We won't be seeing any of this at the David Jones Autumn/Winter 2011 runway showcase on February 8 presumably. But here is current season David Jones face and former youth ambassador for the upmarket Australian department store chain, like you have never seen her before. Recalling the modern horror cinematic genre - and perhaps some of the horrors experienced by her ancestors at the hands of European settlers - in the Bound More Than a Madman Is story from the upcoming edition of Karen magazine, the indigenous Australian model is blindfolded and bound to various pieces of furniture. These include a coffee table and an antique wood-and-wicker chair that looks like a sinister film prop from a Victorian lunatic asylum. Shot by Cara Stricker and styled by Bex Sheers, the story is accompanied by a short film (below). Here are a couple of images. Head to Pedestrian to see the remainder. Given that Harris returned from London Fashion Week earlier than expected last year because, according to industry buzz, she was a little intimidated by the big, bad world of international fashion, looks like she's over her shyness. A Terry Richardson shoot surely can't be too far away.
Australian sportswear brand Marcs might have cool new Australian model Julia Nobis as its current advertising face, but when the company was looking for talent to embody its new ‘ICONS’ campaign, it opted for non professional models. Not that they’re exactly ordinary mortals (top to bottom): actors Sophie Lowe and Krew Boylan, Dank Street Depot chef Jared Ingersoll, meditation guru Gary Gorrow (brother of Ksubi co-founder George Gorrow), artist Tanya Linney and snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin - who became Australia’s first snowboard champion on Tuesday after winning the snowboard cross world championship in La Molina, Spain. Shot by Stephen Ward, the campaign showcases six Marcs classics that have been in the Sydney brand’s repertoire since it was founded in 1979 by the late Mark Keighery: mens’ and womens’ V-neck T-shirts and button-down shirts, a mens’ round-neck T and a womens’ shirtwaister. Oz ski blogger Lorraine Lock had a preview of Pullin yesterday on Snow Blind, but here is a first look at the complete campaign and a video.
Tom Ford isn’t the only American luxury brand going gung ho in the leadup to this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles. Following the unveiling of a supersite billboard of Ford together with Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, comes a 20 second television commercial produced by Calvin Klein to run during the Globes broadcast on NBC. No this is not Calvin Klein's first tvc. Founder Calvin Klein made an impact with a series of highly provocative television spots in the 1980s and 1990s starring, among others, Brooke Shields and Kate Moss in the company's jeans, underwear and fragrances (here is a backgrounder). But this tvc, the company claims, represents the first time it has ever produced a branded tv campaign advertising Calvin Klein's designer collections (with accessories and homewares also getting a lookin). Starring world number 1 Lara Stone and Tyson Ballou, the commercial was shot on location in La Jolla, California and directed by Fabien Baron. Here is a first look.
Well Tom Ford certainly got off to a cracking start in 2011, uploading images of his new eyewear campaign which co-stars Abbey Lee Kershaw. Evidently Ford is another client who didn’t mind Kershaw’s new platinum blonde do – even apparently adding hair extensions. Now (viaHomotography) comes a video of that top-secret debut Tom Ford womenswear show which was presented to a tightly-edited throng of just 100 at New York Fashion Week in September, with highly restricted camera access. Ford has spent a lot of time talking down the new digital news domain, telling US Vogue, "I do not understand everyone's need to see everything online the day after the show". Now that it’s crunch time for Ford's collection to hit stores, frockwriter has little doubt he is thrilled that social media is spreading the buzz.
The Ivy bar and restaurant complex isn't the only initiative that's helping put a pulse into Sydney's CBD. The A$1.2billion Sydney Westfield development already has the city buzzing and it's not due for completion until 2012. Both anchor tenants, Australia's biggest David Jones and Myer flagships, have increased their trading hours by an hour each day. And as anyone wandering through the 130 specialty boutiques and restaurants that opened in Stage One in October can attest, it's pretty busy in there. There is a lot yet to open in the first half of 2011, including Australia's first Zara and new luxury players, including Bottega Veneta, Christian Louboutin and Miu Miu. Adding to the existing level five "food precinct" that has already opened - aka The Sydney Room - will be a by all accounts spectacular open air rooftop terrace on level seven called the Sky Bar. This is not a traditional box mall, but an amalgam of three existing retail arcades. It's a little complicated to navigate at first and some are complaining it is also a little dark, but the striking architecture marks this development apart from other Westfields. It was outsourced to Melbourne's John Wardle Architects for the exteriors and for the interiors, to Tokyo's Wonderwall, whose clients include Colette, A Bathing Ape and Uniqlo. Curious to see what the whole development will look like in 2012? Check this cool 3D animation below, for a virtual tour.
As the countdown continues to the May 20 2011 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, in which Australian model-turned-actor Gemma Ward is due to appear as a mermaid (its trailer, due for release on December 17, may well including a fleeting glimpse of same), turns out Ward’s model-turned-writer/publisher sister Sophie Ward has made a movie of her own. Or rather, a haunting “video poem” called My Dirtied Soles, that she has written and narrated and which is directed by New York-based German photographer/filmmaker Sebastian Mader. Sophie Ward is a talented writer, whose first novel, The Beginning of an Inexplicable Journey is downloadable as an e-book from her website). And as she demonstrates with this project (below), she also has a great voice - just like her sister.
Excited by Stella McCartney for Target Australia mark II? Try Lanvin for H&M. Here's the capsule collection video starring Hannelore Knuts, Jane Schmitt, Tati Cotliar and Natasha Poly, just launched online. The collection, which consists of 30 pieces and 15 accessories for women and 25 pieces and 10 accessories for men, will launch in 200 countries later this month: reportedly November 20th in Canada, for some reason and then November 23rd in the rest of the world.
On Sunday, frockwriter posted a new video shot by Ryan McGinley that stars Abbey Lee Kershaw and advertises a South Korean fashion brand called Lewitt. In the vid, which was uploaded by a South Korean YouTube member, Kershaw climbs a building, pauses while contemplating jumping and then hurls herself into the void - with slomos of various outfit changes. It seemed like a bizarre concept for promoting fashion to young women in a country that boasts the world’s highest female suicide rate. And an even more questionable choice, given that seven models - including high profile South Korean Daul Kim – have committed suicide over the past two years. Four of them by jumping. The post divided opinion. Some slammed the video. Others slammed frockwriter, dismissing it as a non story. The latter might want to take up their beef with the plethora of other outlets that have since picked the story up. Those who linked back to FW include Perez Hilton, Pedestrian, Fashion Copious, Germany's Les Mads and Dutch news site nu.nl. UPDATE 09/08: In spite of the fact that Lewitt removed Kershaw's image from its website last week, with McGinley also having the video pulled from YouTube, the video is now online on the lewitt.kr website, complete with stills. Still no response, however, from either McGinley or Lewitt.
Frockwriter can't help thinking this is the kind of PR that David Jones doesn’t need but hey, don’t shoot us. Abbey Lee Kershaw, one of the retailer's high profile ringins who is due to fill in for newlywed Miranda Kerr at Tuesday’s fashion showcase, has arrived in town looking like a rock star, with a genuine rockstar in tow - her boyfriend, Our Mountain frontman Matthew Hutchinson. Coinciding with Kershaw’s arrival comes news of a short film made by American photographer Ryan McGinley for a South Korean fashion brand. The film depicts Kershaw fleeing some unidentified adversary by climbing to the top of a building and jumping off – several times, to show the fall in slomo in various outfits. Frockwriter is waiting to hear back from Kershaw’s agents and McGinley. In the interim, it’s worth noting that South Korea has the highest female suicide rate in the OECD. The country’s most high profile modelling export, Daul Kim, committed suicide eight months ago (although not by jumping), part of an alarming new trend of model suicides – most of them by jumping. (UPDATE 02/08: Twenty-four hours later, the only party we had managed to reach was Chic Management in Sydney, which reported it has "no information". UPDATE 04/08: Abbey Lee Kershaw reveals the inspiration for the video was Alice in Wonderland).
One of the highlights of RAFW Day 1 was the Camilla show. Sydney-based actress-turned-designer Camilla Franks specialises in kaftans with beautiful prints. There are only so many occasions you can wear a kaftan however - at least in this part of the world, no surprise that Franks has a big Middle East business - and her resortwear shows, while usually very colourful, have never really stood out from the Fashion Week pack. Yesterday was different. Partially-inspired by James Cameron's 2009 3D blockbuster Avatar - and with the styling assistance of Michelle Jank - Franks' extraordinarily beautiful prints exploded on the runway, in a series of dresses, shorts, kimonos and swimwear. Click here to see frockwriter’s Posterous photo gallery of the collection. And here is a post-show chat I had with Franks. Apologies for the delay in posting these. Hope to be a bit better organised today.
By all accounts Wednesday night's launch of the Richie Rich label A*Muse at New York Fashion Week did not go down without a hitch, with guests complaining of having to wait an hour and a half for the show to start. Rich's muse Pamela Anderson was late - reportedly because she wanted Rich to personally pick her up from her hotel. Frockwriter has no difficulty whatsoever in picturing the pandemonium, having personally witnessed the line's global launch at New Zealand Fashion Week in September. And what a treat that was. Due to work commitments which commenced the minute we landed back in Sydney, our account of that show remained in draft form, including several videos. So voilà.
For anyone wondering why on earth A*Muse was unveiled in New Zealand, as far as frockwriter could ascertain, there were two reasons. Well three, if you count rumours organisers paid Anderson five figures to do so.
Brian Long, the label’s LA-based publicist, is a longtime friend of the New Zealand event, having attended for several years. Anderson also reports that her Malibu neighbours hail from Auckland's Waiheke Island and she had always wanted to visit (which she managed to do on the second day of her two-day visit).
Given that ANZFW is an annual winter event, the line's bikinis and board shorts were ludicrously out of context. But in spite of kvetching that the Anderson circus was a blight on NZ's fashion credibility, it should be noted that the event doesn't normally wind up on Perez Hilton's radar, which it did this time around thanks to Anderson's involvement. Also, Richie Rich is a veteran of New York Fashion Week, where his ultra trashy Heatherette shows were among the event's biggest drawcards.
Anderson reportedly arrived in Auckland on the morning of Thursday 24th September.
At 4pm that afternoon, a press conference was staged for the NZ media at the ANZFW venue: the old America's Cup sheds down on Viaduct Harbour.
I attempted to live stream the whole thing however later discovered that the wifi connection had died halfway through. Here it is for anyone who is interested, all 12 minutes of it. And yes, Anderson did the entire presser dressed in a pink scarf.
The show was due to be staged at 5pm the following day.
At 4pm that afternoon, I was backstage at Anderson’s venue, waiting for the collection to be wheeled in. It was the hottest ticket of the week, at least in hype terms, and it involved an international celebrity. Anticipating a certain level of backstage angst, my strategy was to get there early.
The minute the collection was brought in and the covers were unwrapped I managed to grab a couple of BlackBerry shots of two pairs of novelty mens swim briefs, one decorated with a pair of fluoro pink scissors and the other, with a skull. I TwitPic’d the pair with the scissors:
As dressers began to pile in and stand by their racks, with production assistants flapping around, you could feel the angst crank up a notch. One producer walked past and called out, to noone in particular: “Get your game faces on”.
At one point, the canvas awning at one end of the backstage area was peeled back to reveal a small white Winnebago parked immediately adjacent to the tent: Anderson’s personal backstage trailer. Straining over the shoulder of one security guy and Anderson's US manager, I managed to take another, albeit dark, BB shot of Anderson checking her bouffant do in the trailer's mirror. Not a peep out of anyone.
The manager then called out, in a loud voice and standing right next to me: “I want all media out. No exceptions”.
The minders did not appear to twig that I was media. Having survived previous backstage media purges on the big show circuit, I figured there was a chance I might survive this one.
I should point out that while security personnel were almost invisible at the event all week, save only for a front rego desk accreditation check, this show was crawling with them. According to ANZFW, Anderson paid for them. They had a job to do: protect their celebrity client. From what, it wasn’t entirely clear. Hordes of paparazzi? They appeared nonexistent. Mobs of fans? Couldn't see any of those either outside the venue or the Westin Hotel, where most attendees were staying.
I also had a job to do: continue documenting the event, notably from backstage. And there were several reasons why I felt welcome there.
Firstly, I had been invited to the event as a guest of the organisers.
Secondly, I had been accorded full backstage access for each day of the week (to shoot this photodiary).
Thirdly, I had canvassed my concerns about access to this specific show with the organisers that morning – and had been assured by the event's head PR that there would be no problem. Noone communicated anything about any backstage exclusives that had been organised. Sadly the head PR was not backstage. Nor were any of the organisers who, it should be noted, had employed everyone in the room bar Anderson's entourage and security.
Pamela Anderson’s backstage area had however by this stage seceded from Air New Zealand Fashion Week and become a celebrity sovereign state policed by security goons.
After eventually being dobbed in by an ANZFW production assistant (who claimed she was Australian - or had lived in Australia, from memory there was some Australian connection), a large, intimidating bouncer shuffled over to issue a threat to evict.
I did a double take, contemplating the absurdity of the prospect of being physically removed from an event that I had been flown over to cover, before calmly walking to the exit - his hands on me for the duration.
Outside the tent, I found myself standing next to the terribly amusing TVNZ Breakfast host Paul Henry. He too had been booted out. I flicked on the Qik and recorded the following which, once again, failed to fire live.
I wound up watching the show seated next to Henry, who thoughtfully provided the following post-show analysis at the end of the final walkthrough (you can't see his face because there were no lights):
Venturing backstage after the show had wrapped to get a closer look at the clothes, with the Anderson entourage - and indeed the collection - nowhere to be seen, I managed to be evicted a second time by a separate security goon.
Shortly afterwards I made my way to the Westin, where a number of media reps had been invited to have a drink with Anderson and Rich.
Once again, no photos were allowed. We were each given three minutes with Anderson. I was somewhat dumbfounded to learn that I would be able to record the interview as a video. Within seconds of flicking the on switch however, Richie Rich leaned over to put his hand over the camera lens:
Somehow I managed to record a second take. It is difficult to hear because there were so many people in the room and the light quality is poor, but there you have it:
I’m still not sure why such a fuss was made of the photography. Celebrities far bigger than Anderson are a dime a dozen at New York Fashion Week and while security is often tight at NY shows, it is extremely discreet.
Then I read in the NZ Herald that Anderson had flown straight to Brunei to attend a party thrown by Prince Azim. The penny dropped: that’s whose jet she hitched a ride on.
If you are wondering just how incongruous the flesh-flashing former Baywatch star would prove in the conservative Muslim state, where modest dress is the norm for women, it’s worth remembering that Prince Azim's profile as a decadent party-throwing playboy appears to be rivalling that of his uncle Prince Jefri, who once had a yacht called Tits.
Frockwriter mentioned that Tiah Eckhardt was awaiting the birth of a baby with partner Patrick Delaney. Well Oz director Alex Goddard just flicked us over this little video he shot for CLUBFEET’s new 'Count Your Lovers' single starring Eckhardt - and apparently just three weeks after the birth of her adorable baby girl Finley Victoria, who arrived in October. Sources say Eckhardt is also to be a face of Berlei, so it looks as if she’s not giving up on modelling at all.
I have Pebbles Hooper to thank for first alerting me to Areez Katki. New Zealand fashion royalty (Hooper is the daughter of World co-founders Denise L'Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper), the Auckland hipster was rocking one of Katki's very distinctive hand-knitted dresses on Day One of Air New Zealand Fashion Week. I TwitPic'd a shot, only to spot another ANZFW delegate wearing a similar dress the following day. Although not officially part of the event, Katki seemed to be omnipresent at it. When I learned that his work had been given pride of place for the week in the front window of James Dobson's cool three month-old Children of Vision store in St Kevin's Arcade, I headed to take some shots and have a chat (albeit one with crapola picture/sound - but you get the gist).
In 2000, Jank became the first designer to be accorded a solo show at Australian Fashion Week straight out of design college and she was buoyed by media hype.
Many Australians would recall the anecdote of leading British retailer Joan Burstein being so excited by Jank's debut collection of "demi couture" vintage doily-festooned dresses, Burstein raced backstage to secure an international exclusive, leaving her handbag on her chair.
In the interview I mention that Jank had trouble producing garments after the initial rush. My apologies, that should in fact have been, Jank had trouble selling the garments, some of which had high four figure price points. It later emerged that Burstein had not sold a single dress.
Katki's price points do not seem particularly high - under NZ$1000 for example for a one-off dress.
A designer himself (under the Jimmy D label) Dobson, pictured below, clearly has a good eye for emerging brands. Children of Vision is a great little store.
Surely everybody knows by now that Burberry is ditching its regular Milan show digs this season to help celebrate London Fashion Week's 25th anniversary by closing the event with its Spring/Summer 2010 womens runway show at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22nd September. Well officially, there is another day of shows after that but it sounds a little like the Milan show schedule, which drags on with a few lowkey presentations, while the larger fashion caravan moves on to the next city. What you may not know is that Burberry is planning to take a leaf out of Dolce e Gabbana's books and stream its show live to the net. Just head to live.burberry.com, where apparently there may be even be some form of comments facility. A fantastic move on Burberry's part and one that frockwriter predicts we will be seeing a lot more of in seasons to come.
Project Runway Australia series 2 is underway. For those, like frockwriter, who were unimpressed with the commercial RAFW offerings of PRA series 1 winner Juli Grbac, take heart. The edgy, unisex aesthetic of Malaysian Australian Lui Hon, who made it to the top four of last season's show, is quietly gathering speed. First up, Hon's womenswear and menswear is already stocked in Assin Sydney and Melbourne, which sells leading international labels such as Lanvin, Rick Owens, Dior Homme, Junya Watanabe and Haider Ackerman. Other stockists include Sydney’s Alistair Trung and Artwear and Perth’s Zekka. Hon's Autumn/Winter 2009 mini collection, previewed at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, can be seen on his website. But herewith an exclusive preview of Hon’s first complete production collection: SS0910's Voice of Hope.
After today's David Jones Spring/Summer 2009/2010 presentation, I made my way backstage to attempt to track down some models and notably, the star, Australian supermod Miranda Kerr. In attempting to secure a one-on-one - which I did eventually, albeit very brief - I wound up tailing Kerr as she attended to a series of press commitments, recording as I went with live streaming video. Here is the series of videos. And apologies for the poor quality. The light backstage in the green room was particularly bad.
First up: a big post-show photocall on the runway with all the photographers, during which Kerr was joined by the retailer's former face, now DJs ambassador, Megan Gale:
Then, a kind of mini press conference backstage in Kerr's private green room, during which Kerr answered questions from the interstate press. After taking notes initially, I thought I would just start recording in the hope that at least Kerr's answers would be audible:
Once the interstate press had cleared out of the green room, a camera crew from Nine's prime time tabloid tv show A Current Affair rocked up to discuss the best place to record Kerr's voiceover for a story that is apparently going to air tonight.
Kerr is the reporter on the story and I was told that in it, she interviews several David Jones parties and designers.
Evidently, there was no time for Kerr to return to the Nine studios to put the voice down, so she was obliged to do it in the field. As do in fact many bona fide reporters. I mentioned to Kerr that Elsa Klensch's producer at CNN once told me that Klensch - who pioneered fashion television news on CNN in the early 1980s - used to put down V/Os for her on-the-road stories in hotel rooms, with a wet towel over her head creating a mini studio.
After traipsing around backstage it was eventually decided that the green room was the best option. I was with the DJs posse so I went in as well. And, quality or no quality, figured it was too good an opportunity to pass up so I flicked the record sitch. At one point, I managed to signal to someone to please turn up the lights so fortunately the light does improve at one point.
On several occasions the producer tutors Kerr vis-à-vis emphasis and also pronunciation, with a debate erupting at one point over her use of the American "zee" instead of the Australian "zed".
Given that the producer spoke with a broad Scottish accent, it was somewhat amusing.
Provided by Portmans and exclusive to frockwriter, a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the Australian highstreet retailer's summer campaign. Due to appear in August online and in store, the campaign stars Canadian Kelsey van Mook and was shot by Nicole Bentley on the Wolverine set on Sydney's heritage-listed Cockatoo Island. Other faces you might recognise in the background include Claudia Navone, fashion director of Harpers Bazaar, who obviously moonlights as a stylist, Portmans creative director Nikki Hillier, hair stylist Nicholas Jurnjack and makeup artist Charlotte Blakeney.
Fantastic little video on New York mag’s The Cut blog, which provides a great insight into a model’s life backstage. Perth’s Skye Stracke was handed a video camera to cart around last week's haute couture shows in Paris and with it, she reports Alexis Mabille “fluffing up everybody for the show”, the 10.30pm-1.00am Chanel rehearsal - with a 6am call time the following morning - and sparkles at Armani. While at Chanel, Korean Daul Kim horses around with her mega pony tail and Stracke ogles the magnificent breakfast buffet traditionally put on by the Wertheimer bros at all their shows. Notes Stracke, “Doughnuts with Nutella, macaroons, brownies, croissants, fruit...”. Whether she actually ate any of it, is anybody's guess.
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.
