Showcards: Viviens Model Management (men) - MBFWA SS 13/14

gene aliluev via viviens model management

Part VII in frockwriter’s MBFWA Spring/Summer 2013/2014 showcards series – the men of Viviens Model Management. Including... the world’s first model barrister?

Showcards: Viviens Model Management (women) - MBFWA SS 13/14

courtney eaton via viviens model management

Abbey Lee Kershaw has been MIA on the runways since taking some time off after shooting George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road in Namibia last year. But one of her Mad Max co-stars will be at MBFWA next month: Courtney Eaton, who heads up the womens’ show pack from Sydney agency Viviens Model Management.

Show ponies - David Jones Autumn/Winter 2013

grey wasp/blue wasp/splash news

Miranda Kerr has touched down (here she is, above, arriving at Sydney airport on Friday, Louis Vuitton luggage in tow) which means it's show time at David Jones. All eyes and cameras will be trained on the Australian department store's 7th floor tomorrow night for the Autumn/Winter 2013 showcase. Frockwriter will, as usual, have all the backstage action but in the interim, we were interested to take a peek at the list of 50 other names who will be flanking La Kerr on the runway. Not surprisingly, this season's cast list is reflective of the dramatic changes that the Australian modelling industry has undergone over the past 12 months, with the launch of a major new competitor in IMG Models. This time last year, a number of names - including Kerr - were repped by other agencies. 

Gemma Ward signs with IMG Models Australia, plots comeback; ALK is off the grid

New year, new model movements. First up: a couple of major names are currently AWOL from the websites of two of Australia’s biggest model agencies, Viviens Model Management and Chic Management. The big question - just where are Gemma Ward and Abbey Lee Kershaw headed?

New faces: Elina Moscheni

anton zemlyanoy via viviens management

Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide - and even Alice Springs - have been launchpads for some of this country's biggest modelling names in recent years. Now it's Darwin's turn. 

Megan Gale, Courtney Eaton join Mad Max 4. Abbey Lee Kershaw cast as "The Dag"

Filming continues apace in Namibia on the fourth instalment of George Miller's dystopian action flick Mad Max: Fury Road and the production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell has finally coughed up a few details. Chic Management confirmed Abbey Lee Kershaw had been cast, but now comes news that Kershaw's co-stars include two other Australian models, one a very big name down under.  

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 showgirls: Viviens Model Management - MBFWA SS 12/13

eliza baker via busy models

Who will be walking the runways of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia later this month in Sydney? Here is the third instalment in frockwriter's MBFWA SS 12/13 showgirls series. After the Chic Management and Chadwick agencies, now comes Viviens. And while there are some well-known names here - such as Melissa Johannsen, Avril Alexander and Vanessa Milde - what's interesting about this particular model pack is that of the 41 women being promoted by Viviens for the event, over half are new faces. The agency reports there is already considerable interest from MBFWA designers in newcomer Eliza Baker (pictured above). 

Codie Young is the face of Marc Jacobs' latest fragrance

via wwd

Congratulations are due to Codie Young on the occasion of her first fragrance campaign. The Sunshine Coast model is the face of Marc Jacobs' third womens' fragrance, 'Dot', which is due to be released in the US and UK in July according to a story in the April 6 edition of WWD, which also reports a projected global first year retail sales estimate of US$100million. With this campaign under her belt, 19 year-old Young - who has been modelling for under two years - has entered the ranks of Australia's highest earning models. How many other Australians have scored international fragrance deals? They include Alyssa Sutherland (Bulgari), Gemma Ward (Calvin Klein), Abbey Lee Kershaw (Gucci), Andrej Pejic (Jean Paul Gaultier), Catherine McNeil (Narciso Rodriguez), Skye Stracke (Cacharel), Sarah Stephens (Lacoste) and Juliana Forge (Ralph Lauren). 

In Vogue: Emilia Skuza and Melissa Johannsen

nicole bentley for vogue australia via viviens' facebook

Two under-the-radar models, both repped by the same Adelaide mother agent (Finesse Models), but two separate Sydney agencies (Viviens and Chadwick), wind up shooting a 16-page editorial together in Vogue Australia. What are the odds? Voilà a taste of the “Twin Peaks” story from Vogue’s July edition, out tomorrow. Shot by Nicole Bentley in New Zealand, it stars Emilia Skuza (left, above) and Melissa “MJ” Johannsen, who appear to be channelling not so much David Lynch as Alfred Hitchcock, with cateye makeup and windswept '60s flips. Neither model had previously been featured anywhere in the magazine and although Johannsen was one of the stars of the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week runways earlier this month in Sydney, Skuza has never worked at the event – and was in fact booked sight unseen by Vogue according to Chadwick. But regular readers of this blog may recall both names. We first encountered MJ in November at the Adelaide Fashion Festival when the Alice Springs resident had been modelling for a matter of weeks. And Adelaide-bred Skuza popped up on our radar in January, after emerging at the Paris haute couture shows. Both girls went on to walk in a number of top Fall/Winter 2011/2012 shows in New York, London and Paris in February and March. 

A new MJ is born

finesse

Just touched down in Adelaide, where frockwriter is the guest of the South Australian Tourism Commission and the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters. We were invited to cover the third incarnation of the Adelaide Fashion Festival, which runs from today until Saturday 13th November. Having never been to Adelaide, it seemed like a great opportunity to check out the local talent. We knew it wouldn't be too long before some emerged. Meet Melissa Johannsen aka "MJ" - who looks like the love child of Uma Thurman and Elvis Presley. She’s 15, lives in Alice Springs and up until last month, had never previously set foot inside a model agency. In Adelaide with her mother in early October doing a spot of shopping, the 5’11" schoolgirl was encouraged by one sales assistant to contact local agency Finesse Models. Within two days, she had won the Finesse Colonnades International Model Search competition. And since Monday last week, she has travelled to and from Sydney, been signed by Viviens Sydney and Wilhelmina Models in New York, walked in a Starlight Foundation runway show, shot a campaign for the Colonnades shopping centre, a lookbook for local label Finders Keepers and an editorial story and cover for this weekend's Sunday Mail magazine. “She’s the hot new face coming out of Adelaide.........via Alice Springs” said Finesse director Brigette Mitchell, who has previously launched Vanessa Milde, Kirsty MacPhail, Lucy Bayet and Emile Wake. The big question.... can she moonwalk?
  

Codie Young covers Vogue Australia

Earlier this month, frockwriter revealed that 17 year-old Sunshine Coast schoolgirl Codie Young would be gracing the cover of the October 2010 edition of Vogue Australia. Well here it is, courtesy of the Facebook page of Viviens Management (and swiftly spreading across the net) supplied by Vogue, a much better quality version. Incidentally, Young wears the same embellished Fall/Winter 2010/2011 Miu Miu dress that appeared on the covers of four international fashion titles in August, twice in lilac and twice in orange. Shot by Nicole Bentley, the image is part of a 12-page story called 'Lace value' which also features Rosemary Smith.

Dempsey Stewart and Ella Verberne charm the pants off Kate Sylvester

Frockwriter shot backstage and front-of-house at Kate Sylvester’s Spring/Summer 2010/2011 show at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. And now here is a preview of the new SS1011 campaign for her curiously titled “This Charming Man” collection, which is rocking Viviens face Dempsey Stewart (right, above) and Ella Verberne from New Zealand's Clyne Models and includes this fetching little caramel leather microshorts, bustier and bomber combo of which Lady GaGa would no doubt wholly approve. Stewart might be Australian, but she has been romantically linked to a Kiwi – model (and brother of Zippora) Jasper Seven. Verberne, meanwhile, was recently the subject of a profile on models.com, apparently just two days after arriving on Clyne’s website. Verberne joins other recent antipodian MDC inductees Andrej Pejic and Codie Young.

Tiah Eckhardt ties the knot, confirms Eres, auditions for X Men

tim bret-day for agent provocateur

Frockwriter must admit that we did a double take when we saw the shots rolling in of last night's Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2009/2010 haute couture show in Paris, which was staged in the grounds of the Rodin Museum. One model appeared to be a dead ringer for Australia's Tiah Eckhardt. The model in question was, in fact, Sweden's Frida Gustavsson (number 24 in this Style.com pic gallery of the show). As it turns out, Eckhardt was otherwise occupied yesterday, and coincidentally in her own garden of earthly delights: marrying her babydaddy Patrick Delaney in front of a small group of friends in the Rose Garden at Centennial Park. The bride wore? Not Dior haute couture, but a vintage strapless white leather minidress. The happy couple may soon be about to celebrate some other very exciting news. No, not another baby - Eckhardt revealed to frockwriter that she has just auditioned for one of (numerous) upcoming instalments of the X Men film franchise.

Forever Young

 nicole bentley for vogue australia/viviens

Queensland continues to springboard stellar modelling talent. After Catherine McNeil, Alyssa Sutherland, Samantha Harris and Jordan Coulter, comes 17 year-old Sunshine Coast schoolgirl Codie Young. Modelling for just a few months and flown in as an exclusive for the Ellery show at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May, on Wednesday the first of three Vogue Australia editorials reportedly due to feature Young will be published. She appears in an only-girl story shot by Nicole Bentley in the August edition - part of a larger, 36-page fashion spread in the issue starring six Australian models, each with their own five-page section (Nicole Trunfio, Lauren Brown, Julia Nobis, Rosemary Smith and Samantha Harris). Young's Gold Coast mother agency, Busy Models, reports she has been signed to DNA in New York, Viva in Paris and London and will finish her HSC before embarking on her first international show season in February.  

Samantha Harris leads a new antipodian runway pack for Fall

samantha harris/antipodium

So the Fall/Winter 1011 shows are days from kicking off in New York. And the guessing game begins: which models will make their marks on the new season's runways? In terms of Australian talent, what a contrast to the lineup in just twelve months. Here is the tally of FW0910 shows walked by Australian models from March last year. At least two major names have been scratched from the lineup. Starting with Myf Shepherd, who is taking the year off to pursue fulltime studies at Sydney's College of Fine Arts - who walked more shows than any other Australian model this time last year. Ditto Tallulah Morton, who is studying Fine Arts.

Auto (model) portraits

Interesting developments in model blogger land. Since frockwriter launched a year ago we have looked at quite a few model blogs, ranging from the fun, to the ballsy, to the erudite, and not forgetting the mysterious. But while many model bloggers tend to adopt a photo reportage style, using either professionally-taken shots of themselves, or snapping self portraits on the job or while clowning around, a new breed of model blogger is emerging, styling their own fashion shoots. This is an offshoot of course of the wider street style blog phenom in which the authors don’t capture random street looks, but shots of their own outfits. Fashion Toast's photogenic Rumi Neely (who is heading to next month's Air New Zealand Fashion Week) is probably the greatest exponent of the latter. Interestingly, Neely has now been signed to New York's Next Models. With their on-camera experience, professional models add an additional dimension to this. Priscillas’ Blake Lively-lookalike Zanita Whittington (see below), who has been blogging since November, introduced herself backstage at Jayson Brunsdon last week, camera in hand. Then there is Alexandra Spencer from Next's Australian affiliate Chic Management, who could wind up being the agency's next breakout star - without having ever set foot on an international runway.

The 20 year-old Sydneysider has been modelling for one year and has booked jobs including Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Oyster, Bec & Bridge, JAG, Jeans West, General Pants and Wrangler.

At 5'8" she is, frockwriter understands, considered a little too petite for the runway, which goes some way to explain why we have not seen her on the catwalks of David Jones, Myer or RAFW etc.

With self-timer in hand however and a great sense of style, involving some hand-made and/or customised garments - and a propensity to sex it up - Spencer has been creating quite the stir with her edgy rock/surf chick auto portraits on the four-month old blog 4th and Bleeker. (That's if the photos are in fact genuine self-portraits. The quality seems suspiciously professional - ditto the blog's use of typography).

The blog is rapidly garnering coverage, including mini profiles on Igor + Andre, Refinery 29 and style.com.

Spencer, who hails from the northern beaches suburb of Warriewood, mixes in interesting surf circles - she is currently dating former pro surfer Nathan ‘Noodles’ Webster, the Australian licensee of US skate/surf brand RVCA.













1-5 alexandra spencer via 4th and bleeker
6-9 zanita whittington via zanita

Seafolly backstage at RSFF

sonny vandevelde

A mini backstage portfolio by Sonny Vandevelde from today's Seafolly show at the Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival. Among models who joined RSFF face Elyse Taylor (right, above) on the runway was under-the-radar Shanay Hall from Sydney's Viviens/IMG New York + Milan (shots #1, #3 and #6), who bears more than a passing resemblance to models.com's world number three Lara Stone. For more Seafolly show images head to Sonny Photos.







all photos: sonny vandevelde

Frankie goes to fashionwood

givenchy SS10/wwd.com

Jethro Cave might have an edgy look, a famous dad and good connections, not to mention a Gumby earring. But the real dark horse of the Australian mens modelling scene was, as it turns out, right under our nose whilst reporting on the recent menswear season. Meet Frankie Elliss-Galati. The 19 year-old Gold Coaster was discovered by Sydney-based photographer Chris Ferguson in a Brisbane sushi bar in January. After booking jobs for Vogue Australia and Bisonte, among others, he headed to the mens Spring/Summer 2010 shows in Europe. In his first international season he walked for names including Christian Dior Homme, Givenchy, Thierry Mugler, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Calvin Klein, Trussardi and Tim Hamilton (which he closed) - a feat noted by models.com, which included him on its Top 10 Men’s New Faces for SS10. Not that anyone thus far appears to have been aware of his nationality.

Although repped in Australia by Viviens, Elliss-Galati's mother agent is in fact LA-based Australian Patrick Corcoran, who, like Ferguson, is a former Chic Management booker.

At Givenchy (above), Elliss-Galati got to wear one of the more extreme studded pieces which were inspired by the proposed collaboration between Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci and the late Michael Jackson, for Jackson's O2 Centre concerts in London. Tisci was reportedly due to meet with Jackson about the costumes on Monday 29th June, obviously an appointment that Jackson never made.



christian dior homme SS10 (top); robert cavalli SS10/wwd.com

And more: Allegra Carpenter

tuleh SS09/style.com

Add Allegra Carpenter to the mod list.

A 17 year-old Perth native, who has been with Viviens Perth for the past three years – after reportedly entering the agency's 2005 Model Search comp on a whim, and winning – Carpenter has this week walked in at least three shows.

They are: Tuleh, Cushnie et Ochs but notably, the Brazilian swimwear brand Rosa Cha.


rosa cha SS09/wwd

In the latter show, Carpenter’s runway colleagues included some of the modelling world’s biggest names, from Isabeli Fontana to Vlada Roslyakova, Bruna Tenorio, compatriot Abbey Lee Kershaw and Jessica Stam – who Carpenter resembles.

Viviens Perth is the same agency which springboarded Gemma Ward.

Debuting at Australian Fashion Week in 2006, Carpenter’s Australian work in the interim has included editorials in the local editions of Harpers Bazaar and Vogue.

Now signed to the Paris Development board of IMG however, IMG being the world's biggest model agency, her career looks poised for takeoff.


img

Already boasting her own (lean) model profile on New York magazine – and even an entry on models.com's coveted 'Of The Minute' section back in March, Carpenter's hitherto low-profile international runway career kicked off, as far as I can ascertain, in July, when she was booked for the Philip Lim 3.1 Resort 09 presentation.