Cassi van den Dungen makes her move

stephen ward via dion lee's facebook

Cassi van den Dungen fans will no doubt be thrilled to hear that the next instalment of the Cassi saga is.... she just made her international runway debut at London Fashion Week, walking for Australian fashion star Dion Lee in the International Woolmark Prize show overnight. Lee lost out to Belgium's Christian Wijnants, but the whole exercise was a fantastic promotional opportunity for Lee and all the other contestants, not to mention van den Dungen, who strutted her stuff in front of a prestigious judging panel headed up by no less than Diane von Furstenberg, Donatella Versace and Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani. 

From a tattoo parlour to a Givenchy exclusive - Lydia Willemina Collins

givenchy FW1112/getty via daylife

There are three days to go in the Fall/Winter 2011/2012 show season. So far, frockwriter estimates that 24 Australians have walked its runways, several among them clocking up over 30 shows apiece from New York to Paris - and one (Julia Nobis), over 40. We've seen circuit veterans, circuit virgins and several models who have returned to the runways after taking a break - in Miranda Kerr's case at Balenciaga, two months after giving birth. But as the arrival of Lydia Willemina Collins overnight at the prestigious Givenchy show attests, it's not too late to throw a wild card into the ring. Modelling for a month, the 18 year-old Sydneysider - who is working under her two first names - was originally scouted three years ago by Work Agency's Helena Vitolins, working in her mother's tattoo parlour. "But she wasn’t ready" reports Vitolins from Paris. "I just waited for the right time. We got her passport on Thursday, flew her out on Saturday. All of this happened very quickly. We’re going to New York tomorrow, she has some major, major holds and some major, major appointments". The Givenchy exclusive was Collins' second job, after this lookbook for Australian label Scanlan & Theodore, shot by Max Doyle. A natural brunette (see below, from a February 3 post on models.com), her hair was dyed red by Givenchy's hair stylist Luigi Murenu specifically for the show.