The DVF show rolls into town

diane von furstenberg takes a bow after her SS12 show in NY via zimbio.com

If you don’t already know by now, frockwriter has little doubt you soon will be aware that New York fashion doyenne Diane von Furstenberg is visiting Australia this week. First up, to present her Spring/Summer 2013 collection at Westfield Sydney on Wednesday evening, not far from her first Australian boutique, which opened in the development in late 2010. Secondly, to talk at a Business Chicks lunch on Thursday. Tickets for the latter sold out in a  week reports Business Chicks, which had to upgrade to a bigger venue at Sydney's Doltone House to accommodate 650 people. And finally, on the weekend, to unveil The DVF Suite – a penthouse at the recently refurbed Hayman Island luxury resort, which was of course flattened by Cyclones Yasi and Anthony in early 2011.

The producers: Lara Karamian - MBFWA SS 12/13

backstage at miss couture SS1112, sydney, may 2011/lara karamian

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia starts next Monday in Sydney and today, the event began to bump in to the Overseas Passenger Terminal site. Production teams are scrambling to put the finishing touches to show concepts. Yesterday, as part of frockwriter's pre-MBFWA series, we posted a chat with producer Mark Vassallo. And now here is a Q+A with Lara Karamian, arguably the busiest producer of the week. Karamian has been with Australian Fashion Week for 12 years. After graduating from the University of Technology of Sydney in 2000 with a Bachelor of Management – and a major in event management – she worked as an event producer for Spin Communications, the sister company of Fashion Week founder Australian Fashion Innovators, eventually moving onto Fashion Week proper as an in-house producer. In 2005, Karamian founded her own independent events company called LARA INC and today counts Alex Perry, Lisa Ho, Toni Maticevski, David Jones, Marie Claire, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Australia's Next Top Model among her clients.