Deep in Vogue - LMFF 2011

Second up on the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival's main runway schedule was the Vogue Australia showcase, featuring the finalists of LMFF's 2011 Designer Award: Melvin Tanaya's and Lyna Ty's three seasons old menswear brand Song for the Mute, which won the award, plus Arnsdorf, Bassike, Dress Up, Ellery, From Britten, Laurence Pasquier and Lui Hon. Styled by Vogue's Trevor Stones, it was an edgy showcase of exciting, emerging Australian design talent. And it wasn't only the new brands that attracted frockwriter's attention. Rachel Grasso (above) was also a standout. Modelling for four years and repped in Sydney by Priscilla's, the 20 year-old Perth native of Irish/Italian ancestry must have walked in front of our camera on more than one previous occasion. For some reason, we really noticed her this week.

Lui Hon: Project Runway Australia’s Voice of Hope

Project Runway Australia series 2 is underway. For those, like frockwriter, who were unimpressed with the commercial RAFW offerings of PRA series 1 winner Juli Grbac, take heart. The edgy, unisex aesthetic of Malaysian Australian Lui Hon, who made it to the top four of last season's show, is quietly gathering speed. First up, Hon's womenswear and menswear is already stocked in Assin Sydney and Melbourne, which sells leading international labels such as Lanvin, Rick Owens, Dior Homme, Junya Watanabe and Haider Ackerman. Other stockists include Sydney’s Alistair Trung and Artwear and Perth’s Zekka. Hon's Autumn/Winter 2009 mini collection, previewed at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, can be seen on his website. But herewith an exclusive preview of Hon’s first complete production collection: SS0910's Voice of Hope.


















all photographs: christopher tovo