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. 

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.

Gemma love

vogue italia via models.com

It's been a big week in the Australian modelling business. As revealed by frockwriter, Gemma Ward signed with IMG Models Australia and plans to come out of retirement. Abbey Lee Kershaw parted ways with Chic Management, the Australian 'mother' agency that launched her career and remains off the agency grid down under (but still, nevertheless, appears on the Next Models boards in New York, Milan and London, contrary to speculation). And bookending a week that's been very much dominated by IMG Models news, it emerged yesterday that the world's biggest model agency has stitched up a deal with Australia's Next Top Model to become the official model agency affiliate for the popular Foxtel show – giving incumbent Chic Management the flick. Needless to say it's not been the best of weeks for Chic. However it's been a great week for Gemma Ward, who should be thrilled with the reaction to the news of her comeback. Here's a sample of the coverage. Many thanks to each for the links. 

Gemma Ward signs with IMG Models Australia, plots comeback; ALK is off the grid

New year, new model movements. First up: a couple of major names are currently AWOL from the websites of two of Australia’s biggest model agencies, Viviens Model Management and Chic Management. The big question - just where are Gemma Ward and Abbey Lee Kershaw headed?

The Great Gatsby - the trailer

atthecinema.net

Five months after the release of the first official stills from Baz Lurhmann's latest extravaganza The Great Gatsby - a US$127million 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age classic - comes the first trailer (below). Shot in Sydney at Fox Studios, the film stars Leonardo di Caprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire, alongside a swag of Aussies, from Joel Edgerton to Isla Fisher, Vince Colosimo, Barry Otto, Max Cullen and model-turned-thesp Gemma Ward. The countdown to the Christmas release is now on. 

The producers: Mark Vassallo - MBFWA SS 12/13

backstage at josh goot SS1112/sydney may 2011

Sydney-born, but now "globally"-based  (or so he says on his new website), Mark Vassallo has had a hand in some of Australian Fashion Week’s biggest fashion ‘moments’ of recent years. He has played the roles of independent publisher (Mark and Petit Mal), editor (Follow), fashion director (Harpers Bazaar Australia), creative director, casting director and stylist. He launched the career of Gemma Ward, among others. And he has helmed a number of memorable  runway presentations, for designers such as Josh Goot, Dion Lee and Romance Was Born. As part of frockwriter’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS1213 series, we thought we should give it up for - and pick the brains of - some of the hardest-working, least-visible players of the fashion week pack – the producers. First up: Vassallo. 

In Vogue: Chrystal Copland

theotherfashion via TFS

Another week, another Perth model lands a magazine cover. First, Tom Bull cracks his first cover with The Australian's Wish magazine, for April. And now Chrystal Copland has landed her first international cover - no less than Vogue Italia, also for April. Copland is part of an ensemble cast posing in the magazine's 'Prom Night' cover story, shot, as always, by the inimitable Steven Meisel. There are two covers; one, complete with freakish masks. So far no good highres versions have appeared, but above is an out-take and below are both versions of the final cover in lowres. And Australia's other Vogue Italia covergirls. 

Gemma Ward impresses the critics and a new artist mate

the sunday telegraph

As a teenager Gemma Ward conquered the fashion world. Now 23, she is slowly making her mark in the film business, with her fourth film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, due for release on May 20th. But how does she shape up as a theatre performer? Not too shabbily, according to reviews of her stage debut in The Perth Theatre Compay’s production of The Ugly One, which premiered on March 22nd. “Ward does well on her stage debut and, to her credit, is better as the 73-year-old reconstructed cougar Fanny than as Lette's younger wife” says The West Australian’s David Zampatti; “It's impossible to ignore her international celebrity as a beauty but, while this perhaps adds an unintended extra layer to Von Mayenburg's text, it does it no harm”.

Gemma Ward is back - in black

perth theatre company via perth now

Well it's not Hedi Slimane or Tom Ford (we don't think), but this ill-fitting tux worn by Gemma Ward and conceptual photoshoot for The Perth Theatre Company's upcoming production of The Ugly One, in which Ward is due to make her stage debut, could be the next best thing to a piece of fashion theatre that Ward's fans have had since the former world number one disappeared herself from the sartorial stage. The shots have just been released by the PTC, presumably shortly after today's press conference in Perth, during which Ward's fellow actors Benj D'Addario, Brendan Ewing and Geoff Kelso were reportedly totally ignored by the assembled media throng, in favour of Ward. They should probably get used to this.

Gemma Ward delivers a video address, calls in a favour from Mario Testino

mario testino for vogue paris via TFS

 
The furore of global coverage sparked by the news that Gemma Ward had broken her silence (well, kind of) on her relationship with Heath Ledger in Perth’s Sunday Times newspaper over the weekend sounds like nothing compared to the media circus the Perth Theatre Company can expect once Ward rocks up for rehearsals later this month. Ward mentioned Ledger during an interview to promote her involvement with the company’s new production of The Ugly One, which will run from March 22-April 9, with three previews starting on March 18. Last night, Ward lent yet another helping hand to the official launch of the company’s January-June season at the new WA State Theatre Studio Underground, addressing the invited guests in a prerecorded video which was reportedly filmed on her laptop from her New York bedroom. The YouTube version, needless to say, is likely to go ballistic once the company eventually puts it online. 

Gemma Ward to make her stage debut in The Ugly One

zimbio

Well it's not a return to the runway, but she will be treading the boards. Perth’s Sunday Times newspaper reveals today that Gemma Ward will be making her stage debut in The Perth Theatre Company’s production of The Ugly One at the new State Theatre Complex on March 22nd, with rehearsals due to commence in Perth from February 14th. Written by German playwright Marius von Mayenburg, the black comedy revolves around the pursuit of physical perfection via cosmetic surgery. So it won't be too much of a stretch at all for Ward, who of course spent half her teenage years in the fashion business. Perth Theatre Company artistic director Melissa Cantwell met with Ward in Perth in December and offered her the role of Fanny, which is described as a complex role that will see Ward playing several characters. “I’m so excited... I’ve just been jumping out of my skin” Ward told The Sunday Times from New York. No word on how long the season runs. With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, in which Ward plays a mermaid, due for release on May 20th, one assumes she will soon be hitting that promo trail. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides trailer

screen cap/pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides trailer/disney

Minutes ago, the much-awaited Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides trailer was released online, offering not only the first proper look at the fourth instalment of Disney's swashbuckling pirate franchise, but a glimpse at Australian model-turned-actor Gemma Ward in her fourth film role, as a mermaid. In fact it offers two glimpses of Ward. And she looks a little cranky in one of them. We'll have to wait until May 20 2011 to see the rest. Amusingly, Yahoo's much-touted "world premier" of the clip was beaten by a mystery YouTube channel (possibly connected to Disney), after Yahoo's trailer failed to fire at 8.00am AEDT. Here is the trailer:

Sophie Ward and Sebastian Mader team up to create 'My Dirtied Soles'

As the countdown continues to the May 20 2011 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, in which Australian model-turned-actor Gemma Ward is due to appear as a mermaid (its trailer, due for release on December 17, may well including a fleeting glimpse of same), turns out Ward’s model-turned-writer/publisher sister Sophie Ward has made a movie of her own. Or rather, a haunting “video poem” called My Dirtied Soles, that she has written and narrated and which is directed by New York-based German photographer/filmmaker Sebastian Mader. Sophie Ward is a talented writer, whose first novel, The Beginning of an Inexplicable Journey is downloadable as an e-book from her website). And as she demonstrates with this project (below), she also has a great voice - just like her sister.

Gemma Ward turns 23, gets cast as a princess in Jack the Giant Killer?

paolo roversi/vogue italia via virtue or vanity

Gemma Ward turns 23 today. As a birthday present, could she have been cast in yet another US blockbuster? Ward recently shot scenes for Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, in which she plays a mermaid. Now her IMDB [Internet Movie Database] listing is listing her as a potential cast member of New Line's Jack the Giant Killer, which is to be directed by Bryan Singer and is scheduled to start shooting in the northern spring. A remake of the 1962 film of the same name, Jack the Giant Killer recounts the story of a boy who rescues a princess from evil sorcerers. Ward would of course make a fabulous fairytale princess. But given that at least three names are still being mooted for the lead male role - Alex Pettyfer, Aaron Johnson and Max Irons - it sounds like not a great deal is nailed down. Ward also recently auditioned for Max Mad 4: Fury Road, however so far not much appears to have come from that. Frockwriter has attempted to reach Ward’s LA management, with as yet no luck. In the meantime, many happy returns.

In 2007, Gemma Ward was the world number one model. Three years later, three Australians are in the Top 15. What are the odds?

 
Some don’t much care for the ranking system deployed by New York-based modelling industry website models.com. On more than one occasion on this blog, critics have called out MDC's 1,2,2,3 system (or "dense" ranking, as distinct from 1,2,2,4 or "standard competition" ranking) saying it just isn’t cricket. But it is MDC's opinion and that opinion tends to be highly valued in the industry. And it's worth noting that as of 24 hours ago, in the site's hotly contested Top 50 working models section - which calculates a model's 'authority' rank via their latest blue chip ad campaigns, magazine covers, major runway bookings and editorials, as distinct from pure earnings, which is how Forbes ranks models - there are now three Australians in the world Top 15. Abbey Lee Kershaw is #5, Catherine McNeil is #12 and in the space of a fortnight Miranda Kerr has jumped forward to #15, thanks to recent alliances with high fashion names such as Balenciaga, Prada and Jil Sander (as distinct from her more lucrative commercial work with Victoria's Secret, which has earned Kerr the ninth spot on Forbes' Highest Earning Models 2010 list).  

Tiah Eckhardt ties the knot, confirms Eres, auditions for X Men

tim bret-day for agent provocateur

Frockwriter must admit that we did a double take when we saw the shots rolling in of last night's Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2009/2010 haute couture show in Paris, which was staged in the grounds of the Rodin Museum. One model appeared to be a dead ringer for Australia's Tiah Eckhardt. The model in question was, in fact, Sweden's Frida Gustavsson (number 24 in this Style.com pic gallery of the show). As it turns out, Eckhardt was otherwise occupied yesterday, and coincidentally in her own garden of earthly delights: marrying her babydaddy Patrick Delaney in front of a small group of friends in the Rose Garden at Centennial Park. The bride wore? Not Dior haute couture, but a vintage strapless white leather minidress. The happy couple may soon be about to celebrate some other very exciting news. No, not another baby - Eckhardt revealed to frockwriter that she has just auditioned for one of (numerous) upcoming instalments of the X Men film franchise.

Gemma Ward, action star?

mario sorrenti/vogue italia via dusty burrito

Well after last week's news that Gemma Ward has signed to play a small role as a mermaid in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, comes word that she may have been in Sydney this week auditioning for another action quadrilogy: Mad Max 4: Fury Road, which is due to be filmed in Australia. Ward’s Sydney model agency, Viviens, confirmed to frockwriter that Ward did indeed fly to Sydney this week to do a Mad Max “workshop” for two days at Fox Studios. Has she already been cast? Viviens was not sure and Ward's other agents were unreachable. The film’s cast already includes Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and Zoe Kravitz. Ward was of course an actress before she became the world’s number one ranked model on models.com, just 14 when she appeared in Elissa Down’s 2001 feature Pink Pyjamas. Ward then co-starred in Down’s critically-acclaimed 2008 feature, The Black Balloon, before moving on to the small role of ‘Dollface’ in Bryan Bertino’s 2008 thriller The Strangers.

Coincidentally, Ward lookalike Amanda Seyfried, now 25, was also 14 when she made her acting debut: playing Lucy Montgomery in the tv soap As The World Turns.

Seyfriend now has a ten year body of work behind her, including Mean Girls, Mama Mia!, Jennifer's Body and the tv series Big Love.

Ward hasn’t been twiddling her thumbs in the profile stakes – just not in Hollywood.

And a breakthrough role might well be just one casting call away.

Gemma Ward proves her moment is far from "over" by snagging a role in Pirates of the Caribbean 4

steven meisel via trendnista

Yesterday's lead story in The Sunday Telegraph's gossip pages reported that Gemma Ward is about to embark on her fourth film role, having scored a small speaking role as a mermaid in Pirates of The Caribbean 4. No source was cited beyond a “friend” – who was not actually quoted confirming the role, just stating that "Gemma's focus is definitely on acting. She's spent the past year studying the craft full time in New York." In spite of the fact that neither IMDB’s Pirates of the Caribbean 4 nor Gemma Ward pages had any reference, the story whipped across the net. Not that frockwriter would presume to cast aspersions on The Sunday Telegraph's sources (well, apart from perhaps those involved in the Pauline Hanson photo debacle), but we did want to make an effort to check things out before putting digit to keyboard. And an extremely well-placed business associate (who we can’t name either unfortunately) confirmed it's true - Ward has definitely signed on for a role in the film.

The Pirates of the Caribbean news follows four months after a source at Ward’s US model agency IMG told The New York Post "Her moment's over. She's not coming back".

The comments were made in A Supermodel Betrayed , an extensive feature which recounted the story of Ward’s rise and fall in the fashion business, following weight gain (the latter of course being prominently documented by The Sunday Telegraph in a front page story last year).

IMG source on Gemma Ward: "Her moment's over. She's not coming back"

gilles-marie zimmermann

What with the shocking news of Alexander McQueen's suicide falling on the first day of the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show season in New York, it's a little hard to navigate around fashion news at the moment. Easy to miss in the deluge: A Supermodel Betrayed, a massive feature on Gemma Ward that has just gone up on The New York Post. Two of my earlier stories (at The Sydney Morning Herald and news.com.au) are referenced in it. It contains quite a few revelations, most of them from anonymous sources, which is pretty typical of the fashion business. I mean, let's not let the truth get in the way of commercial interests. Of particular note:

An IMG insider:

"Her moment's over. She's not coming back."

The reaction of one fashion editor after spotting Ward in Chanel's Spring/Summer 2008 show, in the bikini:

"I saw her on the [Chanel] runway… I almost didn't recognize her... [she looked] big, almost bloated."

Olga Liriano, a New York City casting director and model booker, who does go on the record:

"We have a collective body dysmorphia, where we don't even know what normal is anymore, where a size 6 or 8 is overweight for a model.....there was no compassion [for Ward]".

In November 2009 IMG reportedly turned down a photo-shoot offer for Ward from Harper's Bazaar US:

"stipulating that if she were to return to its pages, it would be on the condition that she be back in modeling shape".

According to one highranking fashion mag source:

"Once these pictures are out of her being big, her brand is diminished, at least as far as her agency and the mainstream fashion world goes. Gemma's torn. In the last few years [her weight gain] was very much her f--k you to the industry. She's rebelling by putting on 30 or 40 pounds, so now going back isn't a straightforward option."

Fascinating. We have yet to check this with Harpers Bazaar - who probably also won't talk due to commercial interests - but if correct, it means that a major magazine wanted to book Ward but IMG refused unless she lost weight. Because she suddenly represents an embarrassing plus size model?

If clients are trying to book Ward, how does that equate to her moment being "over"? And if there is no interest in her, why has a mass market newspaper just published a major story on her?

Sources tell this blog that elsewhere in IMG, other parties have talked of Ward definitely making a comeback.

Frockwriter's take on this is that the industry should be extremely nervous.

Ward is sitting on a goldmine of information about the machinations at its top levels.

She's also a Scorpio. And they're known for the stings in their tails.

Cat McNeil benched for gaining weight?

vogue germany via trendhunter


Well that's one theory floated by today's edition of The Sunday Telegraph in a story about McNeil's absence from the SS10 show season. McNeil's Australian agent, Kathy Ward, tells the paper that she has not "heard anything". Even if, one assumes, McNeil's mother agency Chic Management must have a good idea why McNeil was promoted on showcards for the New York and Paris legs, but failed to show at either. Frockwriter understands the weight theory has a little more credibility than the other option suggested by the paper - a "mystery virus". If correct, this would make two of Australia's most successful models - coincidentally both Chic Management girls - forced to sit out the season because of the draconian casting criteria of the high fashion runway circuit. It's fascinating that although everyone in the business knows that that's exactly how things work in fashion and that this is the reason why Myf Shepherd did not book more shows in New York and why she skipped the rest of the season, ditto Ali Michael two years ago and Gemma Ward one year prior to that, few are willing to go on the record about it.