Giddy up

steven klein via nicola formichetti

How about something a little different for the upcoming Spring Racing Carnival? Fashion's bondage moment sees the men taking a turn being trussed up in this intriguing 30-page cover story for Vogue Hommes Japan. Shot by dark master Steven Klein, styled by Nicola Formichetti, the spread stars Ryan Koning, Stephen Novok, Travis Hanson, Oraine Barrett, Jason Morgan, Dough Porter, Colby Jamar and Anthony Gallo. For more images see Formichetti’s blog.




steven klein via nicola formichetti

Lady GaGa finally goes a little gaga in Malta

La Toya Jackson can be forgiven for the dramatic face-shading fedora she wore to her brother's memorial. But overnight there has been some discussion of this press conference in Malta, to which Lady GaGa rocked up wearing what has been described by some as a "gimp" mask, a reference to the S&M subculture. Given that this video was published on the blog of the performer's stylist mate Nicola Formichetti, one assumes Formichetti shoulders some responsibility. The mask was authored by Paris-based designer Vilsbol de Arce - who accessorised one entire collection with similar headgear. But while it's not unheard of for a designer to mask models for a runway show (hello, Martin Margiela?) and might work in video vignettes, the practice does not seem terribly conducive to the concept of a press conference, the whole point of which is communication with your audience - as opposed to portraying yourself as Hannibal Lecter. While some ridicule Lady GaGa's idiosyncratic costume choices, frockwriter may have to agree with them for once. There is a fine line between flamboyance and freak show and on this occasion, Lady GaGa appears to have crossed it.

Gaga for V

A sneak peek inside the engine room of a Lady Gaga fashion shoot, this just-posted video shows preparations and vignettes from an upcoming editorial in the 60th edition of edgy US fashion title V magazine. Styled by Nicola Formichetti, it was shot by Argentinian Sebastian Faena - who recently transformed Australians Catherine McNeil and Abbey Lee Kershaw into campy 60s horror heroines for another V editorial, entitled 'Hell's Bellas'.

Blue jean babies

levi's via nicola formichetti

Two weeks ago frockwriter shared Myf Shepherd's surprise new denim campaign, Superfine. But now here finally are the first shots from the denim campaign that we knew she had bagged all along for Spring/Summer 2009, Levi's 501. The campaign was shot by David Vasiljevic and Shepherd stars alongside another hot new modelling name, Josh Beech - the lead singer of British rock band Snish.

Models are now gathering in New York for next week's kickoff of the Fall/Winter 09/10 runway season.

Following on from her stellar debut haute couture season in Paris last week, stand by to see how Shepherd fares in her second ready-to-wear season - and what other new Australian faces may be about to emerge.


levi's via nicola formichetti

Hellboys

gareth pugh FW0910/reuters via daylife

“We have to sell the dream before we can sell the clothes” noted Gareth Pugh prior to his first Paris-staged womenswear show in September. Last night in Paris, with his first menswear collection, it was a Gothic nightmare Pugh was selling this time around. In the face of a financial apocalypse, with retailers folding right, left and centre, while others report gains – in the case of London’s Browns boutiques, a 200percent increase in the online shoe category in 2008, the more extreme the design, the better – Pugh’s attention whore couture shone like a beacon in a fortnight of predominantly play-it-safe, predictable mens clothes. The closing show on Sunday, it was bookended by the menswear season and the kickoff of the haute couture collections, which commence in a few hours' time. And the front-row presence of LVMH director Delphine Arnault has fuelled inevitable speculation that Pugh might be the latest Brit enfant terrible in the sights of the world’s biggest luxury conglomerate.



gareth pugh FW0910/reuters via daylife

Typically dark and brooding, Pugh’s debut menswear show was a hookup between Mad Max and the Marquis de Sade.

Highlights included button-down leather trenchcoats, nail-studded singlets and blousons, a shaggy goat fur gilet, a pewter chainmail-like mesh shirt over matching skinny pewter trousers, extravagant funnel-neck coats - one whose diamond patchwork leather applique echoed the trademark geodesic armour of Pugh's womenswear - and slashed skinny jeans or leggings that were so distressed, they resembled the shrouds of a cadre of post-apocalyptic zombies.

With longtime collaborator Nicola Formichetti on styling, the collection was worked back with multistrap knee-high biker boots, enigmatic cocktail hats by Brit milliner Stephen Jones and ghoulish makeup.

Pugh's Gothboy cast included, if frockwriter is not mistaken, fashion’s new dark prince, Australian Jethro Cave:


gareth pugh FW0910/reuters via daylife


Click here to see the complete collecton on men.style.com.

Caveman of the fashion apocalypse

hedi slimane

Well it seems official. Jethro Cave is Australia’s next top male model. Anointed by a solitary SS09 runway appearance in October 2008 - Balenciaga - last week the 18 year-old popped up in a number of high profile menswear shows in Milan. And now comes this photo portfolio by the influential Hedi Slimane, the former creative director of, and campaign photographer for, Christian Dior Homme (who has just shot a campaign for Prada). Shot for online viewing purposes only according to models.com’s Wayne Sterling, the images are doing the rounds via hedislimane.com, Dazed & Confused's dazeddigital.com and the blog of London-based stylist Nicola Formichetti. Click here to see the complete portfolio. The images were styled by Formichetti – a co-engineer of the recent controversial Calvin Klein homage images for ponystep.com. Cave was not required to kneel in a corner, his hands behind his back, with the words “FUCK ME” scrawled in lipstick on his inner thighs - as was the case with another teen male model in the ponystep.com CK shoot. Looking a little more pretty boy glam rock than post-punk however, and styled up with womens' jewellery and makeup, Cave does nevertheless pose in his underwear.





hedi slimane

One amusing close-up shot shows a page from what appears to be Cave's personal diary, enscribed with the following hand-written statement in the Australian dialect:

"Youse cunt's are cunt's".

Now, it seems, Cave is going by the surname of his father, The Birthday Party/Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave. That’s certainly how he is listed on London model agency website Independent.

This is interesting, given the fact that Cave first popped up on the Australian modelling radar at the 2006 Melbourne Fashion Festival as Jethro Lazenby, using the surname of his mother Beau Lazenby exclusively.

One month or so later, at the spring/summer 06/07 edition of Australian Fashion Week in Sydney – which Akira Isogawa opened, with Cave modelling – he was still going by the name Lazenby.

Several days before Isogawa's show, at an AFW casting call, the then 15 year-old told The Daily Telegraph:

"I've never wanted to live in his shadow but if I can make money out of it, why not?"

In 2007, Nicholas Morley hired Cave for promotional images for his Nicholas X Morley line.

Cave would not be the only celebrity progeny to gain a celeb-by-default legup in the fashion or film business.

A recent rollcall of rock offspring in modelling alone embraces Peaches and Pixie Geldof, Theodora Richards, Leah Wood, Elizabeth and Georgia Jagger, Kimberley Stewart, Daisy Lowe and Amber Le Bon. Not forgetting Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, Riley Keough.

How much interest would there be in any of these names were it not for the famous surname? In the case of Jethro Cave, it certainly seems to be providing additional buzz. A case in point the overnight mention on his personal blog The Imagist, Wayne Sterling notes:

“And how like his father is the boy. Powerful genes those”.

Here's a 1988 Polly Borland portrait FYI of Nick Cave in his late 20s, from the set of Ghosts of The Civil Dead.


polly borland via morgansmusings.wordpress.com

But Jethro Cave is not the only model in the Cave family.

Cave’s stepmom - Nick Cave’s wife of ten years, and mother of their twin sons Arthur and Earl – is erstwhile Vivienne Westwood muse, Susie Bick.

Where's Abbey Lee? (Apparently) on the cover of D&C

nick knight via nicola formichetti

According to Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti (via TFS), that’s Abbey Lee Kershaw on the cover of the yet-to-be-published October edition (^). That’d be from the same photoshoot that was recently vlogged by SHOWstudio (and blogged by frockwriter), in which Kershaw posed astride a 16.3hand stallion.

These images were posted yesterday on Formichetti’s blog, where he reports that there will also be some kind of "limited edition of 500 copies" of the mag released at Gareth’s Pugh’s Paris debut show (5pm on Saturday 27th September).

As you may recall, Kershaw – and the stallion – both wore Pugh’s creations for the shoot.


nick knight via nicola formichetti

The cover makes a bizarre tear sheet for Kershaw's portfolio given that well, it could be anyone at all in the picture really.

Nevertheless, this represents Kershaw's first international magazine cover and caps off a stellar nine months for the 21 year-old Melburnian.

During this time she appeared in a D&G campaign before having yet set foot on any international runway, then hit the runway running in New York in February, eventually walking in 32 FW0809 shows. Kershaw also booked a Gucci runway exclusive for Milan, followed by the Gucci and cK Jeans FW0809 advertising campaigns.

That's one new star down. Now, who's Next?

Australia's Next Top (male) Model

Cat McNeil isn't the only Australian to benefit from Mario Testino's magic model touch. Meet Josh Dagnall - who's just been shot by Testino for V Magazine.

According to a story today in PerthNow moreover, the 16 year-old from Rockingham, WA, has MySpace to thank for the Testino coup - even if, apparently, he had never heard of the venerated fashion snapper prior to posing for him.



Perth stylist Lincoln Ferguson reportedly spotted Dagnall on MySpace and then hooked him up with "Sydney agent" Kirk Blake. Blake, in fact, is not an agent but a Sydney-based fashion scout who consults to various agencies. Dagnall is now repped locally by Scene Models.



Confusingly, PerthNow reports that Dagnall was in Year 11 at Warnbro High School and had just started an electrical apprenticeship when he got the model call.

Dagnall himself puts his age down as 28 on his MySpace page.

In these portfolio shots from the Scene website, he certainly looks well-preserved.



MySpace is emerging as a major fashion sourcing force.

Last year Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti, who also styles freelance for names such as Gareth Pugh, told the UK Telegraph that he does most of his casting and sourcing these days via MySpace.

Noted Formichetti:

"MySpace is endless – you're not restricted by a casting director's book any more. Most people I now use are too much for casting directors anyway, because they might have loads of piercings, or crazy colours in their hair."