Two Australians on schedule at New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011

julie tran

Who knew an Australian was at the helm of iconic New York fashion label Bill Blass? Not frockwriter, that’s for sure, until we read today's Herald Sun story. Perhaps Melbourne fashion scribes are more familiar with Jeffrey Monteiro's (above) name, given that he apparently launched his eponymous collection there in 1996. Another reason for Monteiro’s lack of a profile downunder could be that he doesn’t appear to have spent that much time here. Monteiro was born in Qatar in the Middle East, raised in Australia and schooled in India, with tertiary fashion studies done in Melbourne, where he worked as a design assistant at the Ellin Ambe label before launching his own line. He moved to New York in 2000, designing for the Mayle label and from 2005, for Derek Lam, where he was design director (also working for Tod's). Monteiro relaunched his signature collection in New York for Fall 2008 and in November last year was appointed design director of Bill Blass – which had closed in 2008, following several attempts at resuscitation. Blass died of throat cancer in 2002, after selling the label several years beforehand. Monteiro is one of just two Australians showing in New York this season, alongside another Melbourne expat, Michael Angel. Angel will show on Friday 10th with the Bill Blass show taking place on Wednesday 15th September - and Kiwi Karen Walker showing on Tuesday 14th.

A chat with Michael Angel

This blog has talked about New York-based Australian designer Michael Angel on several occasions. First, when his collection popped up in US Vogue, before there was a peep out of its Australian counterpart (which has yet to cover his work, reports Angel). Then we interviewed him via phone backstage, moments before he opened New York Fashion Week. Frockwriter just returned from a Calvin Klein dinner at Cutler & Co in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, where we finally got to meet Angel in person. Calvin Klein Collection designer Francisco Costa and the company's head of communications, Malcolm Carfrae, will both talk at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival's Business Seminar on Friday. Later today, Angel will take part in something called the Designer Forum. Here's a preview of a few points he will be discussing. The only quiet place we could find was the loo - hence the dim lighting - so we locked ourselves in one cubicle and filmed away.

Four Australians to show in New York

anthony adamson

New York Fashion Week runs from September 9-17 and after several quiet seasons on the Oz front – with Toni Maticevski making the pilgrimage alone last season - things look to be picking up. Which is interesting, given the ongoing problems of the US retail sector. WWD reports that 4,600 retail outlets are tipped to close this year, on top of 6,913 closures last year, in what the paper has dubbed “the Great Retail Rationalization of the Great Recession”. Nevertheless, as frockwriter can reveal, four Australians will be showing in New York next month. Joining Kit Willow Podgornik, Toni Maticevski and New York-based Michael Angel is Sydney’s Anaessia, designed by Lisa Vanikiotis (pictured above) – first spotted at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May. Maticevski, Podgornik and Vanikiotis are in fact showing on the same day: Tuesday 15th September.

Anaessia’s romantic cocktail dresses and embellished skull print sheath – which we dared sheath otaku Michelle Obama to wear – were in fact this journalist’s pick of brands in RAFW’s group shows.



Sold in Australia exclusively through its own boutique at the Sofitel Wentworth hotel and, from October, a second boutique in The Strand, the five year-old highend label, whose Australian retail prices range from A$800-3500, has been wholesaling for just over a year.

Anaessia has 10 international stockists so far, from the US to Jakarta to Kuwait.

The brand’s first US client, interestingly, was the head of wardrobe for ABC TV, who has purchased outfits from three collections for All My Children’s Susan Lucci – and according to Vanikiotis, to wear on the show.

Anaessia will show in New York as part of an umbrella event called Nolcha Fashion Week.

London Fashion Week, which runs September 18-22, also looks to be shaping up as a major Australian fashion showcase.

Josh Goot will show at LFW for the third consecutive season, on September 21st at 3.30pm, venue TBC.

It also seems likely that sass & bide will return to the event after numerous seasons showing in New York

At the David Jones show on Tuesday morning, Sarah-Jane Clarke told frockwriter that she was awaiting confirmation on a time slot from LFW organisers, who have a bumper season on their hands due to the event’s 25th anniversary. Burberry and Clements Ribeiro, among others, are returning to the London runways to help celebrate the milestone.

A second show venue has just been announced for the event, 180 The Strand - which is located adjacent to LFW's brand new main venue this season, Somerset House.

The second venue will house, among other initiatives, On|Off, LFW's regular off-schedule showcase.

According to a series of reports about the new venue, Ksubi is planning to show at 180 The Strand.

At the same venue, the Robinson Pfeffer Showroom is also due to showcase a number of Australian brands, including Tina Kalivas, Alpha 60 and Arnsdorf.



For your reference, here are the Australasian shows at New York Fashion Week:

September 10 at 09.00 – Michael Angel, The Salon, Bryant Park
September 12 at 16.00 – Karen Walker, the Altman Building
September 15 at 12.00 – Toni Maticevski, the Altman Building
September 15 at 18.00 – Willow, The Salon, Bryant Park
September 15 at 19.30 – Anaessia, Bohemian National Hall

Also, a first draft of New York's Fashion Calendar:


fashion calendar via COACD

Here is the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week schedule (to be opened for the second time by Angel).

And here, the London Fashion Week provisional schedule.

A model blogger reports: Marc Jacobs uses green toilet paper

self-portrait @ alice mccall/simona mcintyre

Between the backstage photographer, the far-flung journo and the designer himself, was anyone not blogging Michael Angel’s show in New York? I chanced upon this by accident this afternoon: the blog of 19 year-old Canadian model Simona McIntyre. Her Friday shows included both Michael Angel and Alice McCall.

Modelling for twelve months and blogging for two, in her first post back in July McIntyre reported that she scored both the Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier shows in her first runway season last year, SS08.

And indeed last month, New York mag reported that the angelic vegan is keeping the 'baby doll' look in fashion, in the wake of the departure of Gemma Ward.

Of her reasons for launching a blog, posts McIntyre:

“I could keep a journal for myself somewhere personal, but with this blog I intend to include others. With the Internet anyone can speak out nowadays so here are my thoughts”.

As I asked recently when looking at Sessilee Lopez's blog however, just how 'outspoken' can any model realistically be without jeapardising their own commercial interests?

Of course there’s the anonymous "Tatiana" over at Jezebel, but noone knows her identity (FYI prime Tatiana suspect herself, Jenna Sauers, hopped on frockwriter one day to deny that she's the culprit. Someone claiming to be Sauers' ex boyfriend also left an amusing comment).


simona mcintyre and michael angel/blondeoverblue

I'm not sure McIntyre is a Tatiana candidate, but it is interesting to see yet another window open onto the model world.

McIntyre's post dated September 5 mentions that McCall's makeup concept did not boast 'cat's eye' eyeliner, but in fact "a whale shaped thick eyelid", that Angel's nail polish was environmentally-friendly - and so is Marc Jacobs’ toilet paper.

McIntyre knows this because she's very interested in matters green and, beyond the Angel and McCall shows, she also spent four hours overnight Friday night bunkered down at Jacobs’ office, trying on outfits for Monday night’s show.

Notes McIntryre,

“It was nice to preview the collection and hang out with Amanda (Laine) who was there for looks as well. I have noticed in my time working at the Marc building that the toilet paper there is environmentally friendly. Green thumbs to that".

Of the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection, she wrote on September 4:

"I’d love to share some of the pieces I have seen, but at this stage it isn’t appropriate (for the designer’s privacy). Marc by Marc is looking cute from the outfits I was saw doing looks this week. Last spring I worked with fitting vintage clothing at Marc to design the Spring/Summer 2009 collection. It has been very interesting to work with them and see the collection evolve".

Of course it would be hilarious if an anonymous model or other blogger who does have inside access to collections, did actually dish details before the collections were shown.

Now that would be some witch hunt...

An Angel kicks off their schedule (with a little help from Tallulah)

reuters

Well Tallulah did touch down in NY after all. As I type, she is walking (^) in the official opener of New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park – the show of Aussie expat Michael Angel. In a quiet lull just minutes before the show started, I had a quick chat with Angel over the phone.

So…nervous?
Michael Angel: Of course I’m nervous. I’m very awake. I mean I had to be here at 6am - call time.

It’s quite a big deal to be given the opening slot.
Yeah it is. And at the same time as well, IMG have been very supportive. And to put me in that time slot and to have me do this, it is an honour. And hopefully I can show something that wakes everyone up at 9am.

Tell me about the collection, quickly. I read on your blog that you were a little inspired by Freddie Mercury?
What it was based on was me listening to a lot of ‘70s rock music. I described the girl for the season…like the bottom half of her is Freddie Mercury and the top half of her is a bit of Stevie [Nicks] and Kate Bush and Led Zeppelin. It really isn’t anyone specific, it’s just me listening to a lot of that music and then going off and designing.

So take me through some of the silhouettes.
OK, well we’ve got a mixed panelled metallic dress, which is one of my favourites. It’s a really short panelled metallic dress and it’s silver, blue and light blue. There’s also the metallic blazer, which is new for me. I also did some swimwear. Also very important for me this season was beading. Taking my prints and making them three dimensional.




Prints have really been your signature up until now haven’t they?
Yeah, well you know, this collection especially. What I did was I took the prints to the next level and made the prints about movement…




You have come from left of field really. I mean you worked as a stylist in Australia and then left to work for Oakley in the US. Then suddenly, Michael Angel is about to show a collection in New York.
I didn’t really keep it under the radar. I just really did my thing and then when the time was right for it to be out there, it was time. I really wanted to put a lot of heart and soul into it and I wanted it to be right because you know, it’s been a dream of mine for a long time to do this. But it had to be right. I didn’t want to just send something out because I had to.



So you’re self-taught? Josh Goot is self-taught, so is Ben Pollitt.
I’m all self-taught. I mean I draw, I’m an illustrator, I draw each look, I draw each piece and then take it to the finished product.

You have also had quite a lot of press support over there. Have you had any editorial at all in Australia since you launched last year?
No, because the clothes are not available [in Australia] and not a lot of Australian media knew that I was doing a collection.



When do you think you are going to start the show?
In five minutes.

Tallulah’s not opening [Iekeliene Stange is opening] but she’s in the show - is she the only Australian model in it?
Yes she is. Tallulah’s in it - but Nicole Trunfio is also here to support me.

Best of luck and I really look forward to seeing [and posting] the shots.
Thank-you.


All seven images above: Getty Images for IMG

Click here for the complete collection on wwd.com.
Click here for the show video.
Click here to see Sonny Vandevelde's backstage images.

Thanks again to Sunster for "patching me through".

In (American) Vogue: Michael Angel

us vogue via michael angel


One day he’s opening New York Fashion Week, the next Michael Angel lands a feature in one of the world's most high profile fashion glossies.

In a post overnight on his blog, the New York-based Oz expat designer presented readers with a scan of a feature that has just been published on him in the September 2008 edition of US Vogue.

Sadly Angel does not appear to have scanned a highres version of the editorial, so it’s impossible to make much out beyond the headline:

"THE FRESH PRINTS"

And the intro:

“An Aussie artist’s canvasses are his bold, colour-rich dresses”

Together with a shot of the designer accompanied by three models wearing looks from his Fall/Winter 0809 collection.

Here is one of the dresses just shot by US Vogue, which previously featured on the elle.com website:


elle.com

Understandably, Angel is over the moon about the feature.

He tells readers, in no uncertain terms:

“OK so today was landmark- not just landmark - but fucking landmark!”

He adds:

“i grew up with this magazine, it constantly inspired and motivated me. And now I'm in there! To not sound too corny - this is really what i dreamed of and it's becoming a reality....The US Vogue team have been so supportive and responsive to what I'm doing from the beginning- i couldn't ask for more and it doesn't get any better then this".

Angel does not mention anything about dreaming of an appearance in Australian Vogue and nor is it clear from his other blog posts what, if any, editorial may have been done on him in the local edition.

A list of international Vogue sites are rattled off on Angel's blogroll, but vogue.com.au does not appear to be one of them.

An Angel at their schedule: Oz fashion's dark horse Michael Angel to open New York Fashion Week

the age

Not even frockwriter can keep up with the permutations of the NYFW calendar. After reporting that there were only two Australians left standing at NY Fashion Week, whose spring/summer 2009 season officially kicks off on September 5 - at least, that's when IMG’s Bryant Park schedule commences - IMG has just released said schedule and lo and behold, Australian expat Michael Angel (^) has opening honours.

[Another Melbourne native, Toni Maticevski, it should also be noted, appears to be tentatively pencilled in for 12.00pm on September 6].

An erstwhile Melbourne stylist, Angel worked for SABA for eight years from the age of 16, then the Melbourne Fashion Festival, the Search For A Supermodel tv series and US streetwear brand Oakley, before decamping to New York in 2004.

Angel's signature collection bowed in New York for the spring/summer 2008 season.

According to the designer's website, for the past five years Angel has:

“devoted himself to the creation of both digital and manual artwork”.

Angel's striking artwork provides one of the most distinctive elements of his debut collections, which feature simple, fluid shapes in the form of leggings, kaftans and simple T-shirt dresses and shifts in slick silks, as well as Australian merino.


elle.com

As it emerges, Angel's Fall/Winter 0809 collection garnered quite some US media coverage, on such sites/publications as WWD, style.com and elle.com [above, below].


elle.com

Angel is a savvy marketer, who has his own blog. Not letting sass & bide's Black Rats leggings get all the Bryanboy love moreover, Angel recently sent a pair of his own leggings to the Filippino fashion blogger, who duly blogged shots of himself in the garment:


bryanboy

Just prior to heading to NY in 2004, Angel told The Melbourne Age:

"I've always been more global than I have Australian. For lots of Australian artists you have to leave Australia to know you're any good."

What can we expect to see on September 5? A touch of Mercury, according to Angel, who told his blog readers on August 10:

“i've been feeling Freddie for this collection!”

elle.com