Did we say Tallulah Morton had nixed modelling for art? Yes we did. That didn’t stop her from walking 12 shows at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week last month. And today, comes word from Sasha Strebe that White Sands designer Leah Madden has been photographing a mystery "supermodel" who looks very much like Morton on the Gold Coast. Frockwriter checked with Morton’s mother agency Scene Models, which confirmed that she has indeed booked an ad campaign with the Gold Coast-based swimwear label - its first ever, according to Scene - although that's just a lookbook being photographed today. The main campaign won't be shot for another month, reports Scene. In the interim, Morton won’t be twiddling her thumbs. Next week she will shoot the second of two new Harpers Bazaar Australia editorials, this one on Lord Howe Island. Morton will virtually step off that plane and board another on the 27th bound for Munich, where she has been booked to walk in an Escada runway show. She may also do Berlin Fashion Week, which runs July 7-10. Morton is currently on holidays from TAFE and while in Germany, also plans do an internship with a yet-to-be-named Berlin artist.
Frockwriter profiled some of the designers and a few of the bloggers of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, but what about the models? Sadly we ran out of time in the leadup and our planned RAFW newbies post remained unfinished in story drafts. But we did photograph quite a few models as we went along, in our Twitter/Posterous feed and show photo galleries (which have also, conveniently, been archived on Facebook – thanks Posterous). But we also wanted to check with each of the major Sydney agencies to see which of their models were the busiest at the event. Some of their nominated newbies were included. Of course there were many, many other models who worked during the week and it’s not necessarily about who pulled the most shows. There was in fact an exceptionally strong cross-section of Australian model experience on RAFW's runways this season. As distinct from runway diversity, which Australian designers - like their New Zealandcounterparts - have yet to fully embrace, with Asian and black models still fighting hard for visibility above the bevy of über-popular blondes and Europeans. "It's like they'll only use a black girl if there's a tribal theme to the collection" noted one observer.
Myf Shepherd has been booking some fantastic work of late - an edgy new editorial for Numéro (below) and this February cover for Dazed + Confused Japan, above (adjacent to Tallulah Morton's cover of French magazine Velvet). But frockwriter can reveal that, as she indeed hinted she may do back in September, Shepherd is taking a definite break from the modelling business. Although she may do some direct bookings, we will not be seeing her on any runways this year according to her mother agency Chic Management, while Shepherd remains Australia-based to focus on tertiary studies. University? Ah, no yes. Apparently there aren't enough drama queens in the fashion business for Shepherd, who is planning to study set design, as in theatre set design, at a yet-to-be-disclosed institution [UPDATE: Shepherd reports she will be doing a Bachelor of Design at Sydney's College of Fine Arts).
"She wants to take time out, she wants to have some time back in Australia. A lot of girls take time out. Some might start later, some might start earlier and then take a break. I don't think it's unusual. I think it's great for her".
After the Spring/Summer 2009 haute couture shows, she then clocked up another 62 shows in the Fall/Winter 0910 season, more than any other Australian model. Her advertising work has included Gucci, Sonia Rykiel, Levi's and DKNY Jeans, with several covers, including Vogue Australia. Here is her CV from models.com. It's not bad for a year and a half's work.
But Shepherd did not have a great Spring/Summer 2010 season, surprising many by walking in just a handful of shows at New York Fashion Week last September.
According to Kathy Ward, Shepherd will be returning to modelling in early 2011.
And she's not the only Australian model to be taking some time out.
Tallulah Morton's Australian agent Vikki Graham recently told The Sunday Telegraph's Ros Reines that Morton is taking a break to pursue Fine Arts studies.
According to frockwriter's sources however, Morton has been bandying about the term "quit".
First emerging at Australian Fashion Week in May 2005 at the age of just 13, Morton had a confident debut at New York Fashion Week in September the following year. She was however unable to gain any immediate international momentum, due, it seems, largely to the stringent child work regulations in France (the latter certainly appeared to prevent even rising Polish star Monika Jagaciak from working in Paris until her 16th birthday on January 15th this year).
For the past 18 months however, Morton's off-field antics - as catalogued by Mark 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter - have overshadowed her professional work.
Yes this news will be disappointing to fans of both models. Modelling is, however, a high pressure industry - particularly at the elite level. And at the end of the day, there's more to life than work. Particularly when you've punched more time clocks than your average teenager.
Herewith an exclusive preview of Sonny Vandevelde's backstage portfolio from Myer's SS0910 show last night in Sydney, in which we saw a lot of colour, a lot of dresses, "statement shoulders", as Myer face Jennifer Hawkins referred to the silhouette in our video chat - even if 'the Balenciaga shoulder' is what we called it at RAFW four months ago - and rather a lot of eveningwear. The show commenced with an eveningwear medley from various designers and closed with Aurelio Costarella, the Perth eveningwear specialist who has spent the past few years showing at New York Fashion Week. And who told frockwriter last night that, GFC notwithstanding, there are still plenty of Australian women who think of nothing of spending $2500 on a special dress. Costarella also observed that showing in New York is "less stressful" than showing in Sydney.
Toni Maticevski's new Maticevski Sweethearts line also enjoyed an outing. That's Maticevksi's new bridesmaid-skewed line of dresses that is fully customizable up to a size 24. Did any plus size models get a guernsey in that section? Not a chance. After making such a song and dance about including plus size models in Myer's suburban shows, it seemed like a lost opportunity at last night's high-profile launch event.
The cast included Australian haute couture queen Alexandra Agoston, fresh from the Paris couture shows, ANTM Cycle 5 winner Tahnee Atkinson, Rachel Rutt, Simone Kerr, runway veteran Tanya G and Tallulah Morton.
Tallulah Morton is about to add a Nylon editorial to her modelling portfolio. We know this thanks to an iv Morton just recorded with Nylon Guys (and tks models.com for the headsup). Part of a new Nylon TV series called 'Model Citizen', the video was recorded during a recent shoot for Nylon’s denim issue, for which Morton was shot by, you guessed it, Mark Hunter. Apparently in the middle of having lunch while he recorded his piece-to-camera, Hunter is seen to be licking his fingers as he intros the video. Click here for a Morton/Cobrasnake backgrounder. The video is interesting for several reasons. It reports that Morton was discovered at the age of 11, that she harbours a secret ambition to be a monster truck driver and that she has appeared on the covers of Australian Vogue, Marie Claire and Harpers Bazaar. That’s fantastic news. If only it were true. Morton may have shot editorial for these titles but the only Australian covers that appear on her portfolio on the website of her mother agency Scene are indie titles RUSSH and Follow.
Although Morton declines to give her age to Nylon she is nevertheless shot taking a sip of something that could be beer, from a wine glass – and you have to wonder whether this shot was deliberately engineered to provoke commentary, given how much there has already been on the subject of Morton's underage drinking. For the record, Morton is 17.
It is possible that the beverage was non alcoholic.
However it is also possible Nylon serves alcohol to minors on shoots. According to sources, the same applies to at least one local indie Australasian title.
Of course it is not unheard of for models to drink on the job or for champagne to be served backstage at fashion shows.
But while we're on the subject, frockwriter would just like to point out that she has never personally witnessed models served alcohol just as they are about to step onto a runway.
Which is why we were interested to read this backstage report on IsaacLikes that Jean Paul Gaultier served "all" his models champagne “moments” before they took to the runway on Wednesday.
Gaultier’s cast included at least one minor – American Karlie Kloss.
Equally interesting was the attempt by one industry insider to shut this information down on the blog.
In a series of comments, the anonymous insider initially requested that the information be deleted, noting, of Kloss:
“She's still underage in paris and posting something like that will get her, her agency, and those at jpg all in trouble. it's happened before and VISAs have been revoked for that fact”.
All was apparently forgiven however when the blogger jumped to attention to assure the insider that the American model singled out in the anecdote, who reportedly knocked back her champagne flute a little too quickly and then burped loudly, was definitely over age.
Morton was not in the show, as some expected she might have been. Although she walked in both the Jean Paul Gaultier and Hermès Fall/Winter 0910 shows in Paris in March, Morton's last JPG haute couture show was this time last year.
According to Scene, Morton recently had her wisdom teeth removed and has taken some time off work while the swelling goes down.
Over the past fortnight I’ve been called a Fun, Fearless Female (thanks Cosmo), a Creative Catalyst (thanks Creative Sydney) and a c***face (thanks Tallulah Morton – who has since self-censored her MySpace page). And although I am still scratching my head over my inclusion on the inaugural Creative Catalysts list, I feel very honoured to have been ranked amongst such a creative coterie. I must admit, I did chuckle when I read that I had been accorded a nod for services including “...testing the limits of the online medium” – and consider it a vote of confidence in all the RAFW Twitter artists, and of course, the Bluralism movement. Last night, I had the great pleasure of taking part in a Creative Sydney panel event called Reaching the World, which included the following speakers.
For anyone unfamiliar with the latter title, the name refers to to the Walt Disney character Dumbo the circus elephant, who believed he needed a magic feather to fly.
Four times a year, Bezar publishes five 4,500-word interviews with people who have pursued their creative passions and dreams.
My favourite line of the evening came from Bowers, the first speaker, who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival but claims to have been told by one Australian television executive:
“Australian television isn’t ready for you yet”.
Having worked in Australian commercial television, I don’t doubt her for a moment.
Presumably what needs to happen for Bowers to get a mainstream media guernsey here is to first be discovered by an international network - and then return a star.
It's wonderful to see creativity being celebrated in Australia for once – and not just sport. I could have listened to the speakers for the entire evening and would highly recommend others make an effort to attend the remaining events.
Well done to organiser/panel moderator Jess Scully and the Creative Sydney team – not to mention the NSW government, which has funded the initiative.
It would be great to see an ongoing program like this roll out around Australia.
As noted by Scully in her signoff last night, let’s keep this conversation going people.
Speaking of the Cobrasnake and models, it’s been the longest time since we’ve had a Cobrasnake/Tallulah Morton update. But now, back by popular demand – and due in no small part to the fact that the now 17, but still technically underage Morton, continues to avail herself for such prestigephoto diaries – here is the duo’s latest effort. It was just shot in and around an Adidas party at Frank Sinatra's former Palm Springs residence, Twin Palms, pegged on another collaboration between the sports giant and LA-based designer Jeremy Scott, and attended by, among others, Peaches Geldof and Kanye West. In post-party pics - several of which show a barefoot Morton standing in the middle of a highway - she looks, once again, to be very much the worse for wear. As has been pointed out in comments on previous posts however, this is no different to what most of the kids up in Morton's home town of Murwillumbah would be getting up to in the wee hours of a Sunday morning after a big pissup so really, what's the problem?
No word yet on the chances of seeing Morton at RAFW but we will keep you posted. (UPDATE 21/04: Morton will not be in Sydney for RAFW. According to her Oz mother agency Scene Models, Morton is currently in New York, where she is on hold for a major denim campaign that is due to be shot next week. Options aside, one international campaign that Morton definitely has in the bag is H&M - recently shot in Mauritius and Africa).
Priscillas confirms that Morton's great mate, and fellow Cobrasnake inductee, Stephanie Carta will definitely be in town. Rumours that Carta will be blogging from RAFW for vogue.com.au are, insists Priscillas, just idle gossip.
Shame, given the entertainment value of Carta's last blog.
Apart from a few shows at London Fashion Week, and a couple of low profile Milan shows, Tallulah Morton's FW0910 season has yet to take off. With the Paris leg just kicked off however, things may pick up (07/03: Morton appeared overnight in several Paris shows, notably Christian Dior and Vivienne Westwood). Meanwhile, here's a preview of Morton's latest cover - the 5th edition of New Zealand's NO magazine, courtesy Kiwi blog The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes. Yes that's the cover/editorial that was shot by Mark 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter, in somewhatcontroversial circumstances, a couple of months back. This is one of two covers of the edition - the second depicting New Zealand actress, stuntwoman and Quentin Tarantino acolyte, Zoe Bell.
And notbeforetime. In July, Tallulah Morton’s mother agency in Sydney told frockwriter the then 16 year-old had a good shot at the August/September cover of indie Italian fashion magazine Velvet. That cover did not eventuate - and nor did Morton’s Spring/Summer 2009 runway season, which came to an abrupt halt after the New York leg. Four months later, after consecutive editorials in the magazine’s September and October editions, Morton has finally made Velvet’s January 2009 cover. Not yet out on the stands, this represents her first international magazine cover.
Thanks to The Fashion Spot for the scan – and Guillaume at the Marilyn agency in Paris for double-confirming that the Marcus Ohlsson shot is in fact Morton.
Given that her face is covered by a veil, it’s a little hard to tell.
Marilyn reports that Morton shot 15-18 pages of editorial with Ohlsson for this issue.
How much appears in the published edition remains to be seen, however the cover shot looks to have come from this lingerie editorial, which is similarly styled with a scarf wrapped around Morton’s face (somewhat reminiscent of the Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb fragrance ad campaign).
Tallulah-gate rocks on, with 16 year-old Oz module Tallulah Morton popping up overnight in a video interview with her great mate, and apparently defacto media advisor, Mark 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter, on NZ cable fashion show The Seen. Throughout the iv, Morton giggles like the schoolgirl that she would be - if she hadn’t quit highschool to model fulltime. According to sources, not only did Morton not have any local agency representation on the ground throughout the interview, she didn’t even have any pants on. Clutching a giant Jaeha faux fox stole as a modesty panel, Morton did the entire interview in a pair of knickers. Much to the chagrin of the tv crew – members of which valiantly tried to get Morton to put her jeans on, to no avail. Hunter, meanwhile, is having a little vernissage tonight at Ksubi’s Bondi store. The title of the exhibition? “Too Young”. Oh the irony.
In ksubi’s press material, the exhibition is described as a showcase of:
“200 photos of young girls from The Cobrasnake’s photo blog; shot in London, Paris, LA, New York, Tokyo and Sydney over the last four years”.
Here’s the video interview, done by Isaac Hindin Miller. In the iv, Hunter – who says he is 22, but seems older, although perhaps that’s due to all the partying – describes himself as “an expert photographer” and Morton as “the Next Big Thing” in New York.
Well, she once was - and let's hope that is still the case.
Incidentally, Morton recently severed ties with the world's biggest model agency, IMG, which previously repped her in New York.
Four months after controversial party photographs of 16 year-old Australian model Tallulah Morton first surfaced on the high profile website of US party snapper Mark ‘The Cobrasnake’ Hunter – and kept on surfacing – yet more classy Cobrasnake party snaps of La Morton have appeared. The latest were taken in Auckland over the weekend at a party for No Magazine.
There to celebrate the first anniversary of the quarterly indie Kiwi mag – whose fourth cover, of Peaches Geldof, was taken by Hunter – Morton and Hunter appear to have been the guests of honour.
Morton lived up to her reputation as a hard partying gal, snapped arm-in-arm with other partygoers, couch and podium dancing and even handing out poppers. That's poppers of the innocuous streamer variety, frockwriter trusts – as we trust that was mere orange juice being knocked back by Morton, who is of course still under the legal drinking age in Australia and New Zealand.
I did not mention it at the time, because frankly, I thought I'd give her a break, but the fact is, Morton was wandering around the party which followed Myer's Sydney show in August, with a glass of champagne in her hand.
At a big party, that was crawling with photographers, that’s really a great look for a 16 year-old who had made the news in Australia several weeks beforehand over a series of Paris party shots.
In the latter photographs, taken by Hunter, Morton had looked very much under the weather, whilst holding a magnum of Absolut vodka.
Morton's mother agency, Scene Models, laughed off the Paris party shots at the time.
"Tallulah is always such a responsible young lady, and this seems out of character. She always has someone in each country with her when away and is always with a chaperone, so it would appear the pictures are being made out to be more than what they actually are."
Although some assumed Morton might have consolidated her nascent international runway career in the Spring/Summer 2009 season, as revealed by frockwriter in late September, Morton was recalled to Australia after the season’s New York leg, after failing to shake a nagging flu.
The Troyt Coburn editorial that we mentioned was coming up in Australian Vogue’s December issue is now out. The spread is called, funnily enough, 'Indecent Exposure'. Speculation in Auckland suggests that Hunter may be shooting Morton for the next No Magazine cover today.
Morton would appear to have definitely supplanted Kennedy as Hunter’s muse.
Although denied by Morton, there is much speculation that Morton and Hunter may even be romantically linked. Shots of Morton brushing her teeth in what one assumes is an Auckland hotel room, don't really help quell that speculation. But look, we're sure it's great for Hunter's image as a playboy.
As for Morton's image, it should be noted that Cory Kennedy was a teenage nobody before being snapped by Hunter and transformed into an overnight net celebrity.
Morton, on the other hand, is a professional model who was being paid for her image from the age of 13. Her career, or at least the kind of career to which one assumes Morton and her management aspire, hinges on the propensity for prestige international publications and luxury fashion and beauty brands to continue to pay her for it – because they think her look aligns with their brands.
Is she at risk of cheapening that image by continuing to give it away in this way?
They’re dropping like flies. And I’m not talking about the stiletto stacks. Just a week after frockwriter revealed that Catherine McNeil will be missing Milan and Paris because she’s "unwell” (and didn’t that snippet get a whiparound), comes word that Tallulah Morton is back in Sydney trying to shake a nasty flu.
Morton did do a number of shows in New York however according to her agent Vikki Graham, flew straight back to Sydney immediately afterwards - where, in spite of the bug, she managed to shoot a Troyt Coburn editorial for the December issue of Vogue Australia.
This is somewhat amusing, given separate accounts from London's Daily Mail and style.com’s Tim Blanks, that Morton walked in Vivienne Westwood’s Red label show at London Fashion Week.
Morton did not make the recent cover of Italian fashion glossy Velvet, as Graham had hoped, but Velvet has nevertheless just run two consecutive fashion shoots featuring Morton in its September and October editions.
There is also some upcoming editorial in Tush magazine. Just to clarify, that's an indie Danish fashion glossy.
In the interim, candid shots of Morton out and about in New York and Paris continue to saturate Marc 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter’s website. Whether that’s a good thing for her career remains to be seen.
There’s always next season – and she is still only 16.
And at least Morton does not have to contend with the season’s ongoing shoe drama – which raises at the very least Occupational Health and Safety concerns.
One modelling source tells frockwriter that at the recent Berlin Fashion Week, after spotting some dangerously high plastic platforms at one fashion brand’s casting, an agency rep point blank refused to allow its models to continue the casting or work in the show.
As the agent was walking out the door, a model from a slightly more laissez-faire agency fell in the shoes and snapped her ankle.
We know Tallulah Morton is mates with Marc ‘the Cobrasnake’ Hunter – she’s been plastered all over his party pages before. There’s even been some suggestion that they are more than just friends (although she denied it two weeks ago). But what to make of the Cobrasnake’s latest photo portfolio that’s a total Tallulah dedication?
Called Totally Tallulah, the pictures show Morton out and about in Manhattan.
And look it’s not that Morton has had all this spare time on her hands because she hasn’t been busy treading the catwalk. In addition to the Rubin Singer, Michael Angel, Ruffian, Hanii Y and ADAM shows which I mentioned two days ago, her newer shows have included Betsey Johnson and Tibi.
And there are yet more Morton pics over on the Cobrasnake’s Betsey Johnson reportage:
"she's quickly logging more film time than anyone else this season, thanks to her crazy spirit, her willingness to jump into dumpsters and ice cream trucks, and yeah, her flame-throwing eyes."
[Thanks to Kiwi blogger Imogen, who's um, 15, for the headsup]
Well Tallulah did touch down in NY after all. As I type, she is walking (^) in the official opener of New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park – the show of Aussie expat Michael Angel. In a quiet lull just minutes before the show started, I had a quick chat with Angel over the phone.
So…nervous? Michael Angel: Of course I’m nervous. I’m very awake. I mean I had to be here at 6am - call time.
It’s quite a big deal to be given the opening slot. Yeah it is. And at the same time as well, IMG have been very supportive. And to put me in that time slot and to have me do this, it is an honour. And hopefully I can show something that wakes everyone up at 9am.
Tell me about the collection, quickly. I read on your blog that you were a little inspired by Freddie Mercury? What it was based on was me listening to a lot of ‘70s rock music. I described the girl for the season…like the bottom half of her is Freddie Mercury and the top half of her is a bit of Stevie [Nicks] and Kate Bush and Led Zeppelin. It really isn’t anyone specific, it’s just me listening to a lot of that music and then going off and designing.
So take me through some of the silhouettes. OK, well we’ve got a mixed panelled metallic dress, which is one of my favourites. It’s a really short panelled metallic dress and it’s silver, blue and light blue. There’s also the metallic blazer, which is new for me. I also did some swimwear. Also very important for me this season was beading. Taking my prints and making them three dimensional.
Prints have really been your signature up until now haven’t they? Yeah, well you know, this collection especially. What I did was I took the prints to the next level and made the prints about movement…
You have come from left of field really. I mean you worked as a stylist in Australia and then left to work for Oakley in the US. Then suddenly, Michael Angel is about to show a collection in New York. I didn’t really keep it under the radar. I just really did my thing and then when the time was right for it to be out there, it was time. I really wanted to put a lot of heart and soul into it and I wanted it to be right because you know, it’s been a dream of mine for a long time to do this. But it had to be right. I didn’t want to just send something out because I had to.
So you’re self-taught? Josh Goot is self-taught, so is Ben Pollitt. I’m all self-taught. I mean I draw, I’m an illustrator, I draw each look, I draw each piece and then take it to the finished product.
You have also had quite a lot of press support over there. Have you had any editorial at all in Australia since you launched last year? No, because the clothes are not available [in Australia] and not a lot of Australian media knew that I was doing a collection.
When do you think you are going to start the show? In five minutes.
Tallulah’s not opening [Iekeliene Stange is opening] but she’s in the show - is she the only Australian model in it? Yes she is. Tallulah’s in it - but Nicole Trunfio is also here to support me.
Best of luck and I really look forward to seeing [and posting] the shots. Thank-you.
Headed up by (then) international runway virgin Abbey Lee Kershaw, a swag of new Australian modelling faces led the charge in the FW0809 season. With the New York shows just days away, the question is, which new Australians are going to clean up on the Spring/Summer 09 runways?
Beyond Australian Fashion Week's SS0809 shows in May and a few appearances at the Resort 09 shows in New York in July, both models are new to the international show circuit.
Over the weekend one web forum hinted that Shepherd [pictured below] might be a potential to open Prada.
Also over the weekend, influential US casting blog COACD predicted that Shepherd will be:
New York magazine has just nominated Stephens as one of its Top 10 "new girls of the season" - the only Australian in the magazine's new SS09 faces lineup. The magazine predicts that Stephens will be seen (one would hope at the very least):
"At editors' favorites Alexander Wang and Zero Maria Cornejo"
Over the past fortnight Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 3 winner Alice Burdeu, who had a strong OS debut at the FW0809 shows in February and March, has appeared not once, but twice, in the personal blog of models.com co-founder Wayne Sterling.
On Saturday, Sterling snapping Burdeu (L below) and a handful of other girls who Sterling describes as "Elite's leading light", en route to the Arthur Ashe Stadium, to watch the opening night of the US Open from the private box of Elite owner Eddie Trump:
Tallulah Morton meanwhile is most definitely well-placed.
Although buoyed by Australian hype as "the next Gemma Ward" back in 2005 and 2006, Morton made one false start in New York exactly two years ago for the SS07 season - walking in a number of New York shows, but failing to break into any other city's runways that season.
Morton was just 14 at the time.
Here is Morton's agency show card as shown on COACD in September 2006:
At 16, Morton has a wealth of modelling experience behind her.
She made an impressive Paris debut at the FW0809 shows earlier this year, walking in 10 shows, including Jean Paul Gaultier - for whom, as frockwriterrecently pointed out, Morton appears to be emerging as a bit of a muse.
Morton reappeared at the haute couture shows in July, has been shooting editorial and making some influential friends. A case in point, high profile US party snapper Mark 'the Cobrasnake' Hunter, whose shots of Morton partying in Paris recently ruffled feathers (after they appeared on Hunter's website - and this blog picked up the story).
I had a quick chat with Morton at last week's Myer show in Sydney. And yes I am well aware there are media ethics guidelines in place vis-a-vis interviewing minors.
These lines start getting a little blurred however when minors are thrust into the public spotlight from the age of 13 - and notably when they work in a professional environment with no chaperone in tow. As was the case, at least, on Wednesday night.
So you’ve been really busy in Paris – doing a lot of work with Jean Paul Gaultier. Tallulah Morton: It’s been good. I’m loving Paris and everything about it.
How long are you back in Australia for? Just for a few weeks actually. I might be heading out to New York on Sunday.
For New York Fashion Week? Yes – well maybe, I’m not sure yet.
[Her agent] Vicky Graham was recently talking about a potential cover of Italian magazine Velvet. Has that come out yet? I’m not sure. I think maybe it comes out next month.
Is it definitely the cover? No, I have no idea. It was just an option.
So what else have you been doing? I’ve been, you know, just having fun in Sydney. Seeing my friends and my boyfriend. Enjoying the winter.
But you’ve been in Paris over summer. Yeah – it’s so beautiful over there.
Did you get into trouble over the Cobrasnake pictures? Oh …I don’t know… Mark’s a good friend of mine and…
A very good friend apparently – judging by some shots of the two of you that are circulating online. No, just a good friend.
Was anyone cranky about the party shots? They were all over his website. No comment. [laughs]
Have you been optioned for any SS09 shows? Yes.
Can you tell me which ones? Not really. I don’t know…. It depends.
Which shows are you expecting to do? I’m not sure.
So what else have you been doing workwise? Velvet and Marie Claire India... a few overseas ones.
Do you still love modelling? [Thinks] Yeah.
You’ve been doing it for quite a long time already. I know. About four years now even.
And yet you’re still only 16. Are you kind of glad it’s all happening now rather than two years ago when you first went overseas? Yeah it’s definitely better that it’s happening now.
You’re mates with Stephanie Carta aren’t you? I love Steph, she’s a good friend of mine.
There are so many Australian girls now. Yeah there’s heaps overseas at the moment.
Do you know/keep in contact with them? I’m not really friends with a lot of models.
Good luck - looking forward to seeing you on the SS09 runways. Thank you!
Another day, another Australian model enjoys a little Big Apple buzz. Nice to see that this one has her clothes on. Overnight top model industry blog Confessions of a Casting Director (COACD) featured 16 year-old Tallulah Morton.
It’s a simple post. Four Polaroids, the headline “Tallulah at Marilyn” (her agency) and one succinct line:
“All grown up and looking fabulous”.
There were seven comments the last time I checked, several of which also clocked the Karlie Kloss resemblance which has previously struck me. Top US newcomer Kloss was not on the scene when Morton first emerged in 2005-2006.
Modelling is about having the right “look” at the right time, and it seems that Morton's time is rapidly approaching.
Gemma Ward, many will recall, was swiftly followed by lookalike Russian Sasha Pivovarova.
Another key issue of course is the fact that at 16, Morton is now of a more manageable age vis-a-vis international work, given the under-16 age restrictions in several markets.
One place where Morton won’t be able to get any work however is the David Jones runway show – due to DJs 'decision last week to ban all models aged under 18 from the show.
Because, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, doesn't today's lead story in the SMH's back-page gossip column Stay In Touch, about Tallulah Morton partying in Paris, look awfully familiar?
Given that the SMH'sMiro Kubicek story in Saturday's back-page gossip column Private Sydney was first done by frockwriter on Monday 7th July moreover, that makes two stories in three SMH editions that were first done by this blog.
What a coincidence!
But look it's dandy that the SMH has not let go of the Tallulah trail, given that one of the first media snippets on Morton, if not the first, was done by the SMH during Australian Fashion Week way back in May 2005 (and by me).
At the time I suggested readers stand by to see if Morton cracked the inaugural cover of Mark Vassallo's new Follow magazine. Which she did, at the tender age of 13 (see above^/Scene Models).
As we mentioned on July 4th, stand by now to see if Morton scores what her Australian agent Vikki Graham reports may be her first international cover: indie Italian fashion magazine Velvet.
Tallulah Morton at the Lonchamp party, Paris, July 2/thecobrasnake
Great to see Tallulah Morton doing so well in gay Paree. Just last week frockwriter asked: with four show nods from Jean Paul Gaultier in four months, could she be JPG’s new muse? As these currently-circulating shots from the hugely popular website of high profile party snapper Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter demonstrate, Morton has been out on the town toasting her Euro success – with some assistance from compatriot Stephanie “Raking it in” Carta.
Tallulah Morton and Stephanie Carta, Paris. July 6/thecobrasnake
Although at 16 of course, technically Morton doesn’t require an adult chaperone.
She is still, nevertheless, below the legal Australian drinking age.
Cooling off after a Jalouse magazine party. June 28/thecobrasnake
In fact there are are so many shots of Morton currently on Hunter's website - and shots of Morton and Hunter published elsewhere - that some have wondered if there might be a litte romance in the air.
Tallulah Morton, Olivier Zahm and Stephanie Carta, Lonchamp party, Paris. July 2/thecobrasnake
Over several nights of party pics Morton also looks to be whooping it up with Olivier Zahm.
That’s the fortysomething French publisher of Purple – a hipper-than-hip French fashion mag, in which many up-and-coming models would presumably love to feature.
Judging by his front row status at every show at which I have ever seen Zahm, clearly he is considered to be hugely influential.
And the breadth of Zahm's influence looks to be matched by that of his ego.
On what appears to be Zahm’s MySpace page, he uses a photograph of himself inspecting a woman’s ass at very close range, together with the following quote that he attributes to Helmut Newton:
"You should feel that, under the right conditions, all women would be available."
Tallulah Morton in Jean Paul Gaultier's FW0809 haute couture show, July 2nd/Style.com
Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquière has Stephanie Carta. Could compatriot French designer Jean Paul Gaultier also be going for an Oz model muse in Tallulah Morton? Three years after the now 16 year-old first emerged at Australian Fashion Week, opening Josh Goot's debut AFW show, Morton appeared in not one but two Gaultier shows in Paris over the past week.
First up, she was one of a handful of female models in JGP's SS09 menswear show. Then on Wednesday, Morton walked in his haute couture show [above^].
Morton moved to Paris in February and is now repped there by the Marilyn agency. She walked in an impressive ten FW0809 shows in her firstParis season, including Christian Dior, Ungaro, Kenzo, John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan, Gaultier and also Hermès, whose creative director is of course....Gaultier.
This now makes in fact four Gaultier shows for Morton in the space of four months.
According to Vikki Graham, who heads up Morton's Sydney mother agency Scene Models, Morton was recently handpicked by Gaultier to appear in an upcoming Hermès retrospective editorial feature in Paris.
Graham reports there is quite some new Morton fashion editorial about to hit the stands, including Italian fashion magazines Muse and Velvet. Morton is due to appear on the latter's August/September cover and in 18 pages of editorial.
After her appearance at Goot's AFW debut - and tipped as "the next Gemma Ward" - the subsequently much-hyped Morton appeared in a multitude of Australian fashion editorials and advertising campaigns.
In September 2006, when she was still only 14, she made her international runway debut at the SS07 shows in New York. Two weeks later she failed to show up on the European runways.
According to Graham this was primarily due to the restrictions imposed on under-16 models in Europe, notably Paris.
With models such as Tanya D working steadily across the world from the age of 14 however, it is clearly not impossible for under-16s to get the appropriate paperwork cleared.
In Paris that season, one casting source told me that he believed the real reason why Morton failed to take off on the Paris runways was because she was "too chunky".
Experience is increasingly dictating of course that in Paris/Milan model biz speak, "too chunky" may be code for "you don't look anorexic".
So, did Morton "tone up" as they say in the modelling biz? Or has she simply finally emerged in the right place at the right time?
According to Graham there were never any weight issues. Morton lost "maximum two kilos" prior to her Paris move, said Graham, but that was due to a new training regime.
"It was more about trying top get her into toning up her teenage body and getting her into good [eating] habits" noted Graham. "Not a single agency said to me that she needs to lose weight".
She added, "What they all said was, 'Get her here as soon as you can'".
______________________________________________________________________________________ Web links to this post: TFS
Bindi Irwin has been a hot button topic in Australia since Steve Irwin’s death. No surprises then perhaps, that most of yesterday’s flack on this blog about Bindi’s new fashion range focused on her age. But any residual controversy surrounding Steve Irwin notwithstanding, the subject of professional or celebrity children is fascinating – if only because of the fact that our intolerance appears to be somewhat selective.
MODELS
Under-16 model bans are gaining momentum in fashion, an interesting off-shoot of the ‘skinny model’ debate. London Fashion Week mooted imposing an under-16 ban on its spring/summer 2008 showcase, from September 15-20. The Melbourne Spring Fashion Festival recently dropped a 15-year-old as its advertising face.
Italy has also floated legislation banning under-16s from its runways. In France, an unofficial under-16 ban exists, however that may be circumvented via a children’s work license and lots of paperwork.
Fashion is a fast-paced business whose primary stock-in-trade is images of women. Many of these images advertise sexually provocative clothing. Sexually provocative poses in even standard fashion imagery are also increasingly common.
There is however plenty of other work which does not require under-16s to ‘sex it up’ for the camera. So, if a young girl wants to model, has the opportunity to do age-appropriate work and is chaperoned, should she be prevented from doing so?
An under-16 ban at London Fashion Week would have precluded both Twiggy and Kate Moss from working there. Both started at 15.
In Milan, it would have prevented 15-year-old Australian Gemma Ward from getting her first big break at the September 2003 shows.
Yes, fashion is a fickle business but it is what it is. Ward was in the right place, at the right time, with the right look. And at 19, she is now a multi-millionaire.
Two other Australians, Tallulah Morton (pictured above) and Samantha Harris, started modelling at 13.
Morton’s mother reports having initially been the subject of much tut-tutting about her daughter’s age – from those concerned Tallulah should have been in school (which she was) and that her mother may have pushed her into it. Amber Morton says she resisted sending Tallulah to an agency for a year – but was eventually worn down by approaches from agents and photographers, and eventually, also Tallulah herself.
ATHLETES
But are those parents who drive their athletically-endowed children to the track, or pool, at 6am each day for training subject to the same criticism? What about the 160 girls aged 7-12 currently in four Australian Institutes of Sport, being groomed for Gymnastics Australia’s elite squads?
The Institute has an under-16 ban in every sport bar women’s gymnastics. This exception was made, according to the AIS, because the international careers of female gymnasts are generally over by the time they are 19 or 20.
ENTERTAINERS
And what about child entertainers like Bindi Irwin? Lindsay Lohan, Drew Barrymore, Macauley Culkin and Michael Jackson all entered the entertainment industry at a very young age – and all subsequently experienced problems.
Nicole Kidman, who started working professionally at 13 and Ron ‘Opie’ Howard, who was younger still, haven’t done too badly for themselves. It’s early days yet for Dakota Fanning.
So is it horses for courses or should all under-16s be banned from every arena for the following ‘sensible’ reasons:
1/ They’re in no position to make an informed choice at that age. 2/ It’s their parents pushing them – and the parents are only interested in the $. 3/ There’s no way minors can handle that type of pressure.
