Heather Graham backstage at Diesel's spring/summer 2007 show.
WHAT BRINGS YOU TO DIESEL?
Fashion. I think Renzo is a really cool guy and I love his [new, New York] shop.
DO YOU GO TO A LOT OF FASHION SHOWS?
Not a lot. A few. Not a lot.
WHAT'S THE APPEAL OF NEW YORK FASHION WEEK TO CELEBRITIES?
New York is such a fun place to be. You've got a lot of people who live here and if they don't live here, then they love to come here.
YES BUT THERE THERE ARE A LOT OF CELEBRITIES HERE IN NEW YORK. EVEN KEVIN COSTNER WAS HERE THE OTHER NIGHT.
Funny, what show was he at?
MAX AZRIA. BUT WHAT IS THE SYNERGY BETWEEN CELEBRITIES AND FASHION EVENTS?
Well I think because as a celebrity you have to go out to different events and people who are great designers, sometimes they give you things. Like you wear some of their stuff and so you develop sometimes relationships with people that you like their clothes, because you wear their stuff. So I'm sure he probably wears Max Azaria [sic] and that's why he went.
DO CELEBRITIES EVER HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING?
Yeah. I mean you definitely get a lot of perks though, you get a lot of goods free. But no, you buy stuff, completely.
WERE YOU BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED THAT YOU WEREN'T NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR FOR YOUR ROLE AS ROLLER GIRL?
Oh you're sweet for saying that, thank-you.
WAS THAT THE SEMINAL ROLE OF YOUR CAREER DO YOU THINK?
Hopefully I'll have more good roles.
Original post and comments.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Celeb encounters of the close kind No 2: Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne backstage at Diesel's spring/summer 2007 show.
SO WHAT'S YOUR CONNECTION TO DIESEL?
I'm wearing Diesel everything right now. Shoes, belt, jeans. I'm all Diesel. And I was invited here tonight as a guest of Renzo's.
HAVEN'T WE SEEN YOU AT A FEW DIFFERENT FASHION EVENTS RECENTLY?
This is actually my second fashion show.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST ONE?
Chanel.
SO YOU'RE INTERESTED IN FASHION?
Yeah I love it.
JUST ON THAT CHANEL SHOW, THERE WAS SOME COMMENT RECENTLY ABOUT YOU MOVING FROM THE SK8ER LOOK TO SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE UPTOWN
My look, my fashion style is definitely still like, rock and roll, just more of a glammed-up version I guess.
SO WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CELEBRITIES AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK?
Yeah, you know, it comes with the territory. It's like, you know, when you're a celebrity, you do so many photoshoots and red carpets and a big part of the career is how you look and so it all ties in together.
YES BUT ABOVE ALL THESE PUBLIC EVENTS, WHAT IS IT ABOUT FASHION IN PARTICULAR, AND FASHION WEEKS AND MOST NOTABLY OF ALL, NEW YORK FASHION WEEK?
Everyone loves it. Everyone loves clothes and celebrities often set trends. I'm just here because I love Diesel and they invited me and they're like, 'Come out'. And I'm like, 'All right, cool'. I haven't been out much to any of these things, so it's fun.
DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN PEOPLE CRITIQUE YOUR LOOK?
My fans have always like, you know, worn what I wear and I've been like a trendsetter to my fans. Especially when I came out with like, the tie and everything. And I always thought that was really cool. To have an influence on like, so many people.
COULD THAT BE A DAUNTING PROSPECT?
It's not scary it's just like, really cool. It's like something I never would have thought would happen to me.
MIGHT WE SEE AN AVRIL LAVIGNE FASHION LINE AT SOME STAGE THEN?
Well I am a creative girl and I'm very visual and I love clothes so, maybe.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ONE?
No, but it could be really fun.
SO WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE... A TIE RANGE?
It would be very much like the clothes I wear.
SO TIES, THEN?
I don't wear ties any more.
Original post and comments.
SO WHAT'S YOUR CONNECTION TO DIESEL?
I'm wearing Diesel everything right now. Shoes, belt, jeans. I'm all Diesel. And I was invited here tonight as a guest of Renzo's.
HAVEN'T WE SEEN YOU AT A FEW DIFFERENT FASHION EVENTS RECENTLY?
This is actually my second fashion show.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST ONE?
Chanel.
SO YOU'RE INTERESTED IN FASHION?
Yeah I love it.
JUST ON THAT CHANEL SHOW, THERE WAS SOME COMMENT RECENTLY ABOUT YOU MOVING FROM THE SK8ER LOOK TO SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE UPTOWN
My look, my fashion style is definitely still like, rock and roll, just more of a glammed-up version I guess.
SO WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CELEBRITIES AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK?
Yeah, you know, it comes with the territory. It's like, you know, when you're a celebrity, you do so many photoshoots and red carpets and a big part of the career is how you look and so it all ties in together.
YES BUT ABOVE ALL THESE PUBLIC EVENTS, WHAT IS IT ABOUT FASHION IN PARTICULAR, AND FASHION WEEKS AND MOST NOTABLY OF ALL, NEW YORK FASHION WEEK?
Everyone loves it. Everyone loves clothes and celebrities often set trends. I'm just here because I love Diesel and they invited me and they're like, 'Come out'. And I'm like, 'All right, cool'. I haven't been out much to any of these things, so it's fun.
DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN PEOPLE CRITIQUE YOUR LOOK?
My fans have always like, you know, worn what I wear and I've been like a trendsetter to my fans. Especially when I came out with like, the tie and everything. And I always thought that was really cool. To have an influence on like, so many people.
COULD THAT BE A DAUNTING PROSPECT?
It's not scary it's just like, really cool. It's like something I never would have thought would happen to me.
MIGHT WE SEE AN AVRIL LAVIGNE FASHION LINE AT SOME STAGE THEN?
Well I am a creative girl and I'm very visual and I love clothes so, maybe.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ONE?
No, but it could be really fun.
SO WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE... A TIE RANGE?
It would be very much like the clothes I wear.
SO TIES, THEN?
I don't wear ties any more.
Original post and comments.
Seat wars #2: The highs and lows of Karen Walker’s front rows
Yes and well some designers send out press releases describing their collections. And some send out press releases about the celebrities who were on hand to see the collections pony-walk past. Then there's Karen Walker, who sends out press releases detailing the minutiae of her seating arrangements.
Yesterday I received the following list from Walker's Sydney publicist, with nothing more than an email slug which announced it as "Highlights from front row and second row from Karen Walker's show in NYC".
I'll make an exception to my own general rule on these matters and make the PR industry happy by publishing the release verbatim.
Now, it's probably just a complete coincidence that this list followed hot on the heels of an item in the Herald's Stay In Touch column on Monday, which happened to mention that Walker had seated the Australian and New Zealand media in the second row at her show on Saturday.
Given what one would assume would be the considerable size of the Australian market to Walker's business - I mean she's only selling to the country's biggest retailer, Myer - and the importance of her home market to her profile, it seemed somewhat surprising at the time.
But what an insight this list provided to the machinations of the burgeoning Karen Walker empire. It also spurred me on to check out more KW information.
According to Walker's website, Australia is her largest market in terms of stockists numbers - 47.
Japan is her second biggest market, with 28 stockists - although given the vast size of the Japanese population (127million) and the nature of their shopping habits (they account for almost half of the world's luxury goods market) one could probably surmise that Japan is in fact Walker's biggest cash cow.
As tiny as it is, the New Zealand market is not to be sniffed at, with three of Walker's seven outlets there being in fact her own stores.
All of this compared to just 18 stockists in the US.
A couple of points.
Firstly, as we have to assume this "highlights" list embraces the flashiest names on Walker's RSVP list, just where did she seat the only two Japanese names? Where else? The second row! One of them billed as no less than the president of Japanese department store chain Mitsukoshi.
Secondly, Emma Forest may be nonplussed to see herself described by Walker as "The actress Indira Varma's Friend".
The demotion to the status of Indira Varma's handbag will no doubt also be of interest to the New Zealand government, which invests in New Zealand Fashion Week and which event spent a not inconsiderable sum two years ago flying Forrest in its VIP guest. At the time they billed Forrest as a trans-Atlantic Lit girl, and two-time novelist whose debut oeuvre was called, funnily enough, Namedropper. Was Forrest just making it all up for the junket?
Thirdly, the only direct representative of the New Zealand media was Annabel Davidson - a former journalist who told me she is currently working in PR in New York.
Davidson filed to Stacey Gregg's website, Runway Reporter, claiming - at least in Monday's newsletter - to have been seated in the front row.
Davidson was in fact seated a couple of seats up from me, in the second row, moving to the front row at one stage to fill an awkward gap which emerged when one of Walker's front row highlights failed to show because he/she had more pressing matters to attend to.
And finally, according to New York PR agency People's Revolution, which has been managing the bulk of this week's shows at Walker's off-schedule venue of choice, the Altman Building, that venue boasts a front row of 80.
So, with just 24 front row "highlights" named, just who were the 56 "lowlights" taking up the rest of the seats? And why couldn't, at the very least, the journo from Walker's hometown of Auckland and two very powerful reps from the Japanese market, get squeezed in in place of some of the lowlights?
We do look forward to the next instalment.
Karen Walker show, Saturday 9th September (source: Paul Maloney Fashion Agency)
Front Row
Second Row
Original post and comments.
Yesterday I received the following list from Walker's Sydney publicist, with nothing more than an email slug which announced it as "Highlights from front row and second row from Karen Walker's show in NYC".
I'll make an exception to my own general rule on these matters and make the PR industry happy by publishing the release verbatim.
Now, it's probably just a complete coincidence that this list followed hot on the heels of an item in the Herald's Stay In Touch column on Monday, which happened to mention that Walker had seated the Australian and New Zealand media in the second row at her show on Saturday.
Given what one would assume would be the considerable size of the Australian market to Walker's business - I mean she's only selling to the country's biggest retailer, Myer - and the importance of her home market to her profile, it seemed somewhat surprising at the time.
But what an insight this list provided to the machinations of the burgeoning Karen Walker empire. It also spurred me on to check out more KW information.
According to Walker's website, Australia is her largest market in terms of stockists numbers - 47.
Japan is her second biggest market, with 28 stockists - although given the vast size of the Japanese population (127million) and the nature of their shopping habits (they account for almost half of the world's luxury goods market) one could probably surmise that Japan is in fact Walker's biggest cash cow.
As tiny as it is, the New Zealand market is not to be sniffed at, with three of Walker's seven outlets there being in fact her own stores.
All of this compared to just 18 stockists in the US.
A couple of points.
Firstly, as we have to assume this "highlights" list embraces the flashiest names on Walker's RSVP list, just where did she seat the only two Japanese names? Where else? The second row! One of them billed as no less than the president of Japanese department store chain Mitsukoshi.
Secondly, Emma Forest may be nonplussed to see herself described by Walker as "The actress Indira Varma's Friend".
The demotion to the status of Indira Varma's handbag will no doubt also be of interest to the New Zealand government, which invests in New Zealand Fashion Week and which event spent a not inconsiderable sum two years ago flying Forrest in its VIP guest. At the time they billed Forrest as a trans-Atlantic Lit girl, and two-time novelist whose debut oeuvre was called, funnily enough, Namedropper. Was Forrest just making it all up for the junket?
Thirdly, the only direct representative of the New Zealand media was Annabel Davidson - a former journalist who told me she is currently working in PR in New York.
Davidson filed to Stacey Gregg's website, Runway Reporter, claiming - at least in Monday's newsletter - to have been seated in the front row.
Davidson was in fact seated a couple of seats up from me, in the second row, moving to the front row at one stage to fill an awkward gap which emerged when one of Walker's front row highlights failed to show because he/she had more pressing matters to attend to.
And finally, according to New York PR agency People's Revolution, which has been managing the bulk of this week's shows at Walker's off-schedule venue of choice, the Altman Building, that venue boasts a front row of 80.
So, with just 24 front row "highlights" named, just who were the 56 "lowlights" taking up the rest of the seats? And why couldn't, at the very least, the journo from Walker's hometown of Auckland and two very powerful reps from the Japanese market, get squeezed in in place of some of the lowlights?
We do look forward to the next instalment.
Karen Walker show, Saturday 9th September (source: Paul Maloney Fashion Agency)
Front Row
Aya T. Kanai - Seniro Fashion Editor of Nylon
Lauren Peden- Managing Editor of Fashionwiredaily.com
Heidi Bivens- Freelance Stylist
Rayna Cummings- Juniro Fashion Market Editor of Saks Fifth Avenue
Marsha Posner- President of J.P. Associates
Elizabeth Sulcer- Fashion Director of BlackBook
Justin Theroux- Actor
Alessandra Balazs- Socialite
Venessa Lau- Writer for WWD
Victoria Adcock- Stylist / Creative Exchange Agency
Tim Blanks- Contributing Editor of Style.com
Maureen Dempsey- Fashion Features Writer for Marie Claire
Kate Lanphear- Senior Fashion and Style Editor of ELLE
Joann Pailey- Senior Market Editor of ELLE
Emma Forest- The actress Indira Varma's Friend
Indira Varma- Actress
Leven Rambin- Soap Star
Lee Carter- Founder of Hintmag.com and Contributing Editor of V
George Epaminondas- Senior Fashion Features Editor of InStyle
Amri Leever- Market Editor of Cosmopolitan
Danica Lo- Fashion Writer of the NY Post
Suzanna Karotkin- Associate Market Editor of Vogue
Julia Topolski - Senior Fashion Editor - JANE
Cathy Horyn - NY Times
Second Row
Katherine Agger- Fashion Director of Cover Magazine
Joe Berean- Market Director of Nylon
Elizabeth Charles- Owner/Buyer of Elizabeth Charles
Marie Chaix- Associate Editor of Self Service
Susan Joy- Freelance Stylist (NY Times)
Milka Prica- Executive Fashion Editor of Madison
Rebecca Resnick- Senior Accessories Editor of TeenVogue
Tim Rush- Vice President of Public Relations for Bumble and Bumble
Glynis Traill-Nash- Fashion & Style Director of The Sun-Herald Australia
Eri Kurobe- NY Correspondent of Marie Claire Japan
Havana Lafitte- Contributing Fashion Editor for Teen Vogue
Amanda Miller- Junior Fashion Market Editor for Saks Fifth Avenue
Takao Toshikawa- President of Mitsukoshi (USA), Inc.
Lina Kutsovskaya- Art Director of Teen Vogue
Taira Sturvist- Vice President of J.P. Associates
Andi Teran- Writer for City Magazine
Jen Smith- Senior Fashion Editor of Lucky
Karolyn Angel- Shopping Editor of W
Christine Centenera- Market Editor of Harper's Bazaar Australia
Helane Crowell- Fashion News Contributor
Annabel Davidson- Reporter for runwayreporter.com
Jean Godfrey-June- Beauty Director of Lucky
Gina Kelly- Fashion Director of Seventeen
Roseanne Morrison- Fashion Director of The Doneger Group
Mark Vassallo- Contributing Fashion Editor of Harper's Bazaar Australia
Prue Lewington- NY POST Stylist
Joanna Rodgers- Market Editor of Style.com
Christina Turner- Accessories Director of Jane
Patty Huntington- Fashion Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald
Edward Jowdy- Freelance Stylist
Hisashi Kato- President of Mitsukoshi (Japan), LTD
Original post and comments.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Seat wars #1: Checked out by Anna Wintour
I am standing outside the Narciso Rodriguez show. One of the bigger, buzzier names, Rodriguez is not on the official schedule but off it - and the front entrance is like Fort Knox.
A crowd of around 100 is standing in a queue waiting to get in. They are now letting some through. Curiously, some of these people seem to have tickets, while others do not. And quite a few of the latter are being let through because they are with the "right" person.
It's like a nightclub. Let's hope some of the hangers-on have jobs to do here because I and several others who don't have tickets, do, and we would like to be allowed to get on with that reportage. I'll get to why I don't have a ticket a little later. It is in part due to the size of this event and the shambolic manner in which it seems to operate.
"Erin you're OK, and you, you, and you are with Erin, you're OK too, come through" says one PR flack who is wearing de rigueur New York PR black, accessorised with mandatory Janet Jackson-style headset.
"You're all OK too" she says to another posse.
It seems the PR is fine with plenty of hangers on who don't have tickets, but she challenges one woman who does in fact have one. It should be pointed out that anyone who has a ticket but no assigned seating allocation must wait until the end, when they let in the unseated dregs.
"Excuse me, do you have your seating assignment?" the flack says to the woman.
"Cathy Horyn from The New York Times" the woman responds in a deadpan voice.
Another PR is kind enough to eventually let me in, once everyone else has gone through.
There must be 500 people inside here - a brick warehouse space with bare concrete floor. I make my way, as per usual when I don't have a seat, to the beginning of the runway where the models stand and pose for shots.
Apart from the minor inconvenience of having to stand, it's actually the best "seat" in the house. This fact appears to dawn on the Prada-loving devil herself, US Vogue imperatrix Anna Wintour, who is about a metre and a half in front of me, in what we both must assume is the best seat in the house.
Wintour checks me out. She seems to be thinking, "You interloper".
Original post and comments.
A crowd of around 100 is standing in a queue waiting to get in. They are now letting some through. Curiously, some of these people seem to have tickets, while others do not. And quite a few of the latter are being let through because they are with the "right" person.
It's like a nightclub. Let's hope some of the hangers-on have jobs to do here because I and several others who don't have tickets, do, and we would like to be allowed to get on with that reportage. I'll get to why I don't have a ticket a little later. It is in part due to the size of this event and the shambolic manner in which it seems to operate.
"Erin you're OK, and you, you, and you are with Erin, you're OK too, come through" says one PR flack who is wearing de rigueur New York PR black, accessorised with mandatory Janet Jackson-style headset.
"You're all OK too" she says to another posse.
It seems the PR is fine with plenty of hangers on who don't have tickets, but she challenges one woman who does in fact have one. It should be pointed out that anyone who has a ticket but no assigned seating allocation must wait until the end, when they let in the unseated dregs.
"Excuse me, do you have your seating assignment?" the flack says to the woman.
"Cathy Horyn from The New York Times" the woman responds in a deadpan voice.
Another PR is kind enough to eventually let me in, once everyone else has gone through.
There must be 500 people inside here - a brick warehouse space with bare concrete floor. I make my way, as per usual when I don't have a seat, to the beginning of the runway where the models stand and pose for shots.
Apart from the minor inconvenience of having to stand, it's actually the best "seat" in the house. This fact appears to dawn on the Prada-loving devil herself, US Vogue imperatrix Anna Wintour, who is about a metre and a half in front of me, in what we both must assume is the best seat in the house.
Wintour checks me out. She seems to be thinking, "You interloper".
Original post and comments.
How does the US really fund the Iraq war? Fashion shows!
So I am wandering about the gi-normous Lexington Armory. Crawling with National Guard, it is also packed to the rafters with munitions. One large central atrium space, which looks like it is big enough to park three 747s, one top of the other, gets rented out for various functions but most notably big fashion shows. Victoria's Secret had its last show here and it seems to be the venue of choice for Marc Jacobs. His main line's show last night was staged here, ditto this afternoon's show for his diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs.
Our bags are checked as we walk through the door. For weapons, presumably. It's not like they need any more - around the walls and corridors all sorts of munitions are displayed behind teak and glass cabinets, including something that looks very much like a shoulder-launched Stinger missile.
With all the money being spent on US military activity in Iraq, I guess a little extra on the side made by renting out some military assets to the fashion crowd must come in handy.
Coincidentally of course, military is apparently never going away as a fashion trend. David Jones I noticed recently has only just started stocking cult UK combat brand Maharishi (better late than never). We saw a bit of it at Luella Bartley two days ago and now again today in Marc by Marc Jacobs, with some cute patchwork khaki shorts, cropped combats and khaki bum bags and satchels.
It seemed entirely appropriate then to approach some of the clearly very fashion-forward, top-to-toe camo-clad National Guard and grill them on matters fashion.
SO THIS IS THE LEXINGTON ARMORY OR THE STATE ARMORY?
First Lieutenant Joseph Minning: It's the Lexington Armory, it's part of our New York State Department of Military and Naval Affairs.
WHY IS MARC JACOBS HAVING HIS SHOW HERE?
I guess they rent out the building. And because of the size of the armory and the flexibility of it, they are able to modify the drill floor into whatever they need to modify it into.
DO YOU THINK CAMOUFLAGE IS A GOOD LOOK FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON IN THE STREET?
Well I have a pair of camouflage shorts.
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT WORK WHEN YOU ARE WEARING THEM?
No.
SEEN ANY ACTIVE DUTY?
Yes. Ten percent of the reserve force is active duty. Just because we're attached to the National Guard, we are still attached to active duty. I've been on active duty since 1997. I've been to Iraq, I've been to just about every state, Kuwait, a lot of different training events and so on.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE FASHION SITUATION IN IRAQ?
The fashion situation in Iraq? [Laughs] They need some help.
I THINK THEY NEED HELP IN QUITE A FEW AREAS.
Probably.
WHAT ABOUT CURRENT TRENDS IN FASHION? LEGGINGS? PLATFORM SHOES? THE DRESS?
What do I think about the current fashions? I have to be honest with you, you'd be better off asking my girlfriend about that.
BUT DON'T YOU THINK PEOPLE THINK YOU ARE SOMETHING OF AN AUTHORITY JUST BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT YOU WERE IN COMBATS LONG BEFORE BALENCIAGA PUT THEM ON THE RUNWAY?
I don't think I'd be an authority on fashion though. If you want to ask me a bunch of military questions, it might be different.
OH OK THEN. IS FASHION TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY IN THE MILITARY?
[Laughs] We pretty much have one or two fashions. We have a PT uniform, a duty uniform and a dress uniform. That's our fashion.
AND DO THE TRENDS CHANGE MUCH?
[Serious] Depending on the environment and the situation we're in.
HOW MANY GUARDS ARE HERE?
How many soldiers do we have in our armory on a normal basis? Day to day, probably around 25.
HOW MANY GUNS?
A lot.
WHAT'S KEPT HERE?
A lot of stuff.
TANKS?
No.
STINGER MISSILES?
I can't elaborate on all this stuff.
HOW ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?
[Worried] No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
IS THIS FEDERAL OR STATE - DOES IT HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH GEORGE BUSH?
Sure it does.
DOES HE EVER TURN UP?
Has he turned up here? I haven't seen him here.
DO YOU THINK GEORGE BUSH IS FASHIONABLE?
No comment.
Original post and comments.
Our bags are checked as we walk through the door. For weapons, presumably. It's not like they need any more - around the walls and corridors all sorts of munitions are displayed behind teak and glass cabinets, including something that looks very much like a shoulder-launched Stinger missile.
With all the money being spent on US military activity in Iraq, I guess a little extra on the side made by renting out some military assets to the fashion crowd must come in handy.
Coincidentally of course, military is apparently never going away as a fashion trend. David Jones I noticed recently has only just started stocking cult UK combat brand Maharishi (better late than never). We saw a bit of it at Luella Bartley two days ago and now again today in Marc by Marc Jacobs, with some cute patchwork khaki shorts, cropped combats and khaki bum bags and satchels.
It seemed entirely appropriate then to approach some of the clearly very fashion-forward, top-to-toe camo-clad National Guard and grill them on matters fashion.
SO THIS IS THE LEXINGTON ARMORY OR THE STATE ARMORY?
First Lieutenant Joseph Minning: It's the Lexington Armory, it's part of our New York State Department of Military and Naval Affairs.
WHY IS MARC JACOBS HAVING HIS SHOW HERE?
I guess they rent out the building. And because of the size of the armory and the flexibility of it, they are able to modify the drill floor into whatever they need to modify it into.
DO YOU THINK CAMOUFLAGE IS A GOOD LOOK FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON IN THE STREET?
Well I have a pair of camouflage shorts.
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT WORK WHEN YOU ARE WEARING THEM?
No.
SEEN ANY ACTIVE DUTY?
Yes. Ten percent of the reserve force is active duty. Just because we're attached to the National Guard, we are still attached to active duty. I've been on active duty since 1997. I've been to Iraq, I've been to just about every state, Kuwait, a lot of different training events and so on.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE FASHION SITUATION IN IRAQ?
The fashion situation in Iraq? [Laughs] They need some help.
I THINK THEY NEED HELP IN QUITE A FEW AREAS.
Probably.
WHAT ABOUT CURRENT TRENDS IN FASHION? LEGGINGS? PLATFORM SHOES? THE DRESS?
What do I think about the current fashions? I have to be honest with you, you'd be better off asking my girlfriend about that.
BUT DON'T YOU THINK PEOPLE THINK YOU ARE SOMETHING OF AN AUTHORITY JUST BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT YOU WERE IN COMBATS LONG BEFORE BALENCIAGA PUT THEM ON THE RUNWAY?
I don't think I'd be an authority on fashion though. If you want to ask me a bunch of military questions, it might be different.
OH OK THEN. IS FASHION TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY IN THE MILITARY?
[Laughs] We pretty much have one or two fashions. We have a PT uniform, a duty uniform and a dress uniform. That's our fashion.
AND DO THE TRENDS CHANGE MUCH?
[Serious] Depending on the environment and the situation we're in.
HOW MANY GUARDS ARE HERE?
How many soldiers do we have in our armory on a normal basis? Day to day, probably around 25.
HOW MANY GUNS?
A lot.
WHAT'S KEPT HERE?
A lot of stuff.
TANKS?
No.
STINGER MISSILES?
I can't elaborate on all this stuff.
HOW ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?
[Worried] No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
IS THIS FEDERAL OR STATE - DOES IT HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH GEORGE BUSH?
Sure it does.
DOES HE EVER TURN UP?
Has he turned up here? I haven't seen him here.
DO YOU THINK GEORGE BUSH IS FASHIONABLE?
No comment.
Original post and comments.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Close encounters of the celeb kind No 1: Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham backstage at the Marc by Marc Jacobs spring/summer 2007 collection during New York Fashion Week.
DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?
I thought it was really, really lovely. It was my first Marc Jacobs show and I just thought it was amazing. I loved the accessories too. I thought the shoes were absolutely fantastic. It was just great.
TELL ME ABOUT THIS HARPERS BAZAAR SHOOT YOU'VE JUST DONE IN PARIS WITH TERRY RICHARDSON?
He was just wonderful. I'm a real fan of his work anyway and the fact that the shoot was in Paris, with Terry for Harpers Bazaar and it was couture...the mix of all those elements is what really made me want to do the shoot. I saw the pictures today for the first time and they're amazing. I am so so happy with them, they're great.
ANY NUDITY?
No nudity! No you're joking [shrieks, grabbing my arm]. Oh my goodness me.
YOU KNOW, TERRY RICHARDSON HAS JUST DONE A JEANS CAMPAIGN IN AUSTRALIA WHICH HAS BEEN GETTING QUITE A LOT OF FLACK.
How can jeans cause flack? What are they, topless with jeans?
LEGS AKIMBO
Oh really?
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE BLOG?
The one question I would ask every designer is, where they get inspiration from. I suppose that would be an interesting question for all designers. I've just done a book as well. It's coming out in October - called 'That Extra Half an Inch'. It's about fashion, the history of fashion.
NO, I'M SORRY, I WASN'T ASKING DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR MY BOOK. I'M NOT DOING A BOOK, I'M DOING A BLOG. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE BLOG? SOMETHING THAT BUGS YOU ABOUT FASHION, ABOUT FASHION WEEK, SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ETC...
Oh. Nothing's really been bothering me about fashion. I suppose, what different people like about different fashion?
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH CELEBRITIES AND FASHION WEEKS? PARTICULARLY NEW YORK. THEY'RE ALL OVER IT.
I think that celebrities love fashion and I think that we're lucky enough to be able to get in the front row and come to these shows. I just like it, you know.
Original post and comments.
DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?
I thought it was really, really lovely. It was my first Marc Jacobs show and I just thought it was amazing. I loved the accessories too. I thought the shoes were absolutely fantastic. It was just great.
TELL ME ABOUT THIS HARPERS BAZAAR SHOOT YOU'VE JUST DONE IN PARIS WITH TERRY RICHARDSON?
He was just wonderful. I'm a real fan of his work anyway and the fact that the shoot was in Paris, with Terry for Harpers Bazaar and it was couture...the mix of all those elements is what really made me want to do the shoot. I saw the pictures today for the first time and they're amazing. I am so so happy with them, they're great.
ANY NUDITY?
No nudity! No you're joking [shrieks, grabbing my arm]. Oh my goodness me.
YOU KNOW, TERRY RICHARDSON HAS JUST DONE A JEANS CAMPAIGN IN AUSTRALIA WHICH HAS BEEN GETTING QUITE A LOT OF FLACK.
How can jeans cause flack? What are they, topless with jeans?
LEGS AKIMBO
Oh really?
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE BLOG?
The one question I would ask every designer is, where they get inspiration from. I suppose that would be an interesting question for all designers. I've just done a book as well. It's coming out in October - called 'That Extra Half an Inch'. It's about fashion, the history of fashion.
NO, I'M SORRY, I WASN'T ASKING DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR MY BOOK. I'M NOT DOING A BOOK, I'M DOING A BLOG. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE BLOG? SOMETHING THAT BUGS YOU ABOUT FASHION, ABOUT FASHION WEEK, SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ETC...
Oh. Nothing's really been bothering me about fashion. I suppose, what different people like about different fashion?
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH CELEBRITIES AND FASHION WEEKS? PARTICULARLY NEW YORK. THEY'RE ALL OVER IT.
I think that celebrities love fashion and I think that we're lucky enough to be able to get in the front row and come to these shows. I just like it, you know.
Original post and comments.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Baryshnikov, seat Nazis and Sabyasachi performs a miracle with the handicapped
So I am standing in a light-drenched space with bare concrete walls and floor-to-ceiling windows at the top of a midtown building near the Hudson River, waiting for the Naum show to start. And what a ceiling - seemingly all 40 foot of it.
So far it's just me and a dozen people standing around the edges of the space, behind two rows of grey plastic chairs that have been arranged against the four walls, around a central, square "runway" space.
There are also about eight photographers huddled in one corner, trialling camera angles as the models do a walk-through. They have their hair and makeup done, but are wearing their own clothes - a mix of floor-length, tiered boho skirts, skinny jeans and singlets. One model is wearing a black singlet with the following words printed down the centre:
I am leaning in fact against two wooden bars which run right around two of the walls.
The opposite wall is covered with a mirror. Yes, it's a dancer's studio - the Baryshnikov Arts Center in fact. I feel like I am in the middle of an audition for A Chorus Line and as such am tempted to take the barre and perform a plie. Had my ankle-length, A-line, Funkis shift dress been fashioned from anything a little more accommodating than Florence Broadhurst upholstery fabric, I might have carried it out. In the current textile context however, I fear a plie may be a little too ambitious.
The room suddenly fills. The show starts. The same model who had been wearing the "money crime drugs vice sex" singlet is now dressed like an altar girl. She glides past in a pristine white cotton shirt with buttoned collar and extended cuffs over a voluminous, white A-line skirt that is partially covered by a mushroom-coloured organza apron. It's a very pretty, minimalist collection.
A plane flies past in the distance across the Manhattan skyline and I shudder. Choosing to follow a horde of people down six flights of fire stairs instead of taking the lift afterwards, only exacerbates the uncomfortable feeling. I can't get into the daylight quickly enough.
Into a cab and back to Bryant Park. The farcical fash pack is out in force and any notions of terrorist forboding swiftly dissipate.
A seat nazi on the front desk of newish designer Sabyasachi tells me that she cannot possibly accommodate me because I don't have a ticket. I tell her that I believe I may have RSVP'd to the relevant PR agency but that the ticket did not arrive at the hotel and in any event I am more than happy to stand at the show of a designer I don't know from a bar of soap because I am very keen to see what he is doing.
She grudgingly gives me a "ST" (standing) ticket.
In a moment of absurdity, I watch as a man wheels an elderly woman in a wheelchair over to the same flack. She gives them some attitude and then proceeds to hand both of them "standing" tickets.
"Gee, that's going to be an interesting one to watch" I think to myself.
Original post and comments from smh.com.au/theage.com.au.
So far it's just me and a dozen people standing around the edges of the space, behind two rows of grey plastic chairs that have been arranged against the four walls, around a central, square "runway" space.
There are also about eight photographers huddled in one corner, trialling camera angles as the models do a walk-through. They have their hair and makeup done, but are wearing their own clothes - a mix of floor-length, tiered boho skirts, skinny jeans and singlets. One model is wearing a black singlet with the following words printed down the centre:
Money
Crime
Drugs
Vice
Sex
I am leaning in fact against two wooden bars which run right around two of the walls.
The opposite wall is covered with a mirror. Yes, it's a dancer's studio - the Baryshnikov Arts Center in fact. I feel like I am in the middle of an audition for A Chorus Line and as such am tempted to take the barre and perform a plie. Had my ankle-length, A-line, Funkis shift dress been fashioned from anything a little more accommodating than Florence Broadhurst upholstery fabric, I might have carried it out. In the current textile context however, I fear a plie may be a little too ambitious.
The room suddenly fills. The show starts. The same model who had been wearing the "money crime drugs vice sex" singlet is now dressed like an altar girl. She glides past in a pristine white cotton shirt with buttoned collar and extended cuffs over a voluminous, white A-line skirt that is partially covered by a mushroom-coloured organza apron. It's a very pretty, minimalist collection.
A plane flies past in the distance across the Manhattan skyline and I shudder. Choosing to follow a horde of people down six flights of fire stairs instead of taking the lift afterwards, only exacerbates the uncomfortable feeling. I can't get into the daylight quickly enough.
Into a cab and back to Bryant Park. The farcical fash pack is out in force and any notions of terrorist forboding swiftly dissipate.
A seat nazi on the front desk of newish designer Sabyasachi tells me that she cannot possibly accommodate me because I don't have a ticket. I tell her that I believe I may have RSVP'd to the relevant PR agency but that the ticket did not arrive at the hotel and in any event I am more than happy to stand at the show of a designer I don't know from a bar of soap because I am very keen to see what he is doing.
She grudgingly gives me a "ST" (standing) ticket.
In a moment of absurdity, I watch as a man wheels an elderly woman in a wheelchair over to the same flack. She gives them some attitude and then proceeds to hand both of them "standing" tickets.
"Gee, that's going to be an interesting one to watch" I think to myself.
Original post and comments from smh.com.au/theage.com.au.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Vogue tells its models "Keep your legs together!" after Maticevski's Manhattan transfer
There were more than a few empty seats in Melbourne on Monday, when a preview of Toni Maticevski's New York debut runway collection opened Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. And it was a very similar scenario at New York's Bryant Park on Friday, with only the front couple of rows turning up to see Maticevski, the first of ten emerging international fashion names to take part in the event's sponsored "UPS Hub" initiative.
"I think there was a show up against Toni" offered head Olympus Fashion Week honcho, IMG Fashion vice president Fern Mallis, after the UPS Hub show of US designer Ashleigh Verrier later in the day, which was, by contrast, packed to the rafters.
Fortunately for Maticevski however his show of sculptured, cotton polyamide, safari-inspired separates and delicate, shredded silk tulle eveningwear, teamed with quirky kangaroo fur-trimmed platform shoes, was seen by a small, but powerful group of American buyers and media.
The latter included Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel, Womens Wear Daily, US Vogue and The Washington Post. Several among them that I spoke to afterwards seemed quite upbeat about the show (read our upcoming news stories and Thursday's Essential supplement in The Sydney Morning Herald for the complete Maticevski verdict).
At press time Maticevski had moreover already scored a couple of important pieces of editorial real estate. They include a highly coveted slot in US Vogue's 'Up Next' preview of the hottest talent at the New York shows. Of the seven up-and-comers selected by contributing editor Lauren Davis for the feature, Maticevski and Josh Goot are the only Australians.
At around 2pm today, when the US Saturday sites went live, Maticevski had also scored some impartial, and valuable, show criticism, as distinct to the frequently overhyped reviews he tends to receive from the Australian media.
The reviews were in the influential Womens Wear Daily (WWD) and Style.com - making in fact page one of Style.com today. Both companies are owned by Conde Nast, which owns Vogue. (And I am WWD's Australasian correspondent; however I had nothing to with the Maticevski review).
Here's what they said.
WWD:
Style.com:
Shooting Maticevski and models out the back of the venue afterwards in Bryant Park, for the upcoming Vogue new talent feature, was expat Australian photographer Nicholas Samartis, who recently moved from LA to New York.
What does Samartis make of the so-called "Australian invasion" of New York this season, with six Aussie names treading the runways?
"There's always an Australian invasion" Samartis told me in between takes of the models walking towards him past a stationary Maticevski.
"We just invade, we can't help it" he quipped. "I don't know how they're getting their visas. They're paying somebody off, don't you think?"
Samartis initially attempted to prevent me from taking some video of his shoot with my phone.
"You can't do that, it's an exclusive" he trumpetted, while standing in the middle of a throng of punters who had been having lunch in Bryant Park at the same moment the Maticevski posse turned up for its Vogue closeup.
Every second punter took out their own phones and cameras to record the moment. So much for an exclusive.
Curiously however, there was not an Australian amongst Maticevski's models, in spite of me having spotted 14 year-old rising Australian star Tallulah Morton and expats Elyse Taylor and Miranda Kerr at the Marc Bouwer and Cia.Maritima shows elsewhere in the day.
Perhaps the Australian models are doing so well now, Maticevski can't afford them?
One wonders if there had been any Australian modules on hand for the Vogue shoot, whether Davis would have had to remind them to "please keep your knees together", as I overheard her saying to one model.
Wearing one of Maticevski's feather-print, ruffled silk organza columns, the girl had been posing against the side of a bistro table like a truck driver - with her knees akimbo.
Is it an Anna Wintour directive that Vogue's models keep their legs closed?
"It's America, it's a puritannical society" offered Samartis, who should know, as he claims to now do 90 percent of his work for Vogue. "They're supposed to be 'classy'" he sighed. "It's such an overused American word, 'classy'".
Noted Davis, "Me personally, I like the girls to look pretty and beautiful and yeah, you don't want to have a beautiful picture and have the girl's knees open. If that offends someone, slipping through, what's the point? I'm somewhat conservative I guess. I think the same rules that apply to you in your real life, should apply on a shoot. I would never sit like that so I would never instruct a girl to sit like that in a shot".
One has to assume then that Davis would prefer not to work with the so-called "bad boy" of US fashion photography, Terry Richardson, who has carved a career out of louche imagery that blurs the lines between art and pornography.
Richardson's work has also been dubbed "heroin chic", although that apparently has more to do with the grittiness of his images of adolescents, and less to do with the fact that he himself is a recovered heroin addict.
"Legs akimbo" appears to be the absolute least shoot directive that Richardson issues to his subjects. Leaving his personal exhibition work out of things (in which he has photographed himself, his models and even his studio assistants in various sexual positions) arguably his most famous campaign image is the shot of model Josie Moran simulating fellatio with a cow's udder, for Italian brand Sisley.
As revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald in July, Richardson was recently paid what industry sources estimated was US$150,000 for one day's work, shooting the spring/summer 2006/2007 ad campaign for Australian jeans brand Lee.
The campaign is about to break in Australian magazines, however one image went up on a Melbourne billboard last weekend.
The same image is due to appear on a billboard in Sydney's Taylor Square on October 1st. But I gather the campaign is already ruffling feathers down there. According to Lee's marketing manager Richard Bell, the company's first choice for the billboard image was knocked back by the Advertising Standards Bureau for being too risque, so you can only imagine what the wowsers would have said about that.
"He would be pretty sick of me pretty fast" said Davis, of the prospect of working with Richardson.
"I love his photography" she added. "[But] He would just be pretty annoyed at me telling the girls, sit up straight, put your knees together, get the needle out of your arm".
Original post and comments.
"I think there was a show up against Toni" offered head Olympus Fashion Week honcho, IMG Fashion vice president Fern Mallis, after the UPS Hub show of US designer Ashleigh Verrier later in the day, which was, by contrast, packed to the rafters.
Fortunately for Maticevski however his show of sculptured, cotton polyamide, safari-inspired separates and delicate, shredded silk tulle eveningwear, teamed with quirky kangaroo fur-trimmed platform shoes, was seen by a small, but powerful group of American buyers and media.
The latter included Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel, Womens Wear Daily, US Vogue and The Washington Post. Several among them that I spoke to afterwards seemed quite upbeat about the show (read our upcoming news stories and Thursday's Essential supplement in The Sydney Morning Herald for the complete Maticevski verdict).
At press time Maticevski had moreover already scored a couple of important pieces of editorial real estate. They include a highly coveted slot in US Vogue's 'Up Next' preview of the hottest talent at the New York shows. Of the seven up-and-comers selected by contributing editor Lauren Davis for the feature, Maticevski and Josh Goot are the only Australians.
At around 2pm today, when the US Saturday sites went live, Maticevski had also scored some impartial, and valuable, show criticism, as distinct to the frequently overhyped reviews he tends to receive from the Australian media.
The reviews were in the influential Womens Wear Daily (WWD) and Style.com - making in fact page one of Style.com today. Both companies are owned by Conde Nast, which owns Vogue. (And I am WWD's Australasian correspondent; however I had nothing to with the Maticevski review).
Here's what they said.
WWD:
"In a gentle palette of white and neutrals, Toni Maticevski worked a range of pretty dresses from stylishly minimal ones to deconstructed numbers, which occasionally veered too far over the top".
Style.com:
"Aussie Toni Maticevski arrived at the UPS Hub without a great deal of fanfare, but left with lots of new friends. He showed an appealing, delicate collection featuring trapeze shapes and diaphanous fabrics.
"The show was uneven - a blouse with Capulet sleeves seemed incongruous, as did a lone menswear look, paraded barefoot no less - but there was promise here. The eveningwear in particular was winning, especially a silk and tulle gown that looked as light as a cloud".
Shooting Maticevski and models out the back of the venue afterwards in Bryant Park, for the upcoming Vogue new talent feature, was expat Australian photographer Nicholas Samartis, who recently moved from LA to New York.
What does Samartis make of the so-called "Australian invasion" of New York this season, with six Aussie names treading the runways?
"There's always an Australian invasion" Samartis told me in between takes of the models walking towards him past a stationary Maticevski.
"We just invade, we can't help it" he quipped. "I don't know how they're getting their visas. They're paying somebody off, don't you think?"
Samartis initially attempted to prevent me from taking some video of his shoot with my phone.
"You can't do that, it's an exclusive" he trumpetted, while standing in the middle of a throng of punters who had been having lunch in Bryant Park at the same moment the Maticevski posse turned up for its Vogue closeup.
Every second punter took out their own phones and cameras to record the moment. So much for an exclusive.
Curiously however, there was not an Australian amongst Maticevski's models, in spite of me having spotted 14 year-old rising Australian star Tallulah Morton and expats Elyse Taylor and Miranda Kerr at the Marc Bouwer and Cia.Maritima shows elsewhere in the day.
Perhaps the Australian models are doing so well now, Maticevski can't afford them?
One wonders if there had been any Australian modules on hand for the Vogue shoot, whether Davis would have had to remind them to "please keep your knees together", as I overheard her saying to one model.
Wearing one of Maticevski's feather-print, ruffled silk organza columns, the girl had been posing against the side of a bistro table like a truck driver - with her knees akimbo.
Is it an Anna Wintour directive that Vogue's models keep their legs closed?
"It's America, it's a puritannical society" offered Samartis, who should know, as he claims to now do 90 percent of his work for Vogue. "They're supposed to be 'classy'" he sighed. "It's such an overused American word, 'classy'".
Noted Davis, "Me personally, I like the girls to look pretty and beautiful and yeah, you don't want to have a beautiful picture and have the girl's knees open. If that offends someone, slipping through, what's the point? I'm somewhat conservative I guess. I think the same rules that apply to you in your real life, should apply on a shoot. I would never sit like that so I would never instruct a girl to sit like that in a shot".
One has to assume then that Davis would prefer not to work with the so-called "bad boy" of US fashion photography, Terry Richardson, who has carved a career out of louche imagery that blurs the lines between art and pornography.
Richardson's work has also been dubbed "heroin chic", although that apparently has more to do with the grittiness of his images of adolescents, and less to do with the fact that he himself is a recovered heroin addict.
"Legs akimbo" appears to be the absolute least shoot directive that Richardson issues to his subjects. Leaving his personal exhibition work out of things (in which he has photographed himself, his models and even his studio assistants in various sexual positions) arguably his most famous campaign image is the shot of model Josie Moran simulating fellatio with a cow's udder, for Italian brand Sisley.
As revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald in July, Richardson was recently paid what industry sources estimated was US$150,000 for one day's work, shooting the spring/summer 2006/2007 ad campaign for Australian jeans brand Lee.
The campaign is about to break in Australian magazines, however one image went up on a Melbourne billboard last weekend.
The same image is due to appear on a billboard in Sydney's Taylor Square on October 1st. But I gather the campaign is already ruffling feathers down there. According to Lee's marketing manager Richard Bell, the company's first choice for the billboard image was knocked back by the Advertising Standards Bureau for being too risque, so you can only imagine what the wowsers would have said about that.
"He would be pretty sick of me pretty fast" said Davis, of the prospect of working with Richardson.
"I love his photography" she added. "[But] He would just be pretty annoyed at me telling the girls, sit up straight, put your knees together, get the needle out of your arm".
Original post and comments.
Friday, September 8, 2006
Jocks, Jiffies and the Veronicas en route to the Big Apple
Leaving Australia, I was overwhelmed by a sense of Steve Irwin. But not solely to do with Monday's news of his stingray misadventure.
Throughout Melbourne airport, Irwin seemed omnipresent: Steve Irwin posters, Steve Irwin chocolates, Steve Irwin DVDs, an episode of the latter even being playing inside one tourist store.
"This green mamba is one of the world's most venomous snakes and if I make one wrong move I could be dead in five minutes" beamed Irwin out of the plasma screen.
A small Japanese girl and I stood transfixed in front of the screen, then looked at each other blankly.
"Well, actually you are dead now, but it wasn't a green mamba" I said, wondering just how many times Irwin must have made similar statements. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Good trip, save for the confiscation of two pink lipglosses and a jar of Blistex at the security check. Silly me for failing to check them of course. But honestly, Blistex?
In the extremely unlikely event that Donatella Versace had been down in Melbourne for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and on the same flight, I might ostensibly have been able to talk to same about both the impending Milan collections and the phenomenon of celebrity death on the internet.
Donatella's brother of course died at a time when the net was still in its infancy. Gianni Versace's death, just prior to New York Fashion Week in 1997, was nevertheless the big story at the collections that year.
But sadly Donatella wasn't there. In her place however was an intimate apparel and footwear supplier to Australia's discount department stores, who just happened to be seated next to me.
And what a fascinating conversation that turned out to be.
It traversed the ins and outs of presenting products and concepts to the buying powers-that-be at Coles, K-Mart, Safeways and Woolworths, illustrating just how gutless and/or clueless some buyers can be. At least in the experience of this particular supplier.
One buyer, when presented with a cotton elastane mens' hipster trunk and told it was all the rage in Europe, once reportedly responded "That looks poofy to me".
The store didn't back the idea, the trunks became all the rage in Australia at the store's competitors and that buyer is now, or so the supplier claims, out of a job.
Woolworths buyers apparently think they're the "bees knees", there is a "wicked witch" at Safeways, Sainsbury's in the UK is the best place to harvest product ideas, Bonds' designers are slackers and a killer slipper idea can net an order of 300,000-400,000 units.
That's a hell of a lot of Jiffies.
I wondered if perhaps the encounter wasn't some sort of sign from above. That, just as I was embarking on this pilgrimage to the Grand Slam of fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, perhaps the Big Fashion Question is not, "Is there more money at the volume end of the market?". But rather, "Do the big buyers from Bloomingdales and Barneys ever say to Hedi Slimane, when he presents ensembles from Christian Dior Homme, 'That looks poofy to me'?
Flying from LAX to JFK I noticed a boy two rows in front with silver aviators and emo hair. His entire entourage in fact seemed to be sporting the same black, asymmetric do.
On closer inspection at the baggage carousel, I had an epiphany: it was in fact The Veronicas.
"We live in LA but we're here to do a party tomorrow night for Garnier" said Lisa Origliasso, who added that she didn't mind flying coach.
Nice to see the world's biggest beauty conglomerate (Garnier parent L'Oreal) really looking after its talent.
Original post and comments.
Throughout Melbourne airport, Irwin seemed omnipresent: Steve Irwin posters, Steve Irwin chocolates, Steve Irwin DVDs, an episode of the latter even being playing inside one tourist store.
"This green mamba is one of the world's most venomous snakes and if I make one wrong move I could be dead in five minutes" beamed Irwin out of the plasma screen.
A small Japanese girl and I stood transfixed in front of the screen, then looked at each other blankly.
"Well, actually you are dead now, but it wasn't a green mamba" I said, wondering just how many times Irwin must have made similar statements. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Good trip, save for the confiscation of two pink lipglosses and a jar of Blistex at the security check. Silly me for failing to check them of course. But honestly, Blistex?
In the extremely unlikely event that Donatella Versace had been down in Melbourne for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and on the same flight, I might ostensibly have been able to talk to same about both the impending Milan collections and the phenomenon of celebrity death on the internet.
Donatella's brother of course died at a time when the net was still in its infancy. Gianni Versace's death, just prior to New York Fashion Week in 1997, was nevertheless the big story at the collections that year.
But sadly Donatella wasn't there. In her place however was an intimate apparel and footwear supplier to Australia's discount department stores, who just happened to be seated next to me.
And what a fascinating conversation that turned out to be.
It traversed the ins and outs of presenting products and concepts to the buying powers-that-be at Coles, K-Mart, Safeways and Woolworths, illustrating just how gutless and/or clueless some buyers can be. At least in the experience of this particular supplier.
One buyer, when presented with a cotton elastane mens' hipster trunk and told it was all the rage in Europe, once reportedly responded "That looks poofy to me".
The store didn't back the idea, the trunks became all the rage in Australia at the store's competitors and that buyer is now, or so the supplier claims, out of a job.
Woolworths buyers apparently think they're the "bees knees", there is a "wicked witch" at Safeways, Sainsbury's in the UK is the best place to harvest product ideas, Bonds' designers are slackers and a killer slipper idea can net an order of 300,000-400,000 units.
That's a hell of a lot of Jiffies.
I wondered if perhaps the encounter wasn't some sort of sign from above. That, just as I was embarking on this pilgrimage to the Grand Slam of fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, perhaps the Big Fashion Question is not, "Is there more money at the volume end of the market?". But rather, "Do the big buyers from Bloomingdales and Barneys ever say to Hedi Slimane, when he presents ensembles from Christian Dior Homme, 'That looks poofy to me'?
Flying from LAX to JFK I noticed a boy two rows in front with silver aviators and emo hair. His entire entourage in fact seemed to be sporting the same black, asymmetric do.
On closer inspection at the baggage carousel, I had an epiphany: it was in fact The Veronicas.
"We live in LA but we're here to do a party tomorrow night for Garnier" said Lisa Origliasso, who added that she didn't mind flying coach.
Nice to see the world's biggest beauty conglomerate (Garnier parent L'Oreal) really looking after its talent.
Original post and comments.
Monday, September 4, 2006
Which Fashion Week?
Well here we are again, another season, another Fashion Week. But which Fashion Week? That's the question. Today in fact marks the kickoff of a rare confluence of four fashion events, three of them taking place in the one city.
Eleven years after Australia's premier fashion showcase emerged in Sydney, Melbourne finally gets to say, for one week at least, and with some justification, that it's the centre of the Australian fashion universe.
This week Melbourne is the stage for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, the consumer-focussed Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and the (very) large trade fair, Fashion Exposed.
Yes you heard correctly. For anyone who missed last week's news, the event formerly known as Mercedes Australian Fashion Week has been reborn this season under the banner of a new naming rights sponsor... wait for it... the mid-to-low price, Fosters Group-owned wine brand Rosemount Estate.
The news was something of a shock to some when it first broke. It's hard to say whether that shock was solely due to the habit of calling the event MAFW for so many years or the prospect of having to quaff Yellowglen at same for the next five. The Fosters-owned champagne brand Lanson may be the event's new official champagne, however Yellowglen Non Vintage is definitely getting a look-in.
Others volunteered (and apparently quite sincerely) that they wouldn't have minded the name Fosters Fashion Week. In any event, nothing lasts forever, 11 years is a marathon run for any sponsor and this is a new era for AFW - not to mention Rosemount Estate, for whom AFW is irrefutably a great get. Perhaps some will even get into the military-sounding swing of the new acronym: RAFW.
Only problem, the first RAFW is on a Lilliputian scale. Simon Lock just can't win. Last October, he was bagged for having a light-on schedule for the autumn/winter MAFW showcase and he vowed to reschedule the event this year, as per industry feedback, to an earlier timeslot. So he brought it forward by almost two months and the timing appears to be a disaster, with an even lighter schedule.
The fact that RAFW runs right into the kickoff of the northern spring/summer 2007 show season, may be exacerbating things.
Apart from the intense competition for publicity between the three Melbourne events this week, more and more Australians are heading to New York to show. The more who show, the more publicity the New York event is generating in Australia and although both RAFW and the official New York event, Olympus Fashion Week, are owned by the same company, IMG, the widening spotlight on New York is cannibalising publicity for the event which put those names on the fashion map in the first place.
It's a vicious cycle, RAFW is becoming a victim of its own success and quite possibly needs to restrategise.
I should add that this is a problem peculiar to the far younger, autumn/winter showcase in Melbourne, which was launched as recently as 2002 and which has been renamed this season as "Transseasonal" collections.
Judging by the number of shows this year (head to www.afw.com.au to see the schedule) it could have been crammed into one-two days max. The spring/summer showcase in Sydney is now 11 years old and has in fact been stretched to five days to accommodate demand. Spring is a far bigger season in Australia and, dare one say, more designers might in fact take part if the smaller event were also to be held in Sydney, where most of the media is based.
Which brings me to this week's fourth fashion event - and second Fashion Week.
New York Fashion Week starts on Friday and there are no less than six Australian labels on its runways. It's a record number - in fact triple the number who showed last season.
For the first time smh.com.au readers will have a ringside seat at the New York action, and indeed all the action of the entire spring/summer 2007 circuit, which continues on to London, Milan and then Paris over the course of the next five weeks.
From the runways to the backstage shenanigans to the parties, we'll be there - and blogging.
Having been so bitterly disappointed with the dud celebs on the MAFW superyacht in April, as some may recall, we do look forward to touching base with the real thing. They trot them out over there like inflatables at a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
So watch this space. Not MySpace.
Original post and comments.
Eleven years after Australia's premier fashion showcase emerged in Sydney, Melbourne finally gets to say, for one week at least, and with some justification, that it's the centre of the Australian fashion universe.
This week Melbourne is the stage for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, the consumer-focussed Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and the (very) large trade fair, Fashion Exposed.
Yes you heard correctly. For anyone who missed last week's news, the event formerly known as Mercedes Australian Fashion Week has been reborn this season under the banner of a new naming rights sponsor... wait for it... the mid-to-low price, Fosters Group-owned wine brand Rosemount Estate.
The news was something of a shock to some when it first broke. It's hard to say whether that shock was solely due to the habit of calling the event MAFW for so many years or the prospect of having to quaff Yellowglen at same for the next five. The Fosters-owned champagne brand Lanson may be the event's new official champagne, however Yellowglen Non Vintage is definitely getting a look-in.
Others volunteered (and apparently quite sincerely) that they wouldn't have minded the name Fosters Fashion Week. In any event, nothing lasts forever, 11 years is a marathon run for any sponsor and this is a new era for AFW - not to mention Rosemount Estate, for whom AFW is irrefutably a great get. Perhaps some will even get into the military-sounding swing of the new acronym: RAFW.
Only problem, the first RAFW is on a Lilliputian scale. Simon Lock just can't win. Last October, he was bagged for having a light-on schedule for the autumn/winter MAFW showcase and he vowed to reschedule the event this year, as per industry feedback, to an earlier timeslot. So he brought it forward by almost two months and the timing appears to be a disaster, with an even lighter schedule.
The fact that RAFW runs right into the kickoff of the northern spring/summer 2007 show season, may be exacerbating things.
Apart from the intense competition for publicity between the three Melbourne events this week, more and more Australians are heading to New York to show. The more who show, the more publicity the New York event is generating in Australia and although both RAFW and the official New York event, Olympus Fashion Week, are owned by the same company, IMG, the widening spotlight on New York is cannibalising publicity for the event which put those names on the fashion map in the first place.
It's a vicious cycle, RAFW is becoming a victim of its own success and quite possibly needs to restrategise.
I should add that this is a problem peculiar to the far younger, autumn/winter showcase in Melbourne, which was launched as recently as 2002 and which has been renamed this season as "Transseasonal" collections.
Judging by the number of shows this year (head to www.afw.com.au to see the schedule) it could have been crammed into one-two days max. The spring/summer showcase in Sydney is now 11 years old and has in fact been stretched to five days to accommodate demand. Spring is a far bigger season in Australia and, dare one say, more designers might in fact take part if the smaller event were also to be held in Sydney, where most of the media is based.
Which brings me to this week's fourth fashion event - and second Fashion Week.
New York Fashion Week starts on Friday and there are no less than six Australian labels on its runways. It's a record number - in fact triple the number who showed last season.
For the first time smh.com.au readers will have a ringside seat at the New York action, and indeed all the action of the entire spring/summer 2007 circuit, which continues on to London, Milan and then Paris over the course of the next five weeks.
From the runways to the backstage shenanigans to the parties, we'll be there - and blogging.
Having been so bitterly disappointed with the dud celebs on the MAFW superyacht in April, as some may recall, we do look forward to touching base with the real thing. They trot them out over there like inflatables at a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
So watch this space. Not MySpace.
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