The faces of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS 13/14

holly rose emery backstage at flannel SS1314

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is done and dusted for another year. Who were the top showgirls - and guys? Frockwriter asked all the major Sydney booking agencies for their top models at the event and here is the result. Yes there were a couple of high profile ring ins who flew in for show exclusives - Georgia May Jagger for Camilla and Hanne Gaby Odiele for Ellery. The list of 41 names, below, includes four other internationals (Solveig Hansen, Juliette Fazekas, Alanna Whittaker and Isabelle Sauer). Interestingly, however, the list is dominated by a plethora of new local faces who have never previously appeared at the event. Some recently profiled by frockwriter, notably Kiwi Holly Rose Emery, April Tiplady and Gabby Dover. Great to see some of Australia's biggest international runway names back in town supporting the local industry and it was no surprise at all to find Nicole Pollard, Julia Nobis and Ruby Jean Wilson at the top of the list. What is perhaps surprising is to see a newcomer such as Emery also at the very top of the list, ranked by her show numbers (not including off-schedule shows from the week before). 

Showcards: Priscilla's Model Management (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

Could Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio really be a serious contender for the runways of next month’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia? Frockwriter was somewhat taken aback to spot the Brazilian bombshell at the head of the Priscilla's Model Management women’s show pack for the event. As we mentioned yesterday, the Oz modelling game has shifted into a new gear courtesy of last year’s arrival of IMG Models - which included some of its own big names, ie Gemma Ward and Miranda Kerr, in its show pack.

Snow blind - Australians on the Fall/Winter 2013/2014 runways

Another show season bites the dust. As per usual, frockwriter has been following the Australian model story as the season rolled from New York to London to Milan to Paris (and interesting to see the mainstream Australian media also keeping close tabs on model movements). So far we have counted 31 Australian faces, which is not far off the all-time record of 38. And a dramatic increase on the 19 from the last season in September/October. Not bad, considering the freezing northern winter and notably, New York’s Snow Storm Nemo – which Julia Nobis described to us during New York Fashion Week as like “Flying snow resembling a washing machine on spin cycle. Needless to say, I now have the flu! Thanks Nemo, Jolly good times”.

Paris is burning - Fall/Winter 2013/2014

april tiplady closes junya watanabe FW1314 via wwd.com

Frockwriter was out at dinner last night when we received a call from Brigette Mitchell, director of Adelaide's Finesse Models, direct from a "freezing" Paris. "April just did her very first fashion show" said Mitchell proudly. "She hasn't even walked in a fashion show in Adelaide, but she just closed Junya Watanabe". April Tiplady - that's the 16 year old whose grandmother paid for a grooming course at the same agency two years earlier in the hope of boosting the confidence of her gangly grand-daughter. Last November, literally just signed to Finesse and with no modelling experience, Tiplady was signed by IMG Models worldwide (i.e. all its international agencies). Now she is a card-carrying member of the Australian model delegation at the Fall/Winter 2013/2014 show season. 

Major Duomo

nicole pollard backstage at gucci FW1314 via stylebistro.com

And so to the mid-way point of the Fall/Winter 2013/2014 show season: Milan. Top designers notwithstanding, it’s not that hard to book a show or presentation in New York, where around 300 usually take place each season. London is a great fashion week, but even Julia Nobis skipped it altogether this season. Milan and Paris, however, are the money cities where the biggest luxury brands and opportunities lie. And on day one of Milan Fashion Week three Australian models were spotted in shows: Nobis, Catherine McNeil and Nicole Pollard. Just a reminder that Pollard had barely registered on the international circuit this time last year (she did 10 low profile shows at New York Fashion Week in September 2011). But after a prestigious haute couture debut walking for Christian Dior last July, followed by all of Dior’s subsequent shows, Dior’s Spring/Summer 2013 advertising campaign and some top shows in New York two weeks ago, there was Pollard in Gucci’s all-star model cast overnight - alongside Nobis and the world numbers 1 and 2 Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss. In less than 18 months, Pollard has become one of the big girls. UPDATE 22/02: She can now add Fendi to her show list. And Catherine McNeil can add Prada to hers. 

The snow must go on - New York Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2013/2014

catherine mcneil walks jason wu FW1314 via style.com

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers" goes the creed of the United States Postal Service. With 4700 flights cancelled in anticipation of Winter Storm Nemo - a blizzard of potentially historic proportions that is currently bearing down on the northeastern US - that remains to be seen. Although Marc Jacobs has had to postpone his show until next Thursday, New York Fashion Week rolls on regardless. Among those turning up for duty is a swag of Aussie models. So far we've counted eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen, but there are no doubt more to come, including new faces Gabby Dover and Jordan Cohayney. Of note, Catherine McNeil, who is looking better than ever and was third out at the high profile Jason Wu show on day two yesterday, also closing Kenneth Cole. Here are her catwalk compatriots thus far.

New faces: Gabby Dover

And so to fashion month. The Fall/Winter 2013/2014 show season kicks off in New York on Thursday, thence followed by London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. Frockwriter will, as usual, be keeping a close eye on the Australian modelling contingent - interest in which shows no signs of abating. After the emergence of at least five brand new Aussie men in the recent FW1314 menswear shows in London, Milan and Paris - followed by a strong haute couture season in Paris for Julia Nobis, Jemma Baines, Nicole Pollard, Kaila Hart and Andrej Pejic - it's clear that casting directors still cannot get enough of antipodian talent. Here's a new name to add to the pack: Gabby Dover. 

Hedi Slimane unplugged

saint laurent paris FW1314 via style.com

Julia Nobis just cemented her position as fashion's coolest girl by closing Hedi Slimane's much-anticipated menswear runway debut for Saint Laurent Paris. She wasn't the only woman on this season's menswear runways – nor the only woman in the Saint Laurent show – but the brand's new creative director Hedi Slimane obviously has a soft spot for the Australian tomboy, casting her in his womenswear and menswear show debuts for the storied Paris maison, as well as the Spring/Summer 2013 womenswear campaign. And the feeling is, evidently, mutual. "Awesome" is the word Nobis used to describe working with Slimane when we caught up with her at last month's Australian Fashion Foundation party in Sydney. 

Australian models on the S/S 2013 campaign trail

Their numbers on the Spring/Summer 2013 runways might have dropped by half from the previous summer season, but 19 Australian models still managed to cut a swathe through the New York, London, Milan and Paris shows in September and October last year. Some among them, such as Ruby Jean Wilson and Julia Nobis, scored high profile opening and closing roles. Judging by the SS13 advertising campaigns that are now beginning to roll out, the antipodians made quite an impression. To date, no less than seven Australian models have popped up in ten major international campaigns. Who are they?

If the shoe fits

andrej pejic models chris benz SS12 via sight management studio

We all talk – a great deal – about the sizes of the bodies of fashion models. The sizes of their feet, however, rarely come up for discussion. What an interesting topic of conversation it proved to be when we puffed this week's Anmari Botha post on both frockwriter’s and my personal Facebook pages, using one of Botha’s IMG Models showcards as an illustration – and her published shoe size, "7.5", sparked a raft of comments. “How does a 5’11” woman have such small feet?!” asked Sydney-based media trainer Shauna Stafford. Another noted, “Most women that size would have size nine or ten feet”. While a former magazine maven chimed in, “Your basic nightmare. Perfect” – referring, we assume, to the dearth of “unusual” shoe sizes in the fashion cupboard of a typical magazine.

The circuiteers - Australian models at the Spring/Summer 2013 shows

Julia Nobis is currently enjoying something that she likes to call “fat month” – the period immediately following the gruelling ready-to-wear show season, when she winds down. Show seasons are hard work for leading models such as Nobis, who was the season’s top runway face for two consecutive seasons up until the latest shows round that finished a few weeks ago in Paris, walking in more shows than any other model. This season Nobis lost that crown - she walked in 62 shows, making her Spring/Summer 2013's third busiest showgirl, in terms of show numbers, after Tilda Lindstam (69 shows) and Ava Smith, Erjona Ala and Tian Yi (64 shows each) according to the modelwatchers at The Fashion Spot (and many thanks to TFS for its painstaking show-combing). But that's still an impressive tally. How many Australians followed in her footsteps this season? Nineteen by our calculations. And if you have been tracking the progress of Australian models on the world’s runways for the past four years via frockwriter, you’d be right in thinking that that sounds like a steep dive in numbers on the previous Spring/Summer season – a 50percent drop in fact.

Julia Nobis, undergrad supermod

via zimbio.com

She might have been overlooked by some of Australia's biggest media outlets, but fashion aficionados were thrilled to spot Julia Nobis in the David Jones Spring/Summer 2012/2013 show on Tuesday. The 20 year-old Sydneysider has ruled the international runways for the past two seasons, clocking up a whopping 73 shows in March, prompting WWD to dub her "The face of Fall". But as Nobis discovered this week, the runway protocols of major brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton can differ greatly from those espoused by Australian retailers. With the DJs show being filmed by the Arena channel for a special that will air on August 20th, more than one audience member giggled at the sight of an Arena producer holding up a quaint "Smile" sign at the end of the runway (below). Nobis, who is better-acquainted with backstage model cue cards that read "strictly no smiling", did her best to muster a smirk. Frockwriter caught up with her after the show.  

There's no other store (for top models) like David Jones

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.

Couture Chic

Australian agency Chic Management might be girding its loins for the imminent touchdown of IMG Models in Sydney and a potential run for its money as the toughest model negotiator in town, but when it came to the crème de la crème of world fashion events – the Paris haute couture shows, which wrapped yesterday – it had a clear monopoly. In the biggest Australian haute couture season that frockwriter can certainly recall, a total of nine antipodians worked the runways, seven of them repped in Australia by Chic: Montana Cox, Chrystal Copland, Nicole Pollard, Jemma Baines, Alexandra Agoston, Catherine McNeil and Ajak Deng (Deng is represented in Sydney only; her mother agent/personal manager is Stephen Bucknall from FRM Management in Melbourne). While it was the first haute couture season for Cox, Copland, Pollard and Baines, interesting to see McNeil and Agoston back at the couture for the first time in, by our estimate, three years.

Julia Nobis - the face of Fall

nobis backstage at thierry mugler FW1213 via style bistro

It was just two years ago when Julia Nobis came to the fashion world's attention, thanks to a New York Fashion Week exclusive with Calvin Klein. She then proceeded to power ahead on the world's runways, booking some of the best shows in the business: 33 in that first international show season, Fall/Winter 2010/2011; 43 shows in her second, six months later; 50 in her third; 72 in her fourth; and 73 shows in total in her fifth and most recent season – Fall/Winter 2012/2013 in February and March this year. For two consecutive seasons, the now 19 year-old Sydney-ite has had the biggest individual show tally of any international model. And all that hard work looks to have finally paid off.

Best in show - the Australian models of Fall/Winter 2012/2013

julia nobis after the miu miu FW1213 show/altamira via ford models

That's a wrap for Fall/Winter 2012/2013 folks. Above is a shot of Julia Nobis taken just after Miu Miu on Wednesday, the final day of Paris Fashion Week. She's looking a little dazed and confused. Considering that by our count, Nobis walked in 73 shows from New York to London, Milan and Paris - besting her record from last season by one show - no surprises there. Nobis led the Australian model pack once again and quite possibly will also emerge as the season's number one catwalker for the second consecutive time. So far, we have counted 34 Australians on the FW1213 runways. There was pretty much an Australian in every major show of the season. At Chanel, there were five: Nobis, Miranda Kerr, Montana Cox, Rose Smith and Caitlin Lomax. They walked in so many shows, they corrupted frockwriter's interface. No joke. After battling data problems for the past two seasons with the increasing size of these showlist posts, we have now had to put the show details of the busiest Australians into drop-down boxes. 

Australia's next top models

montana cox at bottega veneta FW1213 getty via daylife.com

So how is modelling's so-called 'Aussie invasion' going? The Fall/Winter 2012/2013 Paris shows kick off today and so far, by our count, 31 Australians have turned up on the runways of New York, London and Milan, with one notable newcomer making her mark in the latter city. That is, Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 7 winner Montana Cox (above). Fresh off the ANTM 2011 winner's podium, Cox has yet to even make an appearance at Australian Fashion Week. In her first ever runway season, however, she has already bagged five shows, including some of the most prestigious Italian luxury names: Bottega Veneta, Pucci and Etro. Frockwriter hears that the casting directors of some of the bigger Paris brands may be equally interested. ANTM Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware was also in Milan, ditto the 2010 winner of the Girlfriend Model Search, Jemma Baines. Julia Nobis meanwhile - who of course never emerged from any modelling competitions - is up to 48 shows already this month. Will she close the Paris shows next week as the season's top catwalker for the second consecutive season? Updated lists below and a photo gallery of the showgirls of London and Milan. The NY shows are in black type; London, blue; and Milan, red.  

They love a sunburnt country

melissa johannsen backstage at rodarte FW1213, vogue.it via TFS

Fashion really is having a love affair with all things Australian at the moment (and for anyone not familiar with the line in this post's title, it's borrowed from the iconic Australian poem My Country by Dorothea MacKellar). Sydney's urban beach culture was the inspiration for Michael Kors' Resort 2012 collection and in New York last week, Jeremy Scott looked to have deployed an army of Ms Fitz clones to model his Fall/Winter 2012/2013 collection. Scott said the collection was "inspired by the computer and the way information is disseminated today" and his show styling and even invitation certainly bore a striking resemblance to the work of the New York-based, Sydney expat artist, stylist and blogger. The Mulleavy sisters, meanwhile, themed their Fall/Winter 2012/2103 Rodarte collection around the "rugged Australian outback". Their cast included two Australians, Codie Young and Melissa 'MJ' Johannsen (above). Johannsen, who turned 17 yesterday, is of course more than a little au fait with Australia's Red Centre, hailing as she does from Alice Springs. Young and Johannsen were among at least 28 Australians to walk the New York Fashion Week runways last week. Below are their New York Fall/Winter 2012/2013 showlists.

Summer of the thirty-eighth doll

dempsey stewart at louis vuitton SS12/getty via daylife

Take a bow ladies - and gentlemen. Thirty-eight Australian models have just helped wrap up the Spring/Summer 2012 ready-to-wear runway season in New York, London, Milan and Paris - by frockwriter's estimate, a 35percent increase in numbers from the previous season. And what a season it has been, culminating over this past week in Paris, where the 18-strong Australian contingent included Miranda Kerr. No Balenciaga exclusive for Kerr, for the first time in four seasons. But after making her name as one of the world's highest-paid models, thanks to a lucrative contract with lingerie giant Victoria's Secret, how fantastic to see Kerr take her place alongside the world's top high fashion girls in a string of other blue chip brand shows, from Christian Dior to Lanvin and Chanel. Flanked by Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil, who is looking better than ever after a year's break from the shows, it was like the holy triumvirate of Australian modelling reunited. They were joined by Julia Nobis who walked in, wait for it, 72 shows, opening six. This may well make Nobis the busiest model - of any nationality - of the SS12 season by show numbers. Oddly, Nobis has yet to even be accorded a ranking on models.com's Top 50 Women list. One assumes this may soon change.   

Mambo Italiano

rose smith, dolce e gabbana SS12/getty via daylife

If fashion weeks were like marathons and they awarded a medal for every show finisher in the Big Four fashion cities, Australian models would be buying some extra suitcases right about now to repatriate their hauls. Welcome to the business end of the Spring/Summer 2012 season. Milan wrapped yesterday, Paris starts today and a clear antipodian vanguard has emerged. Milan and Paris are where the big luxury brands are headquartered and this season the Italians chose 12 Australians to showcase their wares (out of a total of 34 who have also appeared on the runways of New York and London over the past three weeks). Abbey Lee Kershaw might not have the SS12 show numbers - she ditched New York Fashion Week altogether, due to New York commitments with her band, Our Mountain - but her showlist reads like a Who's Who of fashion. With 49 shows already under her belt, Julia Nobis could well finish as one of the season's busiest catwalkers. Rising stars include Rose Smith, whose biggest claim to runway fame as of February this year was David Jones. In the interim she has walked for such prestigious names as Chanel (x three shows), Fendi and in Milan this week, Dolce e Gabbana. Here are the updated showlists, with the Milan shows marked in red.