency Chic Management was accused of "undercutting" the competition at last year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia via the agency's "Chic Exclusive" shows featuring only Chic models. Frockwriter understands that the Chic Exclusives will continue at this year's event, which officially starts on Monday, but has kicked off already with a few off-schedule shows around town this week. Tomorrow morning's Carla Zampatti show in the Sydney CBD will feature only Chic girls. Meanwhile, IMG Models Australia has returned fire by stitching up its own big exclusive - with no less than Vogue Australia. And the other agencies are fuming. 

Cameron Silver: Duke of Melrose

photo: supplied by foxtel

I first met Cameron Silver at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2004 when he was guest speaker at the event. A cabaret singer-turned-vintage retailer, Silver operated a by that stage seven year-old boutique called Decades on LA’s Melrose Avenue and he had established himself as a go-to guru for high-end, pre-loved couture gowns from upwards of the 1920s; seducing a swag of Hollywood power stylists and their A-list clients such as Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow. Silver’s comrade-in-couture is Christos Garkinos, a former marketing manager for Disney and Virgin Megastores, who joined the business in 1999, launching what was up until 2011 an adjacent contemporary designer resale boutique called DecadesTwo, which sources pre-loved designer fare from a global network of over 3000 consignors – including many celebrities. The businesses have since merged. The duo – who have arguably peeked inside more private wardrobes than anyone on the planet - are the stars of Bravo’s brand new reality show Dukes of Melrose which debuted on Foxtel’s Arena channel in Australia last night at 10.00pm. Part of Arena’s new triple fashion reality show bill for Thursday nights, the show follows straight after The Rachel Zoe Project (Season V) and It’s a Brad, Brad World (Season II). I have also watched a further three episodes and it’s as funny as hell. I caught up with Silver earlier this week to yack about the show, vintage, “insane” and “unscrupulous” red carpet politics - and what kind of milk Catherine Deneuve takes in her coffee.

New faces: Nicola Walsh

chadwick models

The 2013 edition ("Cycle 8") of Foxtel's Australia's Next Top Model has just commenced production and already the dramas have begun. As you may recall, frockwriter thought to blog the full cast list of the David Jones Autumn/Winter 2013 runway showcase on Tuesday 5th February - the day before the show. We had a hunch a good story might arise. As it emerges, it’s one that involves the world’s biggest model agency, a model agency that noone has heard of, Australia’s growing profile as a fertile hunting ground for new models – and the fever pitch that that hunt has now reached, with IMG Models not only opening an Australian bureau last year, but also inking a deal with Fox8's high-rating modelling reality show. Not only is IMG Models the show’s new agency affiliate, which will offer contracts to the winner and potentially other contestants, the company dispatched two of the industry’s most influential scouts, IMG Models’ Vice Presidents of Scouting and Development, David Cunningham and Jeni Rose, down under last month to personally oversee Next Top Model’s state-by-state auditions roadshow. Amongst their numerous other achievements, Cunningham put Gemma Ward into international orbit and Rose is credited with reviving the flagging career of the Netherlands’ Lara Stone and propelling her to the world number one spot. We hear IMG Models is thrilled with the talent unearthed during auditions for Cycle 8. Which brings us to the David Jones cast list, which included one brand new face who was essentially unseen up until last Wednesday. Or so we thought.

"We had this great idea that we wouldn’t use a card" - Sarah Murdoch on the ANTM fiasco

screen cap/ACA

Belated congratulations to Amanda Ware, the – eventual - winner of Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 6. On July 16, after the series launch, frockwriter did say that our money was on Ware. Of this year’s field, she looked to have the most international potential - one of the reasons, presumably, that the show’s producers reportedly wanted her to win the series so badly. Or at least that’s what Edwina McCann, the editor of ANTM partner Harpers Bazaar Australia claimed on Nine Network's Today show this morning. McCann - who, once upon a time, was Murdoch's personal stylist - said the show's producers left the voting lines open in the hope that Ware might “get over the line”. Of course the main ANTM topic of conversation today was not Ware’s win per se – but rather the debacle of last night’s finale, at the climax of which anchor Sarah Murdoch declared Kelsey Martinovich the winner. Only to announce moments later, ashen-faced, that a terrible mistake had been made and that Ware was in fact the winner. But not before the pyrotechnics had fired and Martinovich had delivered her victory speech. Total ballsup in other words. What really went down is anybody’s guess, with numerous theories and explanations offered. Murdoch finally broke her silence on Nine's prime time current affairs show A Current Affair earlier this evening, interviewed - very sympathetically - by her former Today show colleague, Karl Stefanovic.