Don't hate them because they're beautiful: The politics of glamour

I was looking into the issue of modeling yesterday - as you do when you write about this subject but particularly of course with Australian Fashion Week now five days away.

I wound up having a quick check of www.models.com. Operated by New Yorkers Stephan Moskovic and Wayne Sterling, models.com has become something of an authority on the subject. As per two quotes on its home page, some have in fact dubbed it "the NASDAQ of the modeling industry" (Ivan Bart, Senior VP IMG Models) and "the industry's favorite reference site" (Guy Trebay, The New York Times).

One of models.com's handiest reference components is its rankings of world models into various categories - from "icons" to "sexiest" to the hottest new girls to emerge, to the "Top 50" working models, the latter using as a gauge a model's exposure on major international runways, fashion editorial and covers and advertising campaigns. I do check the site regularly but apparently not regularly enough. Because since the last time I checked the Top 50, and yesterday, Perth's Gemma Ward had graduated to the world number 1 spot. Even more interesting: another Australian has just emerged out of nowhere to sweep aside a swag of high profilers to make her models.com Top 50 debut at number 26. With a bullet. Yes, Catherine McNeil.

Modeling for four years, but only seriously for one, 17 year-old McNeil was completely under the international radar until she met leading international fashion photographer Mario Testino earlier this year and was swiftly picked up by Testino for a six-month exclusive. The Testino "buzz" factor then helped open up an instant spot on the international runway show circuit - and she walked in 35 shows during the recent AW0708 season in Milan and Paris (and one show in London). "Fall belonged to the Australian beauty Catherine McNeil" noted style.com recently - one of the world's highest-traffic fashion websites.

That's right, Catherine McNeil - the very model who became the subject of yesterday's little fash slagfest on this blog, after we happened by chance to include a shot of her in an 'arty', contrived pose from Azzollini's 2007 swimwear catalogue. McNeil wasn't even the subject of the post. The subject was Azzollini's music video clip alternative to a Fashion Week show next week. But after a first, catty swipe at me for being too thin, posters swiftly sank their teeth into the skinny model brouhaha, to the point of declaring McNeil to be "anorexic".

Although obviously the skinny model issue has dominated news headlines over the past eight months sparked by the eating disorder-related deaths of three aspiring South American models, there is nothing new about the debate. It last reared its head in the mid 90s, in the midst of the "heroin chic" controversy and the emergence of the so-called "waifs". They included Kate Moss, Australia's own Emma Balfour but notably Jodie Kidd, runway images of which British teenager's skeletal arms and legs were shocking at the time (with Kidd later blaming her scrawny frame on a bout of glandular fever).

Australian Fashion Week was in fact born into this controversy in May 1996. Some may recall the minor ruckus that erupted at the time over images of Australian model Christy Quilliam, whose ribs visibly stuck out through the holes of her olive green Morrissey Edmiston cutout maillot.

Australian Fashion Week organisers have weighed, pardon the pun, into the current debate by asking model agents and designers to use only healthy-looking women on next week's runways (and this voluntary low BMI 'ban' really worked a treat in Milan in February). They have also asked editors not to go out of their way to use unflattering pictures of models for the sake of sensationalism. Yeah, right.

But while some may go out of their way to capture models in awkward poses so as to exaggerate the image - for example, one recent backstage shot of a topless teenager bending over, which accentuated her ribs or indeed, the first of two Azzollini images of McNeil which appeared in this blog, which accentuated McNeil's shoulders (and who really knows to what degree that image may have also been Photoshopped?) - some model images do not need any assistance at all.

The Jodie Kidd of the mid noughties, 20 year-old Snejana Onopka, alarmed many at the SS07 shows in September last year after dropping what appeared to be at least one dress size. Many of the raw (ie unretouched) runway images of Onopka from that season are just plain ugly and it is in noone's interest not to police this issue. Onopka was nonetheless back at the Milan and Paris shows earlier this year. Whether she had put on weight in the interim or whether the heavier winter clothes, stockings and the season's popular ultra-long gloves perhaps merely disguised her previously stick-thin arms and legs, Onopka appears to have escaped further scrutiny for the time being.

Anorexia nervosa is clearly a major health concern. According to The Eating Disorder Service, a 12-year research program at the Westmead Children's Hospital, one in 200 girls between 15-19 will be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in Australia - or 0.005% of the population.

According to the program's medical director, Dr Michael Kohn, there is no evidence that anorexia nervosa rates are increasing in Australia, however those diagnosed with the disease are getting younger.

Interestingly, Kohn does not blame the fashion industry for all of Australia's self-starvation woes.

"China has a very longstanding history of anorexia nervosa - from the 1600s - anorexia nervosa has been described for hundreds of years, around the world, but the fashion industry as we would recognise it as such has not been" says Kohn, whose research points to genetic and family factors and pressures as major contributing factors.

He added, "It's easiest to scapegoat the fashion industry, but this is a pattern of behavior that occurs from a range of societal pressures and it oversimplies the issue to pick out one and put the blame for eating disorders in that one realm".

Obesity is demonstrably a far bigger issue than anorexia nervosa. A 1999-2000 study cited on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website indicated that over seven million adult Australians aged 25 years and over (60%) were overweight, of which over two million (21%) were obese.

But here is where we get into slippery territory.

There are those who seek to blame not just the problem of women starving themselves on 'unrealistic' fashion images - they appear to want to pin every last pigout on fashion as well. This of course lets the fast food industry, socio-economic factors and the increasing accessibility of home entertainment technology, from computers to widescreen tv, completely off the hook.

I recall once being interviewed about the fashion/body image subject by an Australian radio talk show host. Even though I had been armed with obesity and eating disorder statistics, she had made up her mind on the subject long before I had even been put through to talk to her. Her theory was that the population's frustration with the unattainable ideals depicted in contemporary fashion imagery is the inexorable cause of yo-yo dieting and, so it apparently followed, asses so big that they require supersized ambulance beds and toilet seats.

Anyone with any hard evidence as to the direct link between images of skinny women and the obesity epidemic please feel free to chime in here. Kohn reckons there isn't a heap of it.

She's no scientist of course, but British-born model Gail Elliott has an interesting take on the subject. Elliott now calls Sydney home for eight months of the year, with not just an Australian husband but a burgeoning Sydney-based fashion business (Little Joe by Gail Elliott). While she may eschew the "supermodel" tag, Elliott was most definitely part of the high profile 1980s model crew that included Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. Now mostly in their 40s, all of these women are still modeling - even if they have other business projects.

Elliott says she has noticed a marked difference in the industry's entry level age compared to when she first joined the business.

"I think they're definitely skinnier now, but they're teens - the little young Russian girls and Brazilian girls, are 13 and 14 years old" Elliott told Fashion Season.

She added, "Naomi was only the young one, she was probably 18 or 19 but we were all 24-ish, 25-ish. So we were grown up already. I think that's a got a lot to do with it. These girls are really young and young girls are skinny. And yes a couple of girls have died, that's terrible. But the other thing is there's so much more competition now. Everyone's a model. And you'll see girls at the shows and you probably won't even know their names and the next season they won't be around. Whereas we did the shows for ten years straight. We did all those shows, every year, every season.

"I think it's changed a lot, it's become very fickle. Editors want more, more, more, new, new, new. There are so many more designers. I remember doing 27 shows in Milan and I probably did all the shows in Milan at the time".

Elliott makes a good point about increased competition. To give you an idea of the pace of this industry, models.com doesn't calls its hottest newcomers category "Of the moment" but, Of The Minute. Does the industry put pressure on models to be thin? Of course - because that's what sells. Australian models tend to be larger than those in the northern hemisphere - that is, until they travel overseas for work.

"Sure girls have to be small to fit those small sample sizes, like a doctor needs to have a degree and seven years of university behind them, it's as simple as that" says Joseph Tenni, a booker with Chadwicks Models in Sydney, who for several years has penned a modelling industry column called Model Mania on New York fashion website hintmag.com. "Knowing that the maximum measurement that they [in New York] would really accept is a 90cm hip, I let girls be aware of that and then it's up to them to make the decision whether they're prepared to do that".

As for the common complaint that models don't look like real women, Tenni notes, "They're models. They look good and clothes look good on them. It's not about 40 year-old businesswomen who can afford the clothes. They want to see models as well. There's still an element of aspiration to it".

But just who are these taste arbiters who determine which of the thousands of newcomers to the industry are "so hot right now"? Who defines the current canons of modeling beauty?

The editors, photographers, stylists and casting directors of influence.

"What propels a girl's career is one influential person and then everybody copies" says Tenni. "If [Paris Vogue editor] Carine Roitfeld says someone's fabulous, everyone wants that girl".

Industry sources estimate that Catherine McNeil probably earned over A$100,000 last year in Australia - and that she stands to make US$1million over the course of the next. Yes she walked at Australian Fashion Week this time last year - under the radar. But McNeil was also shot for a substantial volume of Australian fashion magazine editorial, as well as campaigns for Azzollini, Watersun and Cue. She went to New York armed with a very good book.

The world number one, Gemma Ward, made her runway debut at Australian Fashion Week in May 2003, debuted at the SS04 Milan shows in September that year in a Prada exclusive and six months later was the hottest new girl of AW0405, walking in numerous shows.

Prada casting director Russell Marsh may have given Ward her big international break, but Australian editor/stylist Mark Vassallo also played a significant role, choosing Ward for the cover of his now defunct niche fashion magazine Mark earlier that year.

Similarly "blessed" by Vassallo, in May 2005 the then 13 year-old Tallulah Morton was scouted and flown to Sydney from the Gold Coast to open Josh Goot's Australian Fashion Week debut. Since this time Morton - and not McNeil - has been widely tipped as the next most likely Australian to follow in Ward's footsteps.

But after having been signed to the "Development" board of the world's biggest model agent early last year, IMG, shortly afterwards shooting some editorial with photographer David Sims and a Benetton campaign, Morton did a few New York shows in September but in the end was not booked for any European shows.

Morton's age (by that stage 14) might not have been the only determining factor. Yes it is harder for an under-16 model to work in Europe, due to recent industry crackdowns, however it is not impossible and there are several girls much younger than Morton who are on the circuit.

According to casting sources however, the real reason Morton failed to takeoff at the SS07 shows was because she was "too chunky". Yes it's a brutal industry.

An Australian is more likely to take the latter news with a pinch of salt and head to the beach - Morton, who remains one of Australia's most popular and high-profile models, recently dropped out of school to study multimedia and graphic design at TAFE. However a girl from a developing country in say South America or Eastern Europe - with a family to feed, and with her beauty as her only ticket out - might not be quite so nonchalant. Perhaps it's more than a coincidence that the three models who died as the result of eating disorders last year were South American. Snejana Onopka hails from the Ukraine.

"I'm not going to lie, it is a cutthroat industry and the girls who make it are the determined ones" says Tenni. "And there are plenty of girls who would love a door to open and the door doesn't open. It's not like they're doing anything wrong. They could look fabulous, they could be completely professional. But it's just not their time.

"When a girl doesn't book a job, you just take her off the option, you don't overanalyse it. But as well as having the right look, you do need to have the right mind for this business to be able to handle it all - to handle the rejection and to have the ambition. It is an industry where you will be scrutinised, no matter what. And it's a choice to be in this industry as well".

Like most other Sydney agencies, Chadwicks has several "hot" new girls on its books for next week. They include Emily C (16) who has done one previous Fashion Week, but who is, says Tenni, generating a great deal of buzz this year.

As for total Fashion Week neophytes, girls who have never walked a runway but who could be looking at multimillion dollar modelling careers should the stars align and their moment be "right", Chadwicks' tips are Pip Bingham from Perth (16) and Adelaide's Vanessa Milde (15), who is already placed with IMG's Development board in New York.

Noone has ever heard of either of course.

"But", predicts Tenni, "they will after next week".

Original post and comments.

Video killed the runway star: Azzollini's sex-on-legs swimwear supersizes up to the big screen

You've got to hand it to Michael Azzollini and Kate Nicholes. They create some of the most eye-popping swimwear on the market and from day one in 2003 just happened to align themselves with a sleeper celebrity: their mate, and star model, Michelle Leslie. Last year Azzollini made front page news around Australia when Leslie appeared in the brand's off-schedule show the week before Fashion Week - her first runway appearance since flying back into a Sydney media storm following her release from Bali's Kerobokan Prison. This year Azzollini is back on schedule, this time with a twist: by swapping a traditional runway show for a four-minute clip directed by one of the music video world's hottest new directors.

Azzollini and Nicholes have spent the past three days careering around a dozen locations in Sydney with eighteen models, 14 hair and makeup stylists, two choreographers, a muscle man, a contortionist and a 12-strong film crew from Sydney design and film collective Collider in tow.

The latter has been helmed by Don Cameron, a London-based Australian music video director who hails originally from the Blue Mountains and whose videography boasts work for headliners such as The Pet Shop Boys ('Minimal'), Garbage ('Androgyny'), Moloko ('Indigo') and Simply Red ('Sunrise'). Shot in various beach, harbourside and gym locations on a $29,000 shoestring budget - with undoubtedly tens of thousands of further dollars of favours pulled in from mates - the clip references Olivia Newton John's 1981 hit 'Let's Get Physical'.

We haven't seen the finished clip however given the calibre of Cameron's work - and connections - and Azzollini's knack for courting publicity, this could represent the brand's biggest break. In terms of international retail, they currently cite just Henri Bendel and Elizabeth Charles in the US, Lane Crawford Hong Kong and Figleaves in the UK as stockists. Fashion Season's was the only other video camera allowed on the shoot so stand by for an exclusive preview.

Yesterday Broadway's Pioneer Studios was awash with models kitted out in a sportif red, navy and white striped story from Azzollini's SS0708 collection. We filmed them performing a series of step aerobics routines and floor exercises such as bicycles and pelvic thrusts - a kind of horizontal version of The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show's ballroom scene.

The clip is due to be screened at 5pm on May 2nd at the Dendy Cinema, Circular Quay, just around the harbour from Fashion Week's main Overseas Passenger Terminal location. It will feature a small live component with a few models in the collection, which also includes a stretch denim story, a tuxedo shirt-style maillot, some signature graphic prints - including a quirky take on the Redhead match print - and, surprisingly for Azzollini, a bit more cover than usual.

Azzollini is well-known not only for its intricately-cut maillots and bikinis but also for its sexed-up campaign images with models in hyperglamorous poses - such as last summer's campaign lensed by Troyt Coburn and featuring Australia's hottest new modeling export, Catherine McNeil (see above).

Although featured in the video, as is Leslie, 15 year-old Sydney model Tallulah Morton was not part of yesterday's 'gym' shoot and we are informed that she was not involved with any overly-provocative poses (as have been some other Azzollini models in campaigns past, notably Leslie).

On the differences between shooting a regular campaign and a four-minute video clip involving a cast and crew of 50, designer Michael Azzollini told Fashion Season, "I think I've bitten off more than I can chew!"

Original post and comments.

Sibling revelry: Fashion Week openers Camilla and Marc crack page one

Sydney's brother-and-sister fashion act Camilla and Marc Freeman are on a roll. First they scored the highly-coveted opening spot at Australian Fashion Week: 9am on Monday April 30th. And now they've made the cover of one of the world's most influential fashion publications: US fashion trade 'bible' Women's Wear Daily.

The Freemans are part of a double-page story inside Tuesday's edition about up-and-coming labels in the US market, from which their image was selected for page one - with their names, a brief backgrounder and stockist CV splashed all over same.

And while they are not the first antipodians to make WWD's cover - Collette Dinnigan was the first back in 1996, followed more recently by a handful of other names notably Josh Goot, Dinosaur Designs and Lover and Kiwis Trelise Cooper and Karen Walker - it's a pretty significant coup, not to mention a great leadin to their Fashion Week show.

"Marc and I are really excited that camilla and marc has made the cover of WWD, hopefully this is a positive sign of things to come for the label in the USA" Camilla Freeman told Fashion Season.

"We have also just confirmed [high profile UK- and now also US-based online retailer] net-a-porter.com as a stockist, which is great news as they are such a respected online store. All this good news has made the hard work involved in our RAFW show that much easier!"

I'm not going to pretend that was a first-hand quote.

You may get to hear from Alber Elbaz, Miuccia Prada, Marc Jacobs et al while Fashion Season is on the road but back in Sydney we have to make do with statements from twentysomething designers' publicists. Such is life. Australian designers are clearly busy bees these days. So much of the world to conquer, so little time.

But look, the Freemans have a charming, feminine signature, a great story and I wish them well. I mean come on, how many brother-and-sister fashion acts are there? Well OK, maybe Gianni and Donatella Versace and Christopher and Tammy Kane and then of course Rebecca Davies and her brother and Belinda Seper and her Joburg-based bro..... but that said, it's fairly unusual you have to admit. Camilla, 25, is a graduate of the Whitehouse Institute of Design and Marc, 27, has, I kid you not, an engineering degree from the University of NSW.

What else can I tell you? They will open Fashion Week down at the Sydney Theatre Company - using one long front row stretched along the STC boards between the Hickson Road entrance and the restaurant. The collection, in a muted palette, is described as "a strong collection of modern directional silhouettes paired back with feminine timeless fabrics".

Bring it on.

Patty Huntington is a contributor to Women's Wear Daily.

Original post and comments.

Not to put too Finetti a point on it: Fashion Week is upon us

Long time, no blog. But here we are some six weeks after the wrap of the northern hemisphere's AW0708 season only to find ourselves back in Sydney, staring SS0708 in the face. It's a scary thought. On it rolls however, the unstoppable fashion circus. The next destination is Australian Fashion Week, which runs April 30-May 4 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Who's coming out? So far the most high-profile name mentioned is someone who is better-associated with no clothes at all: burlesque diva, MAC spokeswoman and the recently-estranged wife of Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese.

The whole event has, say organisers, been reconfigured so stay tuned to see what that looks like - hopefully a better deal for all those exhibitors who have been hitherto stuck upstairs at The Source trade show. Unlike Fashion Week's previous home Fox Studios, where the trade show was the central hub of the entire event - through which everyone had to pass to get to the runway venues - the configuration of the OPT has not so far endeared itself to the AFW exhibitors.

But I hear The Source is likely this year to be back down on the ground level. The one thing I can share with you right now is a preview of the draft schedule. Although subject to change (read pullouts - at 10 shows a day on most days I'm not sure how they would include many addons), this is not yet on the official website. As you can see, it's pretty jam-packed.

Monday 30 April
9am Camilla and Marc
11am Lisa Ho
12pm Cybele
1pm WRTW1: Dhini, Silence is Golden, Leonard St, High Tea with Mrs Woo, Showoff
3pm Anna Thomas
5pm WRTW2: Valerie Tolosa, Stephanie Cranford, Joveeba, Rachel Gilbert
7pm Melanie Cutfield
8pm Alex Perry
9pm Dita Von Teese & M.A.C

Tuesday 1 May
9am Kirrily Johnston
10am Zimmermann
11am WRTW3: Bec & Bridge, Maurie & Eve, Milk & Honey, Sewn
12pm LifeWithBird
2pm Jayson Brunsdon
3pm Tina Kalivas
4pm Zambesi
5pm sass & bide accessories
6pm Stephanie Conley
7pm Frisoni Finetti
8pm FashionAssassin
9pm Bowie

Wednesday 2 May
9am c & m - Camilla and Marc
10am WRTW4: Davis Eyes, United Constructions, The Cassette Society
11am Ginger & Smart
12pm Shakuhachi
2pm State of Georgia
3pm Fleur Wood
4pm MRTW/WRTW: Thousand Reasons, Trimapee, Vicious Threads, Xenheist
5pm Azzollini
7pm Arabella Ramsay
8pm Nicola Finetti
9pm Gail Sorronda

Thursday 3 May
9am Josh Goot
10am Fashion Design Studio, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute
11am WRTW5: Annah Stretton, Brigid McLaughlin, Dev r Nil, Gavin Rajah
12pm Matthew Eager
1pm Alice McCall
2pm WRTW6: Melly, Constance and Violet, One Fell Swoop, Rahul & Firdos
4pm Jessie Hill
6pm Madame Marie
7pm Anna & Boy
8pm Ksubi
9pm Hallican Boodie

Friday 4 May
10am New Generation - Annie Who, Blanc + Delta, Amar, Gina Kim, Tu, George Wu
11am Lee Matthews
12pm Romance Was Born
1pm New Generation - Piper Lane, Artsu, Subfusco, Bam Bam, Kornered, Fischer von Meszlenyi
2pm Marnie Skillings
3pm Nevenka
8pm Alba Fan Club

So there you have it folks. Some good names - and a lot to see.

If you're wondering what the hell Frisoni Finetti is, it's the new menswear line that urban style snapper - and erstwhile Gretel Killeen stylist - Fernando Frisoni has done with Nicola Finetti. Interesting that it's not being just called Nicola Finetti Man or some such.

Can't speak for the new range as yet, but I have to say Finetti is looking great. He walked up to me in the middle of the Rue Saint Honore Miu Miu store in Paris last month and I did a double-take. Can't quite put my finger on it - he's been working out, changed his skincare regime, something.

Perhaps menswear is the new fountain of youth.

Original post and comments.

Two Americans, an Australian and an Israeli in Paris: giving the bold shoulder to FW0708

After Collette Dinnigan's triumphant return to the Parisian runways there was nothing else to do really, to cap off the season, than head for two French blockbusters: Louis Vuitton and Lanvin.

Louis Vuitton is the world's biggest luxury brand and parent LVMH likes to splash around the money. No Grand or Petit Palais this season, but a transparent, purpose-built marquee slap bang in the middle of the Louvre - in fact the original location of the French ready-to-wear shows, before the underground Carrousel du Louvre venue was constructed.

A luxe collection of slick, 40s-look tailleurs counterpointed against trapeze-line painter's smock-inspired blouses, dresses and coats, as well as a biker's jacket theme, many garments were made from futuristic, Wet Look rubber-infused or waxed fabrics. For evening, creative director Marc Jacobs stepped back into the fairyland of his spring/summer collections with more romantic pouf dresses, this time in pretty degrade colours. The entire collection was inspired by the paintings of Vermeer.

The degrade motif was also picked up in the handbags - where of course most of LV's money hails from - with plenty of the world-famous, and much-copied, LV monogram, in quilted and embossed leather with patent leather strips and raw sheepskin edging. Next winter is all about a patent leather or vinyl ankle boot - Vuitton's came in luxurious plastic-coated crocodile.

In a week virtually bereft of celebs - due, theorised many, to the timing of the Oscars - Jacobs managed to reel in the week's biggest name, LV's current advertising face, Scarlett Johansson.

En route backstage, and in spite of the best efforts of Johansson's security thug, I managed to throw a few questions her way:

What did you think of the collection?
Johansson: I thought it was gorgeous. I loved it. I loved all those beautiful dresses towards the end, they were very kind of whimsical and dreamy, the colours. So fabulous. And also like the really kind of crisp, white [shirt] with the slim pencil skirt.

Do you wear a lot of Louis Vuitton?
[cheeky] Well now I do.

You don't normally?
I said now I do! [laughs]

So we might be seeing you in some of those degrade pouf dresses? They were like fairy dresses.
They were, I loved it - the feathers and everything.


Although I didn't get a chance to talk to Jacobs on this occasion, two hours later I did grab another Marc: Australian interior designer Marc Newson. Spotted at Dinnigan's show earlier in the day, Newson was front and centre at Lanvin - together with girlfriend, and soon-to-be mother of his first child, UK stylist Charlotte Stockdale.

You live in Paris - or just have an apartment here?
Newson: No I live in London. I have a house here, I have an office in Paris, an office in London and I sort of go between both places a little bit. And everywhere else.

You've got your own clothing line haven't you? [G-Star]
Yeah I sort of dabble. It's not really fashion. I like to look at it as workwear.

The photos are amusing [the models have been photoshopped out of the shots]. Model are getting skinner and skinner, they may as well not be there.
Yeah well exactly. They're just getting so skinny - this is a sort of anti-anorexia campaign. But my involvement in the fashion industry is pretty miniscule really.

So why are you here?
Well because they're just... friends. Charlotte, my girlfriend, she's an editor and stylist so she's there. And my buddy .... is the head of Lanvin and I'm good friends with Stefano, who's the designer of YSL.

So what do you think about the nexus between fashion and design - or at least to interior design?
Look for me it's not so much about fashion and design, it's contemporary culture. And as a designer I think that's it's very very important for someone like me to be aware of, you know, as many aspects of contemporary fashion as possible. Music, film, fashion... I mean it all influences our lives in one way or another and you know, regardless of what I think about the fashion industry and the fashion world it has to be a part of what we do. And I don't think it is actually to a great degree.

Really?
Well no, I don't think most designers are very successful at ... at assimilating fashion into their kind of world. I don't do it in a conscious way. I don't do it in a very obvious way either. I just think it's important to know who Alber Elbaz is. And I don't think a lot of architects or industrial designers have a clue. I'm certain of it.

Someone once said that at any one time there will only ever be five truly influential fashion designers - if that.
He's definitely one of them. I mean I think always, you've got to look towards someone like Azzedine Alaia. We're great friends and he's a collector of my stuff and we see each other a lot and I find him a wonderful source of inspiration. And he's firmly entrenched in fashion. He is kind of fashion. He's I think as good as it gets here really.

Apart from talent obviously, what do you think it is that differentiates those at the cutting edge from those who are just behind the cutting edge - in any sphere of design?
It's very, very hard to say really. I mean it's got to be luck, but then as they say the harder you work, the luckier you get.

But it's not just luck.
Being in the right place at the right time. Being tenacious.

Going out on a limb?
That goes without saying. I mean there's just no way you'll get anywhere if you remain in mediocrity, if you live in that space.

Have you been surprised by your own success?
Sometimes it surprises me but to be really honest I can't really see the wood for the trees. I'm so sort of immersed in what I do that I don't often step out to take a look at where I am or what's happening around me. You know I'm still surprised - if people recognise me I mean it always com es as a huge shock. I'm always taken aback.

Do you think breaking through internationally is any harder for creative people who come from Australia?
No I don't think so. But if it is hard in some ways then it's got to be easier in others so it all sort of evens out in the end. I'm always asked that question about Australia - what it is to be Australian in the design world or at least to be in a creative industry. For me it just doesn't really mean anything. Because I'm Australian, that's for sure, but I work everywhere. I work in every country. Well maybe not every country but I work all over Asia, in the US, in Europe...

You probably live on a plane.
Yeah I spend a lot of time on planes.

At least you've got your own bed that you've designed [Qantas Skybed]
It does come in handy.

So what are you working on at the moment?
Still an enormous amount of work for Qantas in fact. We've just designed the lounges actually. We're just finishing the first class lounge in Sydney and Melbourne. And I'm coming out in May to launch those. They're not just lounges actually. The one in Sydney's a building in fact. We've effectively built a building on top of the airport. Noone else in the aviation industry is doing anything remotely like what Qantas are doing.

So is it 2001 A Space Odyssey?
Yeah pretty much. Absolutely. It's a bit of that, it's a bit of the old TWA terminal in JFK. But it's an extraordinary building. You won't be able to see it from the moon but it's the first thing you'll see when you land.

But you have to be rich to experience it.
Yeah... kind of. You don't have to be that rich. But you know a lot of other people can get access.

What do you think about the idea of design only being available to a privileged few - as opposed to the masses?
Well we start there. You know and it kind of trickles down. First class is the loss leader I think. I'm talking more metaphorically. We start there and it does trickle down. I'm doing a lot of economy class stuff. In fact I've spent the majority of my time doing more mass-produced things in economy. But it has to start at the top somehow for me. That's where you have an opportunity to kind of put your money where your mouth is and really put your stamp on a concept, or a branding concept. It's much easier to do it there.

And so to Lanvin, at which many of us decided to call it quits. There were two shows afterwards, including the as per usual ludicrously exclusive presentation of Prada's Miu Miu diffusion label.

Set against a brooding industrial backdrop of mirrors and metal scaffolding - and two flights of stairs that the models, all wearing graphic short black bob wigs, had to carefully negotiate in their skyscraper heels en route to the runway - Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz presented a collection that was at once tough, and romantic.

Groaning in waistless smock dresses and coats with exaggerated, puffed sleeves in Elbaz's signature colours of purple and red - this time far brighter violet and fire engine hues, the collection also notably boasted myriad versions of the season's omnipresent sleeveless, fitted shell dress with a simple rounded collar. Simple and straightforward at the front however, Elbaz's shell dresses then cascaded in ruffles and volume at the back.

I spoke to Elbaz briefly after the show:

You showed many versions of a sleeveless, fitted dress - which in a way has been the defining silhouette of the season. What is it about that dress?
Elbaz: Maybe it's the fact of believing in a thing that has to be a bit more simple. Maybe life is complicated enough. One time I asked myself, what would happen if I was a skinny man? Would I design differently? And I think it's the fact that I'm not in that group of skinny people make the whole lightness a fantasy for me. So I'm trying to do everything light and simple, which is everything I'm not.

You were talking before [in other interviews] about the exaggerated sleeves of the dresses - and about shoulders being about power, while arms are about strength. This season there have been a lot of 'strong' women on the runways - 'tough chic' has been a key theme. Your setting was also quite 'tough'. Why do you think designers want women to look strong?
I believe that men are powerful and women are strong. If you have a million dollars in the bank, you are powerful. But if your child tells you 'I love you', you are strong. I think it's hard being a woman. I am surrounded by women. Almost all the people that I work with are women. And you know what, it's much more difficult these days to be a woman than to be a man. What is right and what is wrong? Is it about more being a good mother or is it about being professional? And what is professional? I think that all these kind of rules that women have, that they have to be perfect, they have to be beautiful, they cannot look old anymore, there is no age. They all have to be skinny, they have to be great wives, they have to be great mothers, they have to be great daughters.... So there is a lot that women are doing today that men are not and that's why, we as designers, we can help there. Maybe.

Original post and comments.

Mardi Gras-sur-Seine at Galliano: Showgirls, streetwalkers and chicks au Dix

Alexandra Agoston backstage before the show.


Some of us might be a long way from home, but we are having our own private Mardi Gras here tonight [Saturday] at the Carreau du Temple, the venue for John Galliano's show.

I'm backstage, it's about 20 minutes to showtime and the girls are almost out of makeup. Just don't ask me who anybody is - due to the theatrical makeup, I can't recognise most of them.

The look has been executed by a member of Galliano's creative coterie - top British makeup artist Pat McGrath. The model on whom she is currently working has heavy black eyeshadow smudged with blue and green, little purple clown lips and pencilled brows high above the browline, which has been 'disappeared' via a heavy layer of white makeup.

McGrath is using her hand like a painter's palette and it's covered in blobs of turquoise, yellow and white. The model's wig is short and black, with a kind of ragged geometric fringe.

"The whole show is based on Brassai" says McGrath, of the brief. "Really painterly, crazy, beautiful..."

I spot a running list of models on McGrath's table. The first group are all called "Vlada", followed by "Madame Bijou", "street walkers", "Otto Dix" and "Pigalle at night after the party".

A model in a white wig and exaggerated purple eye makeup that extends across half her face wanders past looking like the Madwoman of Chaillot. The makeup makes her piercing blue eyes look quite terrifying. I twig that it's Sasha Pivovarova.

"Who are you supposed to be?" I ask.

"Kiki!" she squeals.

The pace is picking up.

"I want some more foundation on her brows" McGrath commands in a loud voice to an underling. "Where is the team? Go get anybody who's not doing anything and bring them here!".

A very tall girl walks towards me staring straight at me. She's wearing one of the short black wigs, with the smudged harlequin makeup.

It's Alexandra Agoston-O'Connor, part of the Australian modelling triumvirate at this week's shows. I mentioned that Agoston-O'Connor, Gemma Ward and Catherine McNeil were all at Dior. All three are apparently also modelling tonight. Somewhere.

En route to the dressing area, we have a quick chat:

How many John Galliano parades have you worked on?
Alexandra Agoston-O'Connor: Three. This is my first John Galliano show, but I've done Dior pret-a-porter and Dior couture as well.

What's the difference between doing these shows and regular shows over here? They're very creative aren't they?
Yeah, extremely creative. Amazing. It adds so much fun to the show.

And what's the difference between doing this and doing Australian Fashion Week?
Um... well I think probably, I don't know... I mean Australian Fashion Week is right up there I reckon.

It's given a few people a start.
Yeah - and I mean I guess Paris and all the main fashion weeks are just on a grander scale. Like there's heaps more shows, there's heaps more hair and makeup... Everything's just kind of emphasised but I reckon Australia's right up there, in my eyes.

She scurries off to get changed. They're all only wearing one look - such is the complicated styling. I can hear a piano accordian playing over on the other side of the curtains in the auditorium. It feels like a night at the circus. I'm in the dressing area now and there's smoke everywhere. Not just cigarette smoke - which tends to be prevalent backstage at shows, with an alarming number of models apparently chain smokers - but stage smoke that has wafted in from the auditorium.
Bgalliano1.jpg

"Where the hell is Galliano?" I think to myself, having not spotted him once so far.

I look up above the exit to the runway and blog the models' cue card.

The card is headed:

"Debaucherous decadence. Be sexy, be playful, sleazy and very strong! Enjoy!"

And then some specific instructions:

"Walk out and make a first pose in front of exit, facing cameras, following the red path, walk to each set making poses. Be playful with cameras and tease, interact with cameras and audience".

Brit milliner Stephen Jones is adjusting a red net and white feather contraption on the head of Mancunian Agyness Deyn. He looks hot and bothered. She is only half dressed and I notice that she has a pierced right nipple.

Next to Deyn is Sasha 'Kiki' Pivovarova, now changed into a scarlet georgette and devore velvet knee-length dress with asymmetric hemline and tiers of ruffles. She wanders into the middle of the room and starts flailing her arms around like she's about to perform a pirouette.

You can tell the girls are really into this show. An unrecognisable model wearing a wig fashioned from strips of newspaper is standing in front of her rack, which reads "Gemma Ward". She is smoking up a storm.

Agoston-O'Connor is standing alongside the other streetwakers, all half naked save for wads of tissue paper that each holds over their breasts. They are having splotches of purple and turquoise makeup applied to their chests and arms.

I spot Iekelienne in the streetwalker lineup - she's already dressed in a pretty, drop-waisted, ankle-length, calomine lotion pink slip dress embellished with pink sequins and tiny strips of pink velvet. A dresser is attaching a long matching silk scarf around her neck.

Next to Iekelienne, Anja Rubik is putting on a flesh-coloured slip dress with black cornelli embroidery. Most of the streetwalkers seem to be in striking, nude, drop-waisted bias-cut slip dresses. They look chic - apart from the cadaverous body makeup. I should add that there are a lot of people in this room. Apart from the models - and there must be over 40 of them - there is a dresser per girl, hair and makeup artists, photographers and stylists.

I venture out to check the auditorium. While a show is waiting to start you wouldn't normally walk straight out the runway exit, but this setup is unusual and I've already seen people come and go via same.

I walk past a security guy and out into the room next door - and it's like a movie set. The chairs have been arranged around a meandering runway 'path'. Props and actors are everywhere - a woman in a tiara and ballgown walks past with a guy in a morning suit, carrying a croquet mallet. There are ships in glass boxes, candelabras, an English flag, kitsh paintings... Two guys dressed as a farmhand and sailor are lying on a big brass bed covered in straw. An elderly Eliza Doolittle lookalike sits adjusting her knitting. It's totally bonkers and to add to the delirium, audience members are wandering around taking happy snaps.

I return backstage. The girls are lining up - waiting to go on. Between the stage smoke, the real smoke and the stench of hair product that has just been sprayed on some girls, you can hardly breathe. The opening series of "Vladas" are a garish vision of crimson ruffles and scarlet hairpieces. Photographers are in overdrive and the girls are hamming it up, posing in groups like a demented ballet corps.

"Keep powdering! Go for the bodies now!" screams McGrath.

A girl in a black cock feather trilby walks past me to join a small group of androgynous, black-clad women with orange hair, one carrying a black riding crop. They look like a bunch of glamorous lesbians heading for Berlin's Kit Kat Club. I surmise they are the Otto Dix section. Suddenly I spot another familiar face from Sydney - makeup artist Dotti.

I head towards the runway exit to go back out into the auditorium but am barred by the security guy - it's too late, he says, the show is about to start.

I am trapped inside the ramparts of Galliano's louche Parisian fantasy - and the bastard's nowhere to be found.

"Go get me a plate! I need a plate! I need a plate!" shouts McGrath - before someone eventually rushes to the rescue with a plastic dish on which McGrath starts frantically squeezing piles of red goop.

The atmosphere is electric - and verging on pandemonium. Stephen Jones runs past looking stressed, with sweat beads all over his forehead. Gareth Pugh was the Chelmsford deep-sleep clinic compared to this show.

As I walk past the end of the lineup I hear a ripping sound. I look down and realise I have just trodden on the tulle train of the black negligee sported by Flavia de Oliveira, over the top of black satin knickers, suspenders and stockings.

"God - so sorry" I say to her.

"That's OK - I'm going to tell John" she snarls, half-joking.

"The good news" I respond, "is that if you're supposed to be a prostitute, noone's going to notice the difference".

The music starts - a kind of doof doof house music courtesy another longtime Galliano collaborator, Jeremy Healy. I am standing next to the models as they wait to take their turns. They keep breaking ranks to join a group crowded around an adjacent video screen watching the show go live.

The music is pumping, the girls are dancing and pointing and laughing at the poses being pulled by their runway colleagues. Lily Donaldson and Irina Lazareanu are still smoking as they stand in the lineup. I am now right next to the exit and Agoston-O'Connor is horrified to discover she has purple lipstick all over her teeth.

"Just keep your mouth shout" I suggest.

One of the Otto Dix chicks whacks me with her riding crop. Talk about tough chic.

Now all the models are back in the room and getting ready for their victory lap. The music is pumping louder than ever and I feel like I am caught in the wake of 50 drag queens on the dancefloor of the Hordern Pavilion.

A girl with a heavy Russian accent comes running towards me.

"Can you please close this button for me?!!!" she pleads, pointing to her belt which has come undone. I have a camera in one hand and a BlackBerry in the other, but somehow I manage to oblige - just.

"Breathe in!" I have to tell her three times. So much for skinny models.

The girls go out and I walk to the end of the runway exit area where a half dozen people are standing, including McGrath and Jones. Galliano will have to make his own exit soon and I wonder where that's going to be from because I still can't see him. A couple of people ahead of me, I spy the top of a garden rake.

I go back inside to watch the monitor. Galliano then materialises on the screen from behind one of the actors - he is dressed in a yellow bathrobe, with a tweed cap and is carrying.... a rake. Somehow he snuck out there.

Everyone comes back inside the room. They're jumping up and down, clapping and hugging each other.

Suddenly Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley emerge and are whisked by security through the changing area to the back door.

Next Galliano is rushed out by security - but to a black 'tent' that has been built on one side of the makeup area via black curtains. It dawns on me that that's where Galliano has been for the duration.

Another smaller figure gets whisked out from the runway and into the black tent - it's Kylie Minogue. A suite of other people arrive and also get whisked in, from big name editors to buyers.

I wait out the front of the tent, sardined within a posse of television crews, barred by two huge security guys. I keep an eye on the second doorway in case Minogue comes out. Once she does I run over and just manage to speak to her in the crush as she is whisked out the back door and into a car:

What did you think about the show?
Minogue: I absolutely adored it.

It was very showgirl.
Yeah I know! Lots of drama, sparkle...

Are you happy to be back in Paris?
[Pauses] Very much so, yeah.


I wait with the tv crews for at least an hour, barely able to move, cracking jokes and negotiating with the PR retinue. We are standing right in front of the hair and makeup area.

"God I look old" says one tv reporter out loud, catching a glimpse of themself in one of the mirrors.

Finally, a PR emerges and announces that Galliano will do interviews in groups.

Several groups go in and out and the PR comes back and announces that that's it, Galliano is too exhausted to do anymore. After an Italian reporter practically gets down on her hands and knees to beg, the PR gives in, ushering in one last group - including me - giving us one question each. It's an exact repeat of the last season, where I found myself with the last group of tv reporters huddled around Galliano in a small darkened room.

Here's the suite of questions and Galliano's answers:

American reporter: John - what an amazing return of all the spirit of Galliano, the poetry, the beauty, everything was beautiful. It was a dream and it was beautiful clothes.
Galliano: Thank-you so much.

Kiki de Montparnasse?
Yes, Mademoiselle le Bijou... Well I was looking at silhouettes of the Regency period but seeing it through the eyes of a photographer, Brassai, so there was beautiful cocoon shapes, a welcome return to my daywear and a huge exploitation of my bias cutting [laughs] which my markets demand and I was very very happy to do. Set against this amazing theatrical backdrop...

Belgian reporter: Mr Galliano, what inspired you for this collection?
Galliano: Really the Regency period and the photographs of Brassai. The Paris that I dreamed of as a child, the Paris that I longed for, the reason that I ran away from London to live in Paris, um, they're all the reasons that inspired this collection.

Was it fun?
I was a rundown aristocrat and I loved the idea of doing this stately home, a little bit English but inside-out. So we were all outside. You know, tax, very expensive, death duties.... we have to live in the garden.

And a lot of seduction.
Always, that's Galliano.

The bed with two guys?
Mmmmm, what did you think? [laughs]

And then at the end, you greet the audience?
I was the lord. But I had no money. I'd lost all my money but I had this fantastic family. There's a wonderful English proverb that says 'The family that eats together, stays together'. And I firmly believe in that.

This family, with all these special people. It was a very special family, non?
Yes, of course it's the family in my dreams and I challenge you to dream and that's my job.

Italian reporter: Ah - is a work of art.
Thank-you so much.

Yes, the poesie and inspiration from Colette, from the sensualism.
Exactly, from Paris, the Paris that I dreamed of as a child and the Paris that I believe in today.

Is it sexual elegance?
I mean sex sells. And we all love to be sexy. C'est un raison d'etre and a joie de vivre.

Merci. Can you describe your look because you are always...
I felt like an aristocrat and that was my family but we moved outside, because the death duties were too high. So we lived outside. But who cares, as long as we can sleep under moonlight, who cares?

Me: You've pulled off two spectacular shows this week, arguably the week's best productions.
[Tongue-in-cheek] I think I've done two pre collections and I did a menswear collection and an haute couture collection and two ready-to-wear collections...

Yes but I am referring to the two big shows you did this week - Dior and now for your own line.
Thank-you.

What drives you to produce such extraordinary theatre with your fashion shows - when most designers are just sending their models up and down a plain white runway?
Quite simply, women. Women like you.

But you don't always do such big shows.
That's perhaps because I'm getting to know women like you.


Right...
You're lost for words aren't you? [chuckles]

After seeing over 100 shows in four cities - most of which I have had to badger my way into without tickets - and after being embedded within almost as many media scrums, Galliano has a point. I am lost for words. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else - but by the same token, I am relieved it all wraps tomorrow.

He continues:

No really, women drive me. I love the whole creative process. I love working with my teams. It's true that we've become more organised and I feel I'm so inspired and I need these vehicles to express myself and with the great teams both at Dior and Galliano, we're able to do that.

Original post and comments.

Collette's tough love: ditching the princesses in the childrenswear department

Collette Dinnigan made her "triumphant" return today to the catwalks of Paris after a hiatus of two seasons. That's how the Australian media will no doubt report the show - as breathlessly as they have done since Dinnigan first started showing in Paris in the mid 1990s. That's not to say that the show wasn't good - it was.

But let's put things in perspective here. It wasn't Dries Van Noten or Hussein Chalayan or Martin Grant or Stella McCartney or YSL or Christian Dior or Jean Paul Gaultier yada yada yada. Not in terms of size and buzz.

It was a small-ish show attended by a large number of Australian media representatives, a couple of international media reps who have or have had links to Australia, with the most high-profile attendees, as far as I could see anyway, being Australian designer Marc Newson and his UK stylist girlfriend Charlotte Stockdale. The backstage media 'throng' afterwards could have been counted on one hand.

I was surprised to have even received an invitation to tell you the truth. I had still not received one by this morning. At the last minute, I received word that my invitation had gone astray.

Why would I be persona non grata at Dinnigan's show? Oh no reason - apart from an article that I wrote this time last year, after Dinnigan pulled out of her first Paris show season, citing the need to spend more time with her then 18 month-old daughter Estella.

I reported industry speculation that Dinnigan may have in fact been bumped by the Paris show organisers, the Chambre Syndicale - something which the Chambre Syndicale (eventually) denied. But which irritated the Dinnigan camp no end at the time, prompting a hilarious riposte that weekend by another Australian fashion journalist who dismissed me as a "frock writer". I did have to laugh. As did a friend of mine, who had a "frockwriter" T-shirt specially made.

As it turned out, sources from Sydney to London (and one of them a senior source in retail) seemed to feel at the time that because space is so tight on the Paris show schedule, Dinnigan might not be deemed to be pulling her weight in terms of publicity - publicity outside Australia, that is.

But she's back on schedule now so clearly, that doesn't seem to be the case. Certainly, it is a feather in a designer's cap to be invited by the Chambre Syndicale organisers to join the schedule. That doesn't axiomatically make a brand Balenciaga. Here are a few names with which you are no doubt unfamiliar, who also showed on-schedule this week: Lie Sang Bong, Dice Kayek, Moon Young Hee, John Ribbe and Wu Yong.

So I wander backstage beforehand to kill some time.

There's Dinnigan with Estella, a beautiful little two and a half year-old with long blonde hair, who is dressed in what Dinnigan informs me is a Dinnigan-issue fairy dress, complete with jewel-embellished tiara. I return 15 minutes later and bump into Richard Wilkins - Dinnigan's on-again, off-again partner, and father of Estella, who would appear to be very much on-again right now. Wilkins looks and sounds utterly exhausted, like he's just disembarked from a red eye flight.

"I've been at the Oscars - and took the long way home" says Wilkins. At another point, I spot him kissing and cuddling Estella on his lap. He looks like a devoted, affectionate Dad.

I pick up my seat finally - and notice that Dinnigan has given me a "b" row seat. Given that every other Australian media rep seems to be in the front row, I could be imagining things however it looks like a deliberate slight on Dinnigan's part. But hey, it's her show.

And no matter. I wait to see which way the seating is shaking close to start time and simply take one of the - numerous - gaps in the front row of the seating block that looks straight down the barrel of the runway. Obviously a few VIPs didn't turn up.

Although the front rows on both sides of the runway are full, there are a number of gaps in the second and third rows on either sides. As the show goes to start people who have hitherto been standing fill the gaps. All up in the end it's a full house.

The collection is called 'Equinox Girl' and the show is confident - even if most of the models are not.

Yes of course there's at least one of Dinnigan's trademark lace cocktail dresses - micro-length, in bronze metallic lace with a black 'harness' inset panel - but also some beautiful coats and jackets, one in ivory wool with scalloped hemline, a striking black Duchesse satin evening jacket with exaggerated puffed sleeves and a 'tough' black leather cropped jacket with short sleeves and trench coat-like flap. There are also some great, 30s-look, highwaisted woollen flared trousers and cropped leggings with ribbon ties down the outside legs in both black velvet and grey wool.

The best dresses are not in fact in the trademark lace at all: one is a cafe-coloured knit dress and another a jade green off-the-shoulder babydoll. To my mind the strongest piece in the entire collection is a sheer black, highnecked blouse with sleeves made entirely of what look like maribou feathers. It reeks of old-worlde Parisian glamour.

I'm sure Dinnigan would value the opinion of international frockwriters Suzy Menkes (The International Herald Tribune), Cathy Horyn (The New York Times), Sarah Mower (Style.com) etc.... over that of any Australian journalist, but I'm not sure that I saw any of these in attendance today so here goes in the interim for what it's worth.

Collette Dinnigan is a talented designer who became the first Australian invited to show on the Paris show schedule. She quickly carved out a successful niche for pretty embellished cocktail dresses and eveningwear.

But if some lament that her style has failed to 'move on' and therefore lacks the ability to generate show buzz - the kind of buzz that comes from independent editorial reviews, as opposed to that generated by publicists - then perhaps that's because there is an element of truth to it.

I recall one show that Dinnigan did during Fashion Week in Sydney in 1997. With extraordinary styling and art direction, it was the highlight of the event. That was 10 years ago. By soliciting - and listening to - expert advice, and with the appropriate infrastructure, there is ostensibly nothing to stop Collette Dinnigan from one day becoming as big a brand as Alberta Ferretti. This new collection - and attitude - is a small step in the right direction. Let's hope she builds on it.

I had a quick chat with Dinnigan after the show:

So why Paris? You obviously spent some time in US showrooms in the past twelve months, why is Paris so important to your brand?
Well we were invited, you know 'Please come', and from a commercial point of view it was a very good decision to go to New York but I think for us now, Paris is really emotionally like my city and my place.

Why?
It's very creative. I know it very well. It's perhaps not as efficient as New York in producing a show but I really think that what designers put down the runway is truly from their heart and from a creative spirit. In America it's very driven, much more by commercial reality.

That's where the celebrities are.
Yeah it is and I'm sure we would have a lot of great front row people there but it feels right to be here and I don't know exactly what that is and what the formulae is but I think I've made the right decision.

You took some time off to spend with your daughter - do you think it's tougher for a female designer in this respect? Obviously taking the year off led to some speculation that there might have been other reasons why you weren't showing.
You know my priorities have changed but that doesn't mean my work has taken a back row. But it's difficult. You can't be 24/7 working and when you don't have a family your work is very much part of your life. Your life does change.

Male designers obviously don't have to deal with this issue.
No exactly - even ones that have children, they have somebody at home to always look after them.

What do you think having your daughter has contributed to your design philosophy?
Well my childrenswear collection is my favourite, I love that.

In your adult collection I mean. Coincidentally perhaps, this collection is a bit edgier than the stuff that you normally do.
But perhaps I'm playing more my fairyland with my childrenswear and not having to put so much of that in my collections so therefore it's almost like couture and ready-to-wear. So I have my fun girly play times with the Enfant collection and much more of my serious, creative drive...

You were just [in another interview] saying something about learning to leave things in the showroom. That is, not showing what you normally are expected to show. Could you elaborate?
It's like I'd continually do people's expectations and I think it's always good to challenge that. It's always like... the higher the benchmark or whatever the saying is. People need to come for a surprise, mystery, an element of change, the stream doesn't have to change direction but it needs to have a freshness. And I think that's important and that's why the show was condensed, it was smaller, and that was really also Karl [Plewka, stylist] said, 'No, do a small show, we're not showing for commercial reasons'. The collection, which is much larger, will be hanging in the stores but the essence of it just walked down the runway.

That is the challenge though isn't it for designers - when something is commercially successful and you become very well known for the beaded cocktail dress or the runway dress etc... It is a temptation to just kind of show your greatest hits, isn't it? That's what Giorgio Armani keeps doing.
No but he's a great advertiser and I think he also has a lot of kudos and he does a lot of other things very well. But I wouldn't survive. I have to reinvent the Collette sensibility I guess, something fresh, something new. And this season I really needed to be confident, strong, urban, full, volume, detail, leather... That's what felt right for me.

Did you feel energised, having had two seasons off?
No, because I still worked just as hard. In fact I worked harder, making sure that people didn't get the impression that I was having a holiday. And I still cannot believe people think I had a holiday - and my shops are still full of clothes.

Original post and comments.

Chanel confessions: Karl loves a ballbreaker, Anna downplays her glam

I'm backstage at the Grand Palais just off the Champs Elysees. It's 9.30am and a half hour to the Chanel show - in fact the first of what will be two Chanel shows this season.

It's the first time in fact that Chanel has split its ready-to-wear show into two - due in part to the fact that the staging is little more intimate, I am told, this season.

But due no doubt also in part to the ever-expanding interest in this privately-owned French luxury powerhouse whose sales are estimated to be US$3.3billion. At Chanel's creative helm is of course the seemingly indefatigable and eternally youthful, septuaganarian German designer Karl Lagerfeld.

People are everywhere and it's difficult to move.

There's Gemma Ward having a mascara touchup. There's Iekelienne having more pink blush applied.

There's another model having her hair crimped to resemble merino wool [oops!]. She is reading a Swedish celebrity tabloid called Aftonbladet. There's a table covered in small plastic bags. Inside each bag is a polaroid of a model and I can see one shot of Australian Catherine McNeil - who is, yes, all over these big shows - with her hair combed over her face. Maybe it's a styling idea that got canned. I say that because over on the other side of the room, Raquel Zimmermann sits with what appears to be the finished look: crimped hair that has been brushed out for a shaggy effect, but definitely off the face, with pale makeup and heavily-pencilled uberbrows.

A couple of models are tucking into little bowls of chocolate cocopop things. It looks like they're eating brown polystyrene chips. Good to see that there at least is food here. Last night backstage before YSL Iekelienne was complaining that she was starving but that all the food had gone. Outside in the foyer a humungous refectory table is laid out with food. From the requisite croissants to yoghurt and fruit platters, are also platters of cheese and bowls of pickled onions. Pickled onions for breakfast?

I walk back into the main backstage area and it's all happening. Not the show - just the backstage power posse.

Directly in front of me are Chanel owners, the brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, as well as Chanel president Francoise Montenay. All three seem to be exactly the same height - and come up to my ear. Anna Wintour is also there. The devil's not wearing Prada today but is a shimmering bronze vision in what I am reliably informed is a sable-trimmed, pearl-embellished Chanel haute couture cocktail suit.

The umpteenth Coco's Cabasse wafts past me. Quite seriously, if I see another of these bags, I may puke. A black patent vinyl tote with chain handle, this bag is the "must take" bag of AW0708 [see the "To the Manor bought" blog entry from the SS07 Fashion Season about the Burberry Manor bag] - gifted by Chanel to any fashion editors and journalists who aren't bound by ethics policies at their respective publications. And no doubt also a few who are. It has been everywhere this season. In Australia it retails for $2,100. Unlike the editors of course, you'll have to pay for it.

It's now 10.00am and I'm out front near the stage. There's an entire ice skating rink installation in the centre of the room, with fake 'ice' and snow. Suspended between the rink and the Grand Palais' magnificent domed glass ceilings are a series of 'clouds' fashioned from what looks like scrunched white gauze. Wintour and her hilariously camp offsider Andre Leon Talley hold court front row on one side of the skating rink.

I have been in Wintour's proximity on many occasions this season. For some reason this seems like an appropriate moment to approach her. I move in.

Now I have no idea whether Meryl Streep ever got to met Wintour in person prior to doing The Devil Wears Prada. But having now spoken to Wintour in person briefly, I should say that the withering tone so frequently adopted by Streep's Miranda Priestley character [which is supposed to be based on Wintour] is not too far from the real thing.

Although for the most part quite gracious and enthusiastic, Wintour adopts a withering tone twice. As she 'withers' curiously, she turns her head to one side - as if to express her utter disdain at the questions and to register that that is the end of the matter. On both occasions her British accent also seems crisper than usual. Perhaps she is simply embarrassed.

What is the secret do you think to the enduring appeal of Chanel?
Wintour: Well I think the enduring appeal of Chanel is all to do with Karl Lagerfeld who is this extraordinary human being in that he has such an open mind, surrounds himself with interesting people, he knows and loves culture of all kinds, popular, classical.... and I think it's all reflected in his collections. I mean without Karl, Chanel you know, would not be what it is today.

And he is an interesting case study in himself in that so many of his contemporaries have either retired or have lost their touch. He manages to stay hip.
Karl is eternally young. And he's interested in the future. What he always says to me the minute that a collection is over is, 'It's over'. He goes on to the next and I think that's a great strength.

Did The Devil Wears Prada have much of an impact on you?
Ah..... [withering, lowers voice] not at all.

In terms surely of fashion in film and on television now with that film and programs such as Project Runway you have to admit that fashion is everywhere?
Sure, I mean you know anything that celebrates fashion, whatever it may be, a movie, a television show, a book, online.... you know and I think one of the things that has interested me in the last three years is that so many of the designers are interested in doing small collections for people like H&M and Target. It just means that fashion is available on every level, whether it's the media or at different prices so that's great for the industry.

But there appears to be so much more interest in fashion now. Obviously everyone in the fashion world knows who Anna Wintour is however TDWP no doubt introduced you to a number of people who may not have been familiar with your name.
Well I think it's great for fashion and Amy [Astley] who is the editor of Teen Vogue gave a party just a couple of weeks ago for a young woman named Maria Sharapova, the tennis player. I was amazed at her knowledge of young designers, that she knew designers like Rodarte and Thakoon and I think that's because there is so much more coverage and interest in fashion than there ever has been. And so much more exposure on all levels. So I embrace that.

Do you think it's harder for young designers today to survive?
Well it's always been hard but I think talent always rises to the top.

Yes however they are obviously facing different challenges today.
Yeah but the good ones find partners, they find investment and they find a customer.

What is your definition of glamour?
[Laughs] My daughter.

Do you think you're the most glamorous woman in the world?
[Full wither, lowers voice] Of course not.

It's showtime and the models emerge onto the rink. It's a short, sharp show with plenty of the trademark Chanel glamour tweeds.

This season, any Chanel otaku will no doubt be thrilled to learn that they can kit themself out in Chanel tweed from top to toe - thanks to Lagerfeld's cute effort at, as he later explains, creating "endless" legs via matching tweed boots.

The back of Chanel's new season boot is fastened down the back of the leg with buckles and flaps. It's a kind of glam biker-meets-gladiator look.

The signature Chanel black and white is thrown out the window via a plethora of brightly-coloured tweeds and a series of shirtdresses with long tabard shirttails in bold colours such as turquoise.

The silhouette is long, waists are high and the eveningwear includes cocktail dresses in acid yellow and turquoise, some smart sequinned pencil skirts in silver or gold, teamed with graphic black/white tunic tops and slick strapless bustier dresses worn over skinny pants.

Add to that, some brightly-coloured enamel jewellery and yet more covetable Chanel boots - one pair in the trademark tan reach just over the knee, with a low, square heel and black 'racing stripe' down the outside of the leg.

After the show I run over to join the media scrum waiting for some Lagerfeld comments.

Although this scenario is played out at the end of every major international fashion show, the Chanel scrums always seem bigger than most. But at least they are civilised. Approximately 30 people have swarmed around Lagerfeld and we are packed so tightly together I believe I can feel the pelvis of the Asian woman standing directly behind me sticking into my back.

I am virtually piggybacking one security guard who is trying to shield Lagerfeld from the throng - and an Italian reporter has her arm around his neck trying to keep her balance on the rows of seating between which we find ourselves precariously perched. It occurs to me that you would never be this intimate with total strangers in any other situation.

Lagerfeld is wearing a black woollen peacoat, black pants, a black sweater with white ribbed turtleneck, burgundy Dior Homme sunglasses and silver Chanel mittens with silver discs on the knuckles.

Standing directly behind him at one point I can confirm that he does indeed powder his white ponytail - because I can see the white powder on his black ponytail elastic.

Making his hair whiter than usual is some 'snow' which fell from the clouds at the end of the show. It looks like chunky dandruff. With the white turtleneck, Lagerfeld also looks a bit like a priest - in the process of ministering to his congregation.

Someone moves out and I decide to carpe Karl.

As I flick out my tape recorder, he reaches out and grabs and holds my forearm for the duration of my questions. There is something sweet about it and I am secretly hoping that he doesn't remember that this time last week in Milan, after Fendi, I asked for his thoughts on anal electrocution.

The boots with the straps at the back - they looked like biker boots.
Lagerfeld: We called them spat boots, you know. It was the idea. Because you know if not they have the leg in some street maybe a little warm...

So are they a boot or a spat/gaiter?
No they are boots. Because it wouldn't fit well if it was added later.

We are seeing a lot of 'tough chic' on the runways, first in Milan and now also in Paris. What do you think about the whole idea of tough chic?
Because you know, I like women to be a little bit aggressive.

Really?
Yes, I think it's a good thing. Why not? Because if they're not aggressive, the men try to be aggressive [to] them so everybody can be aggressive. But in a nice way - because to be aggressive is sharp, huh?

Original post and comments.

Stella!!!!!! Definitely no fur - but iffy merino - in a (luxe) streetwear collection named desire

Scurrying to get to this morning's first show I am confronted by a half dozen people in white coats standing outside the venue, the Palais de Chaillot. Each is standing next to a dog on a lead. I think to myself, "Ah yes - yet more animal rights protestors", before doing a double take, and then remembering that the designer whose show I am about to see - Stella McCartney - does not in fact use fur.

On closer inspection it emerges that the white coat brigade are models hired by Target. Each has a little red Target logo on their pocket and each dog - every one of them a massive white bulldog - has a red 'target' painted in concentric circles around its right eye.

The spruikers hand out literature and bottles of water with "Proenza Schouler for Target" labelling. As for the dogs 'makeup', whether it was red paint, lipstick or theatrical makeup, I can't help thinking:

A/ That's got to be hard to get off a white dog and
B/ What would the animal rights lobby say?

Add to that the most pressing question of all here:

C/ With McCartney's own capsule range for Target Australia due to be released in Melbourne next week, shouldn't that in fact be Stella McCartney for Target that is being spruiked out the front of her show?

The animal rights lobby of course has no issue with McCartney. In fact McCartney is something of a PETA poster girl. A staunch vegan who has steadfastly refused to use leather or fur in her collections - in spite of the fact that her brand is now owned by one of the world's biggest luxury leathergoods conglomerates, Gucci Group - McCartney appears on PETA's website in a special videogram, designed to help people think twice about using fur. Her spring/summer 2005 collection moreover earned PETA's "Best animal-friendly luxury collection" award that year.

It is with some surprise therefore, that I get to my seat and open McCartney's show notes only to find the following word listed under fabrics used: "merino". I make a mental note of asking McCartney about this after the show.

The music comes up and the two sides of an enormous silver 'wall' pivot back on their tracks to reveal the runway.

It's a terrifically upbeat collection of rugged-up urban chic: from enormous hooded parkas to oversized knit dresses, some of them boasting an alpine intarsia motif complete with cute 'bears', to voluminous gilets, jackets and one skirt in a shagpile carpet-look faux "fur" made using a handcrafted "tufting" technique.

There are also some great dresses, notably one sculpted putty-coloured knit pinafore dress over matching turtleneck and some cashmere jumpsuits, the best in hot, almost fluoro pink, with a sporty racerback. Oversized seems to be the key to this show. The best coat in the collection is a striking ivory trench with overblown, almost leg o'mutton sleeves.

The collection, which is available through leading multibrand boutiques such as Belinda, Elle and Cactus Jam, should be a hit. Far bigger Stella McCartney news in Australia right now however is the Stella McCartney for Target range. A 45-piece "Best Of" collection, according to the McCartney camp, it's due to be unveiled at the Melbourne Fashion Festival.

I dash backstage to speak to McCartney and wait in line while all the wellwishers say hi. There's a suite of big US retailers - Barneys, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman.

Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld (who some may recall was wearing a Prada outfit on the day of the Prada show last week) was not in Stella McCartney, but Roitfeld was wearing a gold pyramid stud-embellished navy cardigan hot off last night's Givenchy runway.

McCartney answers question after question from a gaggle of international television crews.

The issue of fur comes up in every interview and McCartney uses various terms such as "old lady" and "barbaric" to describe what she thinks of the look. She is wearing an ink blue hooded sweater dress, black stockings and black satin pumps.

Finally it's my turn.

Just as I go to flick the on button on my tape recorder, McCartney's PR loudly advises "No personal questions this time".

Frankly I'm amazed that he remembers me. He is referring to the last question of the post-show chat that I had with McCartney last season when I had the temerity to ask, after reading McCartney's usual show notes dedications to her family, her parents etc..., just what she might dedicate to Heather Mills, the soon-to-be ex-wife of her father Sir Paul McCartney. At which McCartney stormed off saying words to the effect that it was the most ridiculous question she had ever heard. Given the well-publicised animosity between the pair, I didn't think it was that ridiculous.

So, no personal questions this time:

The Target Australia deal - that's an interesting choice for you.
Stella McCartney: 'Tarjay' apparently is what we say. Yeah you know, the H&M thing was such a success but it wasn't in Australia and we felt sorry for the Australians. So we just thought, you know what, let's do it. Because it's a nice thing to do and I think the collection looks great and I think it will hopefully do well.

I am told it's a Best Of/greatest hits collection.
A little bit of a 'best of' yeah - some nice little print dresses, nice knitwear, some nice stuff - good trousers, nice tailoring.

When you did the collection for [European fast fashion chain] H&M, the merchandise virtually evaporated from the shop floors in hours. So potentially we're about to see some of that H&M-type hysteria in Australia?
It's similar because you know... it's what we do. We didn't sort of water anything down. We treated it quite seriously. We're proud of that collection actually. The girls want it - the girls in the [Stella McCartney] studio.

People may even fly to Sydney to buy it.
No they wouldn't go that far.

Why are so many designers interested in doing these tie-ins with discount chain stores?
I don't think anyone's sort of ashamed of doing these things anymore. I think they're a bit more realistic. I mean we're all aware of lots of different brands and lots of different labels. I think it's kind of modern to look at it and go, 'You know what? You wear that couture dress and you wear it with a pair of high street jeans'. It's just realistic. I don't think anyone has to be so kind of [makes gasping noise] precious about it all. It's a more modern way to look at the industry.

You're not coming out for the launch?
I don't think so.

Walking into your show before, there were these people with dogs and I thought, 'Animal rights protestors - that's weird, she doesn't do fur' but then...
I know it's weird isn't it, when they wear fur to my show? But you know, I wish people wouldn't wear...

No I mean the Target promo. But do you think the animal rights lobby would be happy about having bulldogs outside your show, especially with lipstick targets painted around their eyes?
[Joking] Aaa.... they wouldn't mind, as long as the bulldog's happy.

Now I know you don't wear or use fur however PETA also has very strong opinions on wool, notably Australian wool. PETA has in fact been extremely vocal in its criticisms of the Australian wool industry. I noticed that your show notes say you have used merino in the collection. Where does the merino come from?
From sheep - but they're nicely treated.

Australia?
I don't know, I'll find out. I have no idea. We have quite a strict rule in the house of Stella McCartney that we make sure everthing's signed off. Even things like buttons. We get quite kind of... we follow the life of our product before it hits the shelf.

So you're saying that you don't use Australian wool in your collections?
I don't know. I'll find out for you. I'm not 100% sure to be honest.

McCartney's PR intervenes:

PR: What is the question?

McCartney: Is it Australian wool?

PR: Oh no, it's not Australian wool.

McCartney [to me]: Why - are you mean to your sheep in Australia or something?

It's the mulesing issue - the practise that is used to combat flystrike. It's had quite a lot of publicity around the world, with calls for boycotts of Australian wool etc...
McCartney: I'm sure they do something mean but we don't use that. We're nice to our sheep and our wool. We're very responsible.

Approximately two hours later I receive a phone call from McCartney's PR office.

The office has looked into McCartney's supply chain, I am told, and reports that it can confirm McCartney's wool is "English Shetland".

I am also informed that the Target promo outside McCartney's show was essentially ambush marketing organised without McCartney's permission. Target US and Target Australia are two completely separate companies.

Now, I'm no wool authority, however merino and Shetland strike me as two completely different types of wool. And why on earth say that you use merino in your show notes anyway, if it is in fact something completely different?

According to Australian Wool Innovation, no merinos are bred in the UK and 70percent of the merino wool that is used worldwide in apparel hails from Australia. A small percentage comes from South Africa and New Zealand.

AWI was unable to confirm or deny whether McCartney does in fact use Australian merino wool. But curiously, that does not appear to have stopped them from using McCartney's name and collection in an autumn/winter 0506 trend report on their website - which makes specific reference to McCartney's use of merino wool.

The source of Stella McCartney's "merino" is obviously a matter between McCartney and her supply chain.

Unless any Australian merino growers reading this who believe that they supply either McCartney or the Gucci Group parent would like to throw some light on the issue, all we can really say for sure is that there is a 70percent chance that McCartney used Australian merino in her AW0708 collection, a 70percent chance that she used it in her AW0506 collection and a smaller chance that she may have even used it in her SS05 collection that was dubbed by PETA to be the "Best animal-friendly luxury collection" of the year.

Two things we can however say with a fair degree of confidence: Target US tests makeup on animals.

And a bunch of Parisian bulldogs will be taking the red eye across town for the next few days.

Original post and comments.

Mischa, Marisa and an Aussie model trifecta: Dior's curious salute to Schiap

I'm mixing it with anywhere up to 1000 showgoers inside a large show tent that has been erected in the Jardin des Tuileries. We are waiting for the Christian Dior show. Judging by the two grandiose white staircases which bookend the stage at the back of the runway, it's going to be an elaborate production. The backdrop is painted dove grey, the signature colour of the haute couture house.

As with Versace on Friday, it's a tight space.

The runway is so wide, there is barely room between the front row and the media packs that are roaming, looking for celebs. Although they are at present only mildly interested in a gaggle of French celebs who have turned up, the snappers jump to attention at the sight of Mischa Barton.

A furious media scramble ensues, although this time thankfully without the runway-vaulting addition of Marie Claire Australia editor Jackie Frank. I'm sure Frank is in here somewhere but for the mo at least, she's keeping her distance.

I manage to squeeze into the pack and ask Barton one question before security intervenes. Actually security has already intervened by manhandling the scrum, and even some hapless passersby trying to get to their seats.

This is Paris - the private security personnel here have a tendency to act like they're the police. Believe me, it pisses a lot of people off.

Since Barton was in Australia last year as the guest of David Jones, I had heard that she is still complaining about her treatment at the hands of the Australian media. Prompted by a question from one [in fact SMH] journalist at Barton's media conference - did she knew the name of the designer whose frock she was wearing? (she didn't) - other outlets picked up the story.

I ask whether Barton thinks she was given too hard a time in Australia over the gaffe.

"About designers?" she replies. "Oh yeah....no, that was silly. Whatever. I mean that was one writer's choice".

Lights down. A single mannequin walks to the middle of the stage above the stairs and strikes a pose. She is wearing a conical hat made from what look like frathers - but I later learn are blades of tinted straw - and a brick red leather tailleur with nipped-in waist, pencil skirt and ballooning fur sleeves.

It's an impossibly elegant tableau - like a cartoon caricature of a 1950s couture show. She descends the staircase and is followed by more models, each more elegantly-clad than the last.

The voluminous coats and capes have gargantuan fur collars and cuffs. The tailleurs have draped skirts, big shoulder pads and crystal embellishments.

The shoes have enormous chunky heels and platforms and are covered in studs and straps - reminiscent of the shoes worn by women in Paris during the Occupation (the more outrageous the platform - and hat - the bigger the "F*** you" being served to the Nazis, or so was the intention at the time apparently).

The hats are fantastic - yet more cones and a series of asymmetric cocktail hats which suggest the time frame of Dior's creative director John Galliano could in fact be the 1940s. And quite specifically, the work of one couturier, Elsa Schiaparelli. The colours are sublime: hot pink, chartreuse and tangerine, interspersed with barely-there putty and dove grey.

As they walk to the end of the runway each model strikes a glamour pose. The closer they get the easier it is to see the styling, which includes the kind of false eyelashes normally tailored to drag queens and Galliano's trademark black stickon brows.

By the time it gets to the big dresses - statement gowns with enormous tiered skirts in duchesse satin, one dress with a black and white sequin-embellished strapless bodice and voluminous hot pink tulle skirts - I start to wish that I had seen Dior's most recent haute couture show in January and all the incredible workmanship there. This seems a little Dior couture Lite. Of course it is - it's ready-to-wear. Either way, it's a magnificent show.

I already knew that Catherine McNeil would be doing the show, but spot Sydneysider Alexandra Agoston-O'Connor on the runway. Now modelling fulltime, Agoston-O'Connor in fact walked in Dior's January show.

I head backstage afterwards to find her and others and wait while two dressers unbutton and peel off the long violet gloves she was wearing to go with her grape-coloured, column. She's a tall girl but in those monstrously high heels, Agoston-O'Connor looks like a small giraffe. While I am waiting to talk to her, I spot Gemma Ward who I did not even realise had been in the show. With all the hats and styling, it was hard to make out who was who.

We had a quick chat:

I heard that you might be back this week to do a couple of shows. Did you do Balmain on Sunday?
Gemma Ward: No I've just done Balenciaga and Dior.

You've been working on a couple of films haven't you?
Yeah, I just did a film in Australia.

How did it [The Black Balloon] go?
It was really, really great, thank-you. I had a great time.

When is that coming out?
I think maybe the end of the year for the film festivals and then next year.

I think you've developed an American accent.
Have I? Well I didn't notice.

What about the other film?
It's called The Strangers. I think that comes out this Halloween.

How are you balancing the two?
Yeah it's trying to keep both in place at the moment. It's a lot of work.

Which do you enjoy the most?
I can't say. Because I really enjoy going between the two because it's almost like you're on a film set and then kind of ease into the schedule and you get to know everyone. Fashion is so fast, fast, fast, go, go, go. But then after a while you kind of want to get back in that again so both of them kind of even each other out and keep each other exciting.

There were three Australian models in this show, did you realise that?
[Surprised] Really?

Apart from Alexandra Agoston-O'Connor, there's Catherine McNeill - have you heard about her?
No.

From nowhere, she has just done all these major shows.
[Sincere - and enthusiastic] Wow. That's great.

Everyone always talks about 'the next Gemma Ward' but she really does appear to be just that. You had an exclusive with Prada in your first season though didn't you?
Yeah.

Last week she opened Missoni, Alessandro dell'Aqua...
No way! That's great.

It's kind of an Australian invasion of the runways then isn't it?
[Emphatic] Yes. I would hope so. I love Australians.

Is that unusual on this side of the world?
Yeah. Kind of.

Do you think there's a sudden flavour for Australian models at the moment?
Yeah - oh well I don't know. But I'm keeping my eye out for them.

What's your position on the skinny model situation? There was some speculation this time last year that you in fact weren't quite so skinny....
Well, you know, again I don't want to comment on that.


I wait in line to interview Galliano but then spot Barton en route out the backstage exit. Here's what she had to say about the show:

Mischa Barton: I thought it was gorgeous. I thought all the girls looked amazing and the clothes were great colours and great cuts.

Would you wear anything in the collection?
There were some there that I think were very wearable and really gorgeous, yeah.

What about the hats?
The hats were crazy. They were great though, I mean it's a whole look.

Kate Bosworth came to Australia recently as well, to the Melbourne Cup and they couldn't get her into a hat. Think it might catch on?
Catch on? I don't know - yeah maybe! It would be quite good if everyone started wearing hats again.

I return to the queue, which doesn't appear to be any shorter, and despair. I have one other opportunity to talk to Galliano this week - after his Saturday night show.

As I ponder leaving to catch the next show, American actress Marisa Berenson walks to the backstage exit as well.

Berenson, it should be noted, is Schiaparelli's granddaughter. She's a regular at these shows but her presence today is serendipitous.

Or is it? According to reports in WWD, Italian group Tod's SPA quietly acquired rights to the Schiaparelli brand and since July last year, there has been speculation about a Schiaparelli revival, with everyone from Giles Deacon to Behnaz Sarafpour, Matthew Williamson and Olivier Theyskens - obviously before Theyskens was lured to Rochas - floated as potential designers. There has however also been speculation that Tod's might offload the brand. An interesting one to watch.

Here's the Q&A with Berenson:

Did you enjoy the show?
Marisa Berenson: I adored the show. I thought it was extraordinary. I thought it was just elegant and glamorous and there's a need for that again. And [for] I think a lot of dream in this world that is cold and hard and difficult. And in those moments where you know one can sort of bring beauty and joy to the way one looks and feels and just spending half an hour looking at these clothes is enough to give one an 'up'.

I was trying to work out the exact period while watching the show - it seemed both 40s and at times, 50s. But your grandmother was also working much earlier than that.
My grandmother was 30s and 40s and it's very much inspired by that era, by all those colours - 'Shocking Pink', she was the one who really was the queen of Shocking Pink. And all those incredible embroideries. She inspired so many people.

Did you know that was going to be the theme before you arrived?
No, I didn't. It was a surprise. I thought it was just a wonderful surprise.

So what was it like growing up with the grande dame of surrealist couture?
She was an amazing woman. But you know when you grow up with somebody like that you, retrospectively she had stopped designing. So when I was little I didn't see that whole side of life.

But there would have been incredible archives etc...
Oh yes of course I have the archives.

Do you think it's a shame that the Schiaparelli brand now consists of not much more than some stockings?
Oh I do, I do and I think it's going to probably come back.

Really? Who actually owns the Schiaparelli brand?
[Evasive] I don't know that I can say...

Somebody that she licensed it to presumably?
No - it's been bought but it hasn't been announced yet.

Do you have something to do with it?
No - I have nothing to do with it.

So we may see a renaissance of Schiaparelli in the not too distant future?
Well, you may, yes. I think it should be. It's been a while since I think somebody should take that name and do something with it. And I'm hoping that they're going to do something great with it.

Who would you like to see design it?
I don't know. That's something that I'm wondering actually.

Would you have any kind of consulting role?
I don't think so. For the moment it's just happened so I'm not... I think it hasn't been announced yet.

Private equity group?
No no.

Big company then?
[Grimaces]

Oh - like LVMH?
Something like that.

Original post and comments.