Monday, May 3, 2010
RAFW SS1011 launched - and how to follow the coverage on [frockwriter]
So Rosemount Australian Fashion Week SS1011 is officially off and running. After a week of various 15 year anniversary parties to which the event's founders discovered themselves, curiously, uninvited, nice to see both Simon and Lorraine Lock front and centre at last night's 15 year tribute dinner thrown by MAC (although that is obviously not Lorraine, but Carla Zampatti in the photo above). Approximately one hundred fashion names sat down to a degustation dinner courtesy Brent Savage, from the Bentley Restaurant and Bar, while ten models from Chic Management teetered on skyscraper pumps on a series of mini podiums down the middle of the room. Each model was kitted out in an extraordinary paper dress created by New York artist/costumier Zaldy especially for MAC. Just a quick headsup on frockwriter's coverage this week.
For the second year in a row, to cover all the news from RAFW, the blog is going to move into a slightly different format. There will be more analysis than last year. There will also be more photos. And video, as usual.
This page will anchor the various coverage components.
To attempt to cover a maximum number of shows, I have outsourced the management of frockwriter's photo galleries to a brilliant web publishing platform called Posterous. Here is the direct link, but I will blog pointer posts here directing you to the Posterous galleries. Please disregard the first entry, which is a replication of the previous Bvlgari post here. I was simply testing the water.
Why Posterous? Because it creates instant photo galleries via email - instead of laborious manual uploads which take time. Beyond RAFW, Posterous is also going to become my new TwitPic - that's the photo hosting application that is attached to Twitter, which unfortunately comes complete with its own tacky advertising.
You don't like, use or even understand Twitter? Totally understand. We had this discussion last year. But here's the thing, plenty of people do use Twitter - in my specific case, 2,700 followers, which FYI is more than double the number of daily subscribers to this blog. So it's a big audience and Twitter devotees want information as it's happening. So if you are not following the Twitter feed, you will miss out on some information.
Facebook is one other option via which to follow Twitter. My Twitter feed is currently integrated into my personal Facebook page. There is also a frockwriter fan page (button on the RHS). The latter is however still a bit of a work in progress, since it's tricky integrating one Twitter feed to more than one page.
Another option of course is simply to read my Tweets in the Twitter widget that has been temporarily installed at the right-hand side of this page.
Hope that clarifies things. Better get to it.
Bvlgari's 125 years of Italian jewels
With 13 shows a day, it's unlikely many Rosemount Australian Fashion Week attendees will have a spare moment to scratch themselves this week. Let alone, hop along to the Sydney chapter of the travelling 125 year retrospective exhibition of Italian fine jewellery maker Bvlgari, which opened last week and runs until Thursday in the flagship Castlereagh Street Sydney boutique. But for anyone not tied up at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, or just anyone with a passion for jewellery, this exhibition is a can't miss. The jewellery is extraordinary, with some pieces dating back to the early 20th century. Included are pieces on loan from collections such as Elizabeth Taylor's and also items worn by the screen legends Ingrid Bergman and Sophia Loren. Ram raiders and those after four finger discounts are, naturally, unwelcome - hence the exhibition has heavy security and is by appointment only. Those interested should email vintage@bulgari.com.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
ABC Art Nation tracks fashion bloggers
Well we did say RAFW is shaping up as a blogocalypse. And look, frockwriter actually means that in the nicest possible way. A mere whisper at the 2006 event, bloggers are really coming into their own this year. According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Georgina Robinson, whose story about fashion bloggers was splashed on page one of smh.com.au on Thursday, IMG had (as of Wednesday) officially accredited 20 bloggers this year. Robinson later revealed on Twitter that the company had knocked back another 30. In the interim, a number of those knocked back have had their accreditations rushed through. On the eve of RAFW, ABC's Art Nation joins the score of mainstream outlets to track the rise of fashion blogging as part of today's fashion-focussed show. I was honoured to be included, alongside Lady Melbourne and Fashion Hayley (with Sonny Vandevelde featured in either this or a separate story. Sonny was filmed during his recent LMFF exhibition).
The program airs at 5.30pm on ABC1 today and it will be repeated at 7pm on ABC2. Hopefully it will also go online.
In the interim, here is the teaser video from the ABC Art Nation site.
Just to further clarify the accreditation issue for bloggers, some appear to have erroneously believed an accreditation was the only entry point to the event.
Incorrect.
An accreditation, while handy, is only a guarantee into the main venue, the trade show, the media centre and the daily group shows that are organised by IMG. The guest lists of all solo collection shows are strictly at the discretion of the designers. Which is exactly how it works overseas. Earlier this week one Sydney publicist mentioned that 50percent of her guest list/s are non delegates.
Publicists appear to be thawing to the idea of bloggers. Which is great news. Because at the end of the day, they must surely realise that although the number of Australian newspapers, magazines and tv outlets covering RAFW has remained fairly static over the years, the number of independent online media outlets has grown exponentially. This coverage is new, additional exposure for all concerned.
Just a few of the great blogs that will be front and centre covering include, once again, Sonnyphotos (your go-to for the best backstage photography), also Imelda (the shoe expert - with an acerbic general fashion eye), Cultures In Between (an achingly cool indie perspective), the upwardly-mobile Sassisam, New Zealand's Aych and Isaaclikes and Sassybella.
There are many, many more, including etailer blogs (such as The Grand Social). I am flat out today and I am so sorry I don't have time to compile an exhaustive list, but please sing out in the comments so people know where to find you.
Best of luck to everyone with their coverage for the coming week.
I will do a post later today to clarify how frockwriter's multi-platform coverage will work this year. I am hoping this will make it easier to follow. Guys, I cannot do everything on Blogger. It's as simple as that.
In the interim, I have also included a Twitter widget to the RHS set to anyone referencing RAFW. If you are not familiar with Twitter, just click on the links highlighted in blue for more info about those people.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Who's live streaming at RAFW SS1011
zimbio.com
Three days out from Australia's biggest runway event, some exciting news. Multiple parties will be live streaming the shows. Overnight, Australian online boutique The Grand Social announced it would be live streaming the Ellery show at 9.30pm on Tuesday 4th May. Fairfax's youth-skewed The Vine has also mentioned it will be live-streaming - Romance Was Born and Seventh Wonderland, according to a PR spokesperson for both labels. Fairfax Digital Media will live stream other shows on smh.com.au, for the third year in a row. According to FDM, the experience will be a lot "smoother" this year, with a continuous stream of coverage, into which pre-recorded packages and other recorded RAFW show videos will slot. Ex-Sun Herald and Grazia fashion scribe Glynis Traill-Nash will present a video package a day. Shows to be live streamed by FDM:
Monday: Lisa Ho, Seventh Wonderland, Zambesi
Tuesday: Zimmermann, Little Joe Woman
Wednesday: Kate Sylvester, Manning Cartel
Thursday: Kirrily Johnston, Kooey Australia
Friday: Arnsdorf, Swim Fashion Week
Friday night's closing Ksubi show will also be streamed live, on the Harpers Bazaar Australia website.
Just on the tech issue, here's a headsup from IMG re wifi for all those working on site.
There won't be wifi throughout the entire Overseas Passenger Terminal venue unfortunately, but there will be several wifi access points: the media centre, the Rosemount bar, the Emerge trade show and a Toshiba tech kiosk within Emerge, which will also be equipped with laptops.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Myf Shepherd and Rachel Rutt are MUTT
myf shepherd via vogue.com.au
On Monday, frockwriter told you about a potentially explosive new Australian fashion blog called Heyweird: a series of interviews with anonymous fashion and creative insiders, conducted by two anonymous models. “High profile” models, promised Lorena Mercado, who has recruited the duo - whose joint byline is "MUTT" – to file behind-the-scenes dispatches for the new RAFW section of her Australian INFront site. Frockwriter had a chat to one of the models this afternoon. With her consent, we can now reveal both names. You may have heard of them. Myf Shepherd and Rachel Rutt. That’s right, the breakout runway stars of respectively, RAFW’s SS0809 and SS0910 seasons, with Shepherd instantly catapulted by the 2008 event into the beginnings of a stellar international career.
Rutt hit the ground running in the SS10 season in New York in September, but is currently hampered by visa issues.
Rutt will be walking next week’s runways. However, she reports that Shepherd will not be appearing in any shows, contrary to previous speculation.
Currently studying at Sydney’s College of Fine Arts, Shepherd will nevertheless be working closely with Rutt next week on the Australian INFront project.
Their interviewees will, however, most definitely remain anonymous says Rutt.
Rutt (below), who walked in today’s Carla Zampatti show, declined to do an interview, noting that the duo wants the blog to speak for itself.
Stay tuned for some interesting developments - especially if they start pumping their international insider network.
Carla's killer chic
Pit stop two this morning was the Carla Zampatti SS1011 collection launch at Zampatti's magnificent Eastern suburbs home. Missed the first part of the show sadly, but did take in the eveningwear: a dramatically-styled series of draped cocktail gowns in charcoal, ivory and lipstick red. The makeup brief according to MAC's Nicole Thompson was "bright colour-blocking, 70's YSL/sculpted face with a shine, bright popping lips". The styling was courtesy one Michelle Jank (who, frockwriter hears, is also styling Camilla's show next week). Not sure if Jank also consulted on the collection proper, but at first glance it appeared that may have been the case. Zampatti is an Australian fashion industry icon and she is to be commended for her longevity. But a collaboration with a hot talent such as Jank would represent a win-win situation for both designers: Jank gets to eschew the mundanities of manufacturing and concentrate on her key creative strengths and Zampatti's brand gets a shot in the arm.
Zanita Whittington books American Apparel
You know Zanita Whittington. The leggy blonde Priscillas model has been blogging for almost two years. Frockwriter first met her at last year's Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival. In the interim, Whittington has scored some advertising from US athleisure brand American Apparel and been busy blogging her own tests of other models, alongside her regular auto-portraits. And that's not all. At today's Garance Doré event at Westfield Bondi Junction, Whittington told frockwriter she is about to head to LA to shoot an American Apparel campaign. Whittington won't just be modelling, the campaign will, she reports, focus on her activities as a blogger. A great get for Whittington and one that follows hot on the heels of the Hudson Jeans campaign shoot that was just live blogged by Bryanboy. Given the history of American Apparel however, let's just hope founder/CEO Dov Charney isn't too hands-on with this particular campaign. Charney is noted for his sexually provocative advertising and has himself been the subject of several sexual harassment suits.
Garance Doré for Westfield
It's been a busy day in Sydney today, with three off-schedule Australian Fashion Week events on - five days before the main event kicks off down at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. First up this morning was an unveiling of eight illustrations done by French illustrator/photographer/blogger Garance Doré for Westfield's winter launch at its Bondi Junction mall. I was on deck earlier than most, because I had been asked to conduct a Q&A with Doré on a small podium*. Here is Westfield's short video recap, below. The event was staged in the atrium behind Kam Fook on level 6, with light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It was obviously a little hard for me to take notes at the same time, but Doré's interesting, and heartfelt, commentary about blogging included mention of the fact that representatives from brands whose shows she now attends have been known to call asking where their coverage is - to which she replies (words to the effect), that she'll put on the blog what she damn well likes. "I'm not their friend" noted Doré - which was interesting, following her earlier comment that "bloggers are not journalists".
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