Australia’s David Jones celebrates its 175th birthday this year, making it the oldest department in the world to be operating under its original name. Last night in Sydney, DJs staged its Autumn/Winter 2013 fashion showcase. Thanks to a dramatic expansion of the backstage area - 250sqm of it in fact, over double the space allocated for the previous two seasons - there was so much more room for the media in attendance, from DJs’ outside broadcast camera crew, who were shooting for the live stream, to all the photographers and social media chroniclers on deck (see our backstage portfolio, below). The latter included many of the models themselves, who were happy-snapping and Instagramming in the lineup in their first looks.
Miranda Kerr has touched down (here she is, above, arriving at Sydney airport on Friday, Louis Vuitton luggage in tow) which means it's show time at David Jones. All eyes and cameras will be trained on the Australian department store's 7th floor tomorrow night for the Autumn/Winter 2013 showcase. Frockwriter will, as usual, have all the backstage action but in the interim, we were interested to take a peek at the list of 50 other names who will be flanking La Kerr on the runway. Not surprisingly, this season's cast list is reflective of the dramatic changes that the Australian modelling industry has undergone over the past 12 months, with the launch of a major new competitor in IMG Models. This time last year, a number of names - including Kerr - were repped by other agencies.
diane von furstenberg backstage in sydney 24/10/12
So the Diane von Furstenberg show rolled into town last week. One runway show, one Business Chicks lunch and one Hayman Island penthouse launch down, where is von Furstenberg now? Cooling her heels, she told me backstage on Wednesday night, at a mate’s Kangaroo Valley farm in the NSW Southern Highlands. A pretty spot, we assured her (here’s a Highlands wrap we did a couple of years ago). “I have my book to finish you know” she noted, arousing our curiosity as to precisely how long she is planning to hang around. With Hurricane ‘Frankenstorm’ Sandy currently bearing down on the US east coast and thousands of flights cancelled, perhaps a little longer than originally planned.
As the August vacations wind down in the northern hemisphere and the fash pack contemplates getting back to work, starting with the Spring/Summer 2013 season which kicks off in a few weeks, Australians are heading into our own summer season. David Jones was the first cab off the rank last night with its Spring/Summer 2012/2013 launch, a riot of colour and cartoon heroes. To showcase the store's edit of some of the best Australian collections of the season from leading names such as Josh Goot, Dion Lee, Camilla, Zimmermann, We Are Handsome, Lisa Ho and new Djs stablemate Gary Bigeni, was a swag of top Australian models. Joining DJs' high profile ambassador Miranda Kerr was Sports Illustrated covergirl Jessica Gomes - who looked like Wonder Woman in some novelty swimwear courtesy Romance Was Born - and rising stars such as Rose Smith, Montana Cox, Jemma Baines, Nicole Pollard, Bambi Northwood-Blyth, Jack Vanderhart and Jordan and Zac Stenmark, all of whom have made waves on international runways in recent seasons. The biggest of all, after Kerr, was Julia Nobis, who was booked as a David Jones exclusive, which means you won't be seeing her at Myer's show tomorrow.
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 inSports 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.
They might be freezing in New York as the Fall/Winter 0910 season gets underway, but coming up very quickly in this neck of the fashion woods is the first edition of Australia’s first highend, swimwear-dedicated showcase, Swim Fashion Week. The event will run from February 25-28 at luxury Gold Coast resort Sanctuary Cove and sure to change its buzz quotient is the news that organiser IMG is bringing one of its hottest swimwear models down to the Swim Fashion Week runways: Perth native Jessica Gomes. Making the annual Sports Illustrated swimwear issue for the second time this week in the US, and the co-star of Sean Combs’ controversial tvc for the 2007 fragrance Unforgivable – which was censored in the US, but later screened in the UK, after 9.00pm - Gomes has been relatively low profile in her home market. But Gomes is not the only Australian IMG girl who’ll be doing the show. Joining her on next week's runways will be 17 year-old Kendal Schuler from Cairns.
Repped by Chadwicks in Sydney since August 2008, Schuler (pictured above) has been modelling for several years with the Brisbane-based agency Tamblyn.
Schuler took out the 'International Model of the Year' award at Tamblyn's Young Model Discovery Quest in Brisbane in 2007. Scouted by IMG, the world's biggest model agency, she joined the company's New York Development board late last year.
In other SFW news, high profile Australian swimwear label Jets, in addition to Hong Kong swimwear label Amandarling, have now joined the schedule - which frockwriter blogged a fortnight ago.
Here is Gomes in the Sean Combs Unforgivable video FYI:
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