The faces of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia SS 13/14

holly rose emery backstage at flannel SS1314

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is done and dusted for another year. Who were the top showgirls - and guys? Frockwriter asked all the major Sydney booking agencies for their top models at the event and here is the result. Yes there were a couple of high profile ring ins who flew in for show exclusives - Georgia May Jagger for Camilla and Hanne Gaby Odiele for Ellery. The list of 41 names, below, includes four other internationals (Solveig Hansen, Juliette Fazekas, Alanna Whittaker and Isabelle Sauer). Interestingly, however, the list is dominated by a plethora of new local faces who have never previously appeared at the event. Some recently profiled by frockwriter, notably Kiwi Holly Rose Emery, April Tiplady and Gabby Dover. Great to see some of Australia's biggest international runway names back in town supporting the local industry and it was no surprise at all to find Nicole Pollard, Julia Nobis and Ruby Jean Wilson at the top of the list. What is perhaps surprising is to see a newcomer such as Emery also at the very top of the list, ranked by her show numbers (not including off-schedule shows from the week before). 

MBFWA's top showgirls

Julia Nobis owned the runways of last year's Australian Fashion Week. Nobis had far bigger fashion fish to fry this year in the northern hemisphere, leaving the Australian Spring/Summer 2012/2013 field earlier this month wide open to the score of Australians rising up behind her. Last month, frockwriter published the MBFWA showcards of Australia's major model agencies; in each case a mix of runway veterans and promising new faces. So who had the busiest schedules at this year's event? We asked the agencies to name their top showgirls. 

The Distance Between: LIFEwithBIRD - Spring/Summer 12/13

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is a fortnight away and the off-schedule action has begun. This morning, under the spectacular raw concrete arched ceiling of the Utzon Room inside the Sydney Opera House - directly across the harbour from MBFWA's Overseas Passenger Terminal base - Bridget McCall and Nicholas van Messner presented the Spring/Summer 2012/2013 collection of their LIFEwithBIRD label, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.