Because the night - LMFF 2011

Alex Perry's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 presentation was not the only glamour event at last week's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Although unlike Perry's show, it provided no reveal of any brand new season's offerings, the L'Oréal Paris Runway 5 show on Friday night, presented by Harpers Bazaar Australia, was nevertheless a wonderful showcase of highend PM-wear from some of Australia's most acclaimed designers: Collette Dinnigan, Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, Jayson Brunsdon, Dion Lee, Scanlan & Theodore and Willow. Here are a few shots below. Click (here) to see frockwriter's backstage portfolio shot during the show.

Myer backstage at RSFF

sonny vandevelde

Herewith an exclusive preview of Sonny Vandevelde's backstage portfolio from Myer's SS0910 show last night in Sydney, in which we saw a lot of colour, a lot of dresses, "statement shoulders", as Myer face Jennifer Hawkins referred to the silhouette in our video chat - even if 'the Balenciaga shoulder' is what we called it at RAFW four months ago - and rather a lot of eveningwear. The show commenced with an eveningwear medley from various designers and closed with Aurelio Costarella, the Perth eveningwear specialist who has spent the past few years showing at New York Fashion Week. And who told frockwriter last night that, GFC notwithstanding, there are still plenty of Australian women who think of nothing of spending $2500 on a special dress. Costarella also observed that showing in New York is "less stressful" than showing in Sydney.

Toni Maticevski's new Maticevski Sweethearts line also enjoyed an outing. That's Maticevksi's new bridesmaid-skewed line of dresses that is fully customizable up to a size 24. Did any plus size models get a guernsey in that section? Not a chance. After making such a song and dance about including plus size models in Myer's suburban shows, it seemed like a lost opportunity at last night's high-profile launch event.

The cast included Australian haute couture queen Alexandra Agoston, fresh from the Paris couture shows, ANTM Cycle 5 winner Tahnee Atkinson, Rachel Rutt, Simone Kerr, runway veteran Tanya G and Tallulah Morton.

For more pics from the show head to Sonny Photos.










all photos: sonny vandevelde

Aurelio Costarella and Willow ditch NYFW for RAFW

aurelio costarella SS09/daylife

In yet more developments to the rapidly-unfolding RAFW schedule, frockwriter can reveal that Perth's Aurelio Costarella will be doing a presentation on Wednesday 29th April at 11.00am in the Cargo Theatre. A more intimate showcase than a runway show, the presentation of Costarella's heavily-embellished SS0910 collection will nevertheless involve 12 models. This will be Costarella's first AFW show in three years. In the interim, of course, he has become a regular at New York Fashion Week, where he last showed in September for SS09 - skipping the most recent FW0910 shows there, undoubtedly due to the very flat US retail market. In other news, IMG confirmed via Twitter that Kit Willow Podgornik will also be joining the RAFW schedule. Like Costarella, Podgornik has also become a NYFW regular, but skipped the most recent season. Apart from a static lingerie presentation in 2007, Willow has not shown a fashion collection in Sydney since 2005, choosing to focus her attention on the once promising US retail market. Although the scale of both presentations remains to be seen, fact is both fashion expats have chosen to spend some of their marketing dollars back downunder. New York's loss is very much Sydney's gain.

Costarella makes his move

It’s the wee hours in New York at the moment but I have managed to track down a couple of early images from the Aurelio Costarella show. After showing off-schedule in the city on two previous occasions, the Perth eveningwear specialist bit the bullet this season and moved to New York Fashion Week’s main arena – the tent shows at Bryant Park – where he showed at 9.00pm on Thursday night, immediately following New York headliner Zac Posen.








Images: 1, 2 and 3/supplied; 4/Coutorture; 5/Getty Images for IMG

Click here for the complete collection on wwd.com.
Click here for the show video.

Ray of light: Costarella gets his IMG dues (after paying his IMG fees)

anna: poet


You won’t read this on Chic Report Chicettes! Frockwriter recently mentioned that online zine The Daily (which, like Chic Report, is owned by IMG) recently made a booboo with its announcement that, in the wake of sass & bide’s pullout from the IMG-operated Mercedes Benz Fashion Week component of New York Fashion Week's spring/summer 2009 season, Alice McCall was the only Australian left on the IMG schedule. As we pointed out, McCall isn’t on the IMG schedule at all – but Perth’s Aurelio “Ray” Costarella is. And had paid his deposit for the privilege. Overnight The Daily attempted to rectify this slipup.

Noted The Daily’s Nola Weinstein yesterday:

“Although Sass and Bide won't grace the Tents this season, Bryant Park won't be devoid of Australian influence. Come September, Perth's own Aurelio Costarella will unveil his confections at the Salon in Bryant Park. Although he has shown in New York before, both at Bumble and bumble and the Prince George Ballroom, this marks his inaugural appearance at Bryant Park. Rihanna, Dita Von Teese, Sharon Stone, Eva Mendes, Parker Posey and Leelee Sobieski count themselves as fans--so perhaps a star sighting is on the horizon?”

That’s as distinct from The Daily’s entry on August 1st, also by Weinstein:

“Sass and Bide's absence leaves Alice McCall, who is showing for the first time in New York, as the only Australian designer at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week”.

Although we reported on July 24th that Costarella would be showing on September 11 at 9.00am, it emerges that he is in fact showing on September 11 at 9.00pm – the slot immediately following Zac Posen, as vacated by another Australian, Jayson Brunsdon.

Like sass & bide - and, it appears, also Willow - Brunsdon is sitting this NY season out.

Alice McCall heads to NY Fashion Week - one of just three Oz labels this season?

alice mccall resort 09/pierre toussaint


Overnight COACD scanned the latest draft of New York’s Fashion Calendar and Alice McCall and sass & bide were the only Australian names listed thus far. To this frockwriter can add Aurelio Costarella. Costarella is not only going back to NYFW but, after two seasons showing off-schedule, he has bitten the bullet and is showing for the first time on-schedule in Bryant Park on September 11 @ 9.00am.




aurelio costarella FW0809/jason kibbler/model: amy finlayson

McCall is no surprise really.

In April, she told me that she was planning to show in New York come September.


alice mccall resort 09/pierre toussaint

McCall has shown off-schedule in London on several occasions.

This will be her first US show: off-schedule at 6pm, September 5, in the Altman Building.

“We’re ready to do a show again, absolutely” McCall told me this morning.

The designer’s last show was in May 2007 at Australian Fashion Week. In the interim McCall had a baby.


alice mccall resort 09/pierre toussaint/model: megan hind

In spite of the tough US retail climate that has impacted on the business of some Australian designers, McCall told me that she picked up 12 new US retail accounts in February with her “High on Rebellion” collection.

“We want to manage those” said McCall.

“It’s also an untapped market for us. We’re doing fantastically with our TopShop range in the UK, it sold out very quickly. Considering the economic climate, we’re having positive results”.

Sass & Bide is a surprise, because I had heard on the grapevine that they were considering not showing this season.

And Willow?

Willow is, according to the designer's HQ, still a possibility - and apparently for an on-schedule, but off-site show on either the 11th or 12th September - however nothing is as yet confirmed.

As listed in the Fashion Calendar scan, New Zealand's Karen Walker is also planning to show once again.

For the SS07 season two years ago the following six Australian names either individually staged, or were involved in, shows at New York Fashion Week:

• Sass & Bide
• Willow
• Toni Maticevski
• Josh Goot
• Lincoln Mayne Hoskins (Manhattan-based - Gen Art show)
• Ksubi (colab collection as part of the Jeremy Scott show)

The following season Jayson Brunsdon and Aurelio Costarella also mounted solo NY shows.

A little Ray of sunshine in the Meatpacking District

You've got to fee a teensy bit sorry for any new Australians heading over to New York right now. Once upon a time it was a big deal for an Australian to show here - back in Australia that is. With new names each season both on- and off-schedule, it is now however becoming par for the Australian fashion course. On the plus side, those who came before them paved the way. They may have garnered bigger headlines back home - but they have made Australian fashion a bigger talking point in New York. On Monday morning at 11.00am Perth's Ray Costarella became the seventh Australian to show his wares on a New York runway (after sass & bide, Willow, Josh Goot, Toni Maticevski, Lincoln Mayne and Ksubi) - and the fourth of five to show this season.

In spite of deciding to go it alone and eschew the official schedule for his first show Costarella managed to pull in an impressive 300-strong crowd that included top New York stores Kirna Zabete, Bloomingdales and media outlets including US Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, WWD/W and Style.com.

Also in attendance, expat Australian Elizabeth Charles, whose Australasian-specialist boutique is just around the corner - and who is doing so well selling Oz and Kiwi labels in the American market, she is just about to open a second store in San Francisco.

It was a much bigger crowd than that garnered by Toni Maticevski for his first show, on-schedule, in September (although as I mentioned a few days ago, Maticevski packed the venue this time).

Costarella's show was staged down at the Bumble & Bumble venue in the Meatpacking District, a warehouse space with magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline. You really knew you were in New York.

Costarella played it simple - some might say, a little too straight - for his nevertheless confident Big Apple debut, showing a tightly-edited, monochromatic collection of silk voile and silk tulle cocktail dresses and evening gowns with sculpted, embellished bodices, some of them boasting delicate, distressed, degrade skirt layers, like a series of full-length ballerina tutus.

Costarella's forte is eveningwear and there's definitely a market for it here. This is a cashed-up party town. Bergdorf Goodman has an entire floor just dedicated to ballgowns.

Here's what he said right after the show:

So why did you decide to show in NY?
Ray Costarella: Just because we'd been doing a lot of work here in the market for the last 18 months.

Who are you selling to already?
Mostly on the West Coast at the moment. We're selling to American Rag, Jack Henry, We Of The Never Never. We've had a lot of interest from stores here in New York. So it was the obvious choice for us in terms of doing our first show internationally.
blognapolean-jacket.jpg

How much harder was it compared to staging a show in Australia?
Do you know what? It's actually easier. I've been far less stressed about doing this show than I normally am doing shows in Sydney. For some reason it's just been really effortless, I really haven't been anxious about it. The whole process has just evolved so naturally and smoothly. And I felt very confident about the collection and about staging the whole show.

Tell me about the collection.
The theme of the collection was chiaroscuro and it was inspired by the painting movement. It's all about light and shade and hence the movement through from white through the quite sort of Gothic pieces at the end. Still a lot of vintage elements, in the beading, the dress that Nicole (Trunfio) came out in had vintage a Belgian purse stitched onto the bust. I'm fortunate now that I've got a team of beaders who are recreating these things for me. They're in Manila. So they've moved from being strictly one-off pieces. I'm working with a company called When I Was Five. You may have seen them, Belinda stocks them in Australia and they sell through Barneys and Bergdorfs. They've taken on all my hand-beading for me. They've got a team of 100 beaders who work for them.

It's becoming a well-worn track from AFW to New York.
It's becoming so. And I think it's really important in terms of visibility for Australian designers on the international circuit.

Yes but Australia seems suddenly over-represented here in New York - I mean there are five Australians showing.
I guess Americans still have this affinity with Australians. They do tend to like us over here which certainly helps. But in terms of mounting a show on the international level it makes more sense to do it in an English-speaking country than say Paris for example, where I imagine it would be so much more difficult. I don't know how Collette has done it all these years. But New York just seemed to me to be the right place to be showing.

Are you planning to show again back in Australia?
Yeah, we haven't made any decisions on Sydney at this point but obviously we'll continue to show in Australia. But we've made a commitment to New York Fashion Week for at least the next three seasons. I think that's really important. You can't just do it once and then disappear.

It's obviously an expensive exercise.
(beyond sponsors and a WA grant) We've still spent in excesse of $100,000 getting here. By the time you factor in all of your flights, your accommodation, you have to come over for at least 2-3 weeks...

Tough town?
I want to say yes but I think people have warmed to us.

Good turnout.
We did, we had some pretty influential people here which was great. I was really pleased with it. First show for an unknown in a new market, I was certainly happy with the result. We'll see what the next few days bring.

Biggest surprise?
I guess how easy it turned out to be. I knew it was going to be an expensive exercise, but I just imagined it was going to be so much more difficult than it actually was.

Because it's more professional here?
I think we as a team were just so organised and so ready for it. That played a really important part. I think it was just the right time for us. The next three weeks are solid selling for us. We've got two weeks in New York and then my NY agent takes the collection to Paris and will sell it there during Paris Fashion Week. I mean the hard work has yet to come. Now we actually have to go out there and make some money.

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