And Alice McCall bows in NYC (with a little help from Myf)

sonny vandevelde

Here's new white hot Oz module Myf Shepherd backstage at Alice McCall's debut New York Fashion Week show, which was scheduled to take place at 8.00am this morning Sydney time.

Judging by Sonny Vandevelde's backstage shots, either he ditched Victor Glemaud for McCall for Hintmag - or did a mad dash between the two.

No idea at this stage what, if any, other shows Shepherd has done, but I will update. One thing's for sure however, if Alice McCall was her first SS09 show, it's not going to be her last.

McCall's SS09 collection was inspired, the designer told various media outlets, by insects.


reuters



getty

Click here to see the complete collection on wwd.com.

A strong New York debut and a confident return after a 14-month runway hiatus for McCall, during which time she had a baby.

McCall has so far only shown her collections in London and Sydney, so it’s good to see her stretch her wings in much bigger market. With the dress still very strong in fashion and McCall a dress queen, some of the adorable dresses in this collection are sure to hit the retail mark.

A few cases in point: the layered, sheer, white trapeze-line pinafores with fringed hems; the simpler bustier dresses; and the very strong print series with art nouveau-like, and at times cartoon-esque, graphics, including one bodycon micro singlet dress and a looser sweater dress with long sleeves (both pictured above^).

Moving forward from her signature dresses and skinny jeans, McCall also showed some relaxed sportswear. Of note, her colourblocked waistcoat over silk shorts; the kingfisher blue kimono top over slouchy café au lait silk pants and one knockout sculptured redingote.

Speaking of cartoons, McCall's second collab line for Topshop reportedly has a late 80s/Atari computer game vibe. The line is due to bow on September 25 in the UK - and is likely to be included in the retailer's US offer. Topshop open its first US outlet, in Manhattan, in mid October.

According to vogue.co.uk McCall’s first Topshop collection turned out to be the Brit fast fashion juggernaut's fastest-selling line to date (although a Topshop rep described it as “one of the fastest-selling” in the vogue.co.uk story).

An Angel kicks off their schedule (with a little help from Tallulah)

reuters

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.


All seven images above: Getty Images for IMG

Click here for the complete collection on wwd.com.
Click here for the show video.
Click here to see Sonny Vandevelde's backstage images.

Thanks again to Sunster for "patching me through".

Where's Abbey Lee? (Apparently) on the cover of D&C

nick knight via nicola formichetti

According to Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti (via TFS), that’s Abbey Lee Kershaw on the cover of the yet-to-be-published October edition (^). That’d be from the same photoshoot that was recently vlogged by SHOWstudio (and blogged by frockwriter), in which Kershaw posed astride a 16.3hand stallion.

These images were posted yesterday on Formichetti’s blog, where he reports that there will also be some kind of "limited edition of 500 copies" of the mag released at Gareth’s Pugh’s Paris debut show (5pm on Saturday 27th September).

As you may recall, Kershaw – and the stallion – both wore Pugh’s creations for the shoot.


nick knight via nicola formichetti

The cover makes a bizarre tear sheet for Kershaw's portfolio given that well, it could be anyone at all in the picture really.

Nevertheless, this represents Kershaw's first international magazine cover and caps off a stellar nine months for the 21 year-old Melburnian.

During this time she appeared in a D&G campaign before having yet set foot on any international runway, then hit the runway running in New York in February, eventually walking in 32 FW0809 shows. Kershaw also booked a Gucci runway exclusive for Milan, followed by the Gucci and cK Jeans FW0809 advertising campaigns.

That's one new star down. Now, who's Next?

A New York Fashion Week primer Part III

Y-3's perfect storm, new york sep 07

It doesn’t take a genius to work out why New York Fashion Week is the way it is. Paris first organised its fashion shows in 1868. New York was running loosely-structured ‘market weeks’ of shows for over 50 years before the Council of Fashion Designers of America [CFDA] finally pulled together the city’s first centralised designer collections showcase as recently as 1993, offering professional services and purpose-built venues at Bryant Park. The catalyst? A ceiling collapse at a Michael Kors’ show.

Like many other New York shows at the time, Kors' show had been staged in an 'edgy' downtown loft.

“That was the Austrian shot heard around the world” recalled Fern Mallis in an interview I did with her back in 2002.

Now the senior vice president of IMG Fashion, who moved over to IMG in 2001 when the company acquired the CFDA's "7th on Sixth" collections showcase at Bryant Park, Mallis was at the time of the Kors show disaster one month into her new job as CFDA executive director.

“The ceiling collapsed on models and in the lap of Suzy Menkes” said Mallis. “It was scandalous. The press went to town, criticising New York saying, ‘How can this industry, which is known for its glamour and style, be showing in these places where our lives are at risk? We live for fashion, we don’t want to die for it’".

She added, “The following season Mizrahi had a show in a SoHo loft and the power blew. [There were] One thousand people sitting there at night, scared to death in the dark, waiting for generators to kick in. The CFDA said, ‘This is crazy’. We organised a committee to check out spaces. Before, elevators broke down [en route into shows]. That happened more times that you can count”.

But with show numbers exploding almost 200percent over the past decade and the majority of shows now happening off-schedule and off-site, I personally can’t help wondering just how long it’s going to be before there’s another ceiling collapse - or something more serious.

There has already been one recent near-fatal incident at an off-site venue – at a show staged by Diane von Furstenberg who, as it happens, is now the CFDA president.

In 2005, in fact on the four year anniversary of 9/11, an entire section of von Furstenberg’s show light rig crashed onto her audience, injuring a number of people. The show had been staged inside von Furstenberg’s studio.

Cosmopolitan fashion editor Karen Hanes Larrain, who was reportedly knocked unconscious and required 30 stitches, sued. In February this year The New York Post reported that the suit was still pending – and that Hanes Larrain is also now suing von Furstenberg’s lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus.

Ever since, DVF’s shows have been back at Bryant Park where, in the opinion of the designer’s PR director Alexis Rodriguez, as she told events industry website BizBash:

"there's less liability; everything is properly checked and there's a whole crew working on all the other shows so everything is safe and secure….We've learned we're a much bigger company than we thought—we needed more seats than we had [on the night of the accident]. This big of an event must be done at a space that can handle this type of crowd".

running the gauntlet between Y-3 and rodarte, new york sep 07

On one stinking hot Manhattan afternoon in September last year, I spent more time thinking about the safety checks and balances at two consecutive off-site shows than I did the clothes.

The Adidas Y-3 show was on-schedule and Rodarte was off-schedule, but they were both located on the same Chelsea street.

Rodarte was after Y-3, however in order to get to Rodarte, you had to run the gauntlet through a water installation that had been erected by Y-3 over the High Line rail bridge.

At first glance, it looked like a water main had burst. But as you approached the bridge, and were greeted by a posse of brolly-laden PRs in rubber boots, you twigged what was going on. The atmosphere was one of mild pandemonium.

The show itself was staged under an adjacent section of the High Line.

It was a hugely expensive production which involved seating the audience on bleachers on either side of the bare concrete ‘runway’.

The “storm” soundtrack consisted of bursts of thunder and then the sound of torrential rain – which then quite literally started pouring behind our backs, via a system which pumped water down corrugated iron sheeting which ran the length of the seating.

The ground was wet – and by the end of it, so was a lot of the audience.


rodarte SS08 backstage, sep 07

Down the road, Rodarte was staged on the top floor of an industrial space, access to which seemed to be primarily via a couple of narrow staircases.

While waiting for the show to start, I spotted a production crew member holding a can of Evian over a large floor fan, spraying directly into its airstream.

Water dripped into the blades of the fan as she sprayed.

When I asked what she was doing the woman told me, “We don’t have any air conditioning so I thought it would cool things down” – apparently totally oblivious to the fact that she was standing with her feet entwined in the fan’s electrical cabling.


rodarte SS08 backstage, sep 07

A New York Fashion Week primer Part II

on-schedule: diesel SS08 backstage, new york sep 07

It’s perfectly understandable that some people are confused about how New York Fashion Week is run. That’s because, in fact, noone runs New York Fashion Week.

New York Fashion Week is not Milan Fashion Week. It’s not London Fashion Week. And it most definitely is not Paris Fashion Week.

The hubs of the latter three events are the runway schedules coordinated by those countries’ peak industry bodies: the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the British Fashion Council and the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode.

Some off-schedule runway action does take place in London - in several smaller spinoff schedules - but London overall is the smallest of the four weeks.

In both Milan and Paris there is a frenzy of off-schedule activity in showrooms. In Paris, a number of separate fashion and accessories trade shows are also staged concurrently to the collections shows.

In Milan and Paris there is however negligible off-schedule runway activity. Rare exceptions to Milan’s runway rule include Marni.

In each of these three cities, centralised venues in the following locations provide the backdrops for the runway collections: London’s Natural History Museum, Milan’s (old) Fiera and the Paris Louvre.

Some shows each day take place in show tents at these locations.

The remainder of shows are on-schedule, but off-site. They are very well organised. For those media reps whose jobs don’t afford them the luxury of a private car and driver, there is now a fleet of media shuttle buses in each city.

In theory, no on-schedule show should start before the previous show has finished and the caravan of buyers and media has wound its way to the next presentation.

In practice, with shows running late, this is sometimes impossible to manage.




diesel SS08 backstage, new york sep 07

New York Fashion Week differs from all three other major fashion weeks by virtue of the sheer volume of shows - and the fact that no one central organization coordinates them.

First-time attendees may be totally bamboozled when they discover that the IMG show schedule, 85 shows this season as I mentioned yesterday, potentially represents merely one third of all shows that are on in town that week.

How can anyone possibly cover 250+ shows? For a solo operator, the answer is simple: you can’t. Large editorial and photographic teams have the ability to divvy up show coverage. But even large teams could not possibly attend every single show that is on in New York during fashion week.

Finding out what’s on the IMG schedule is easy - the shows might be invitation-only, but the schedule is freely available online.


tight security outside bryant park during a politician's visit

Getting to the IMG shows is also easy. Most take place at Bryant Park in mid town, right on top of a subway station - with bus transport even provided to the off-site shows.

Some off-schedule shows, eg Calvin Klein, are within walking distance of Bryant Park.

One Australian who is switching from off-schedule to on-schedule this season in NY is Ray Costarella, who reports that the costs involved in the two show options are comparable.

Costarella told me:

“We wanted to be in the hub of the media and buyers this season. Being on site at Bryant Park can only work in our favour given that it eliminates the need for buyers/media to travel from venue to venue. Last year there was a taxi strike which caused huge transportation issues”.

According to Costarella, applying for a slot on IMG's schedule is "a process" because IMG receives a large volume of requests each season.

According to an IMG spokesman, IMG usually turns away "10 to 15" companies each season.

How do you find out what's not on IMG's schedule? There is a free online service called modemonline.com which is OK – but not infallible. Some publications also compile their own lists. Beyond the subscriber-based WWD, here's a show listings rundown just-published by New York mag.







off-schedule: marchesa SS08, new york sep 07

Which brings me to the Fashion Calendar.

The Fashion Calendar is a stapled, bi-weekly, subscriber-based newsletter which purports to list every fashion presentation in NYC, be it runway show, trunk show or showroom presentation.

By all accounts it does not list every single event that is on – merely the presentations of those companies who have paid a fee to be listed.

Published “every other week” since 1941 by a now 88 year-old independent called Ruth Finley, the Fashion Calendar’s mission statement, according to its website is to provide:

“a tool for designers and manufacturers to keep them up-to-date on market weeks and to help them avoid potential conflicts when scheduling shows”.

That may have been the Fashion Calendar’s attainable mandate in 1941 - and even up until the 1990s. But today there are so many shows on in New York, it’s impossible to avoid schedule conflict.

In his February 2007 story, 'Help, We're drowning in a sea of shows', The New York Times’ Eric Wilson reported that New York’s FW9798 season boasted just 91 shows – compared with 221 for the FW0708 season a decade later.

In the same story even Finley conceded, "Frankly, it's too many shows".

Seven months later, in a story about Finley - in which she revealed her plans to keep on publishing the Fashion Calendar until after she has turned 100 - Wilson reported that New York's SS08 season boasted some 257 shows.

With some big name US designers not seeing the need to take part in the CFDA-initiated, now IMG-operated core schedule, it must certainly be handy for other companies to have a record of the big names' show times. Because who in their right mind is going to show up against Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez and even new stars such as Proenza Schouler and Rodarte? All show off-schedule.

On this interim Fashion Calendar draft recently posted by COACD, you’ll notice those and other major shows – both on and off-schedule - tend not to have any competitors in their time slots.



off-schedule: marc jacobs backstage, new york sep 07.
The collection, both finished and unfinished, gets wheeled in at 9.30pm - half an hour after the show was supposed to start and one and a half hours before it actually did.

As for the lesser-known brands however, it’s Rafferty’s Rules.

There are five other fashion shows listed in Alice McCall’s time slot of Friday 5th September at 6pm: Nicole Miller, Victor Glemaud, Rachel Comey, Iris Loeffler and Cecelia Perez/SaraRose Krenger.

Taking into account show delays and the awkward half hour time slot for Willow’s show - 1.30pm on September 11 – Willow could be competing with up to seven other brands. They include high-profile New York-based Kiwi Rebecca Taylor and hot newcomer Julian Louie, who works on the Calvin Klein design team and was mentored by Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa for Australian Wool Innovation's recent Protegé Project.

“I’m over there trying to fly the Australian flag, but I’m working more for international publications and their wishlist in situations like this when there are three different choices.... they’ll say, [for instance] ‘We want you to go to Unconditional and United Bamboo’” says Belgian-Australian backstage-specialist photographer Sonny Vandevelde, whose clients include New York’s hintmag.com. Hintmag’s first preference in McCall’s time slot is apparently Victor Glemaud.

Curiously, I have noticed a sensitivity amongst some local designers and their (local) publicists when I have reported that the designer in question is showing off-schedule in New York. On several occasions my reports have prompted snippy emails or SMS messages suggesting that I “check my facts”.

Presumably these parties feel that there is some element of 'exclusivity' attached to the process of paying a fee to the Fashion Calendar - and then being jammed into the same time slot as a half dozen other companies who have coughed up for a listing.

At least if you show on IMG's schedule, you can be guaranteed that your show won't conflict with anyone else on that schedule. Problem is, you don't have any control over who chooses to show elsewhere at the same time. And nor, evidently, does anyone else. Not the CFDA, not the Fashion Calendar and not IMG.

"Who's going to tell a designer that they can't show?" noted IMG Fashion senior vice president Fern Mallis in New York last September.

New York Fashion Week seems at times like one great big ambush marketing exercise.

As Eric Wilson noted in the NYT:

“In reality, it [New York Fashion Week] is so inclusive that the field of designers has expanded beyond a reasonable threshold of interest for its intended audience”.

a flag flies at bryant park on 11th september 07

I have to assume that the terms “democratic” and "classless" are much bandied about in New York fashion PR circles vis-a-vis New York Fashion Week, because both Karen Walker and Josh Goot dropped them when describing how the event operates.

That was before either designer had actually set foot in the event.

Before Walker found herself showing directly up against Australian Toni Maticevski one season - and wondered why some Australian media didn't make it to her show.

And it was before Goot decided to up stumps and head to London Fashion Week because, as he told me in May:

“I felt like we were getting lost in the crowd”.

Yes, New York Fashion Week is democratic. Apparently anyone can show there - if they've got the money.

The roster of names showing has included retail brands such as Miss Sixty and labels designed by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani. These labels would be unlikely to get a guernsey on the Paris schedule, irrespective of how much money was thrown at the Chambre Syndicale.

The incredible irony of course is that, in spite of all this fashion democracy and unfettered scheduling freedom that goes on in the Big Apple, few genuinely new ideas actually come out of it. New York Fashion Week remains a supremely commercially-focussed event which worships sportswear - and the local industry has a tendency to dismiss anything that's not commercial sportswear as "unwearable".

There is far more creative freedom showcased on the runways in Paris – which rules its schedule with an iron fist.

The Big Schmozzle: A New York Fashion Week primer Part I

kit willow podgornik backstage, new york sep 07

So to answer frockwriter’s own question - Is Alice McCall to be one of only three Australians showing at New York Fashion Week? – no, as it turns out, McCall is not. With the SS09 season officially kicking off in New York on Friday, a few previously airborne juggling balls have now landed. Here’s a headsup on which antipodians are showing, when.

Three Australian NYFW regulars are either not showing this season, or have gone elsewhere.


josh goot and cousin micaela ezra backstage, new york feb 07

As previously reported, Jayson Brunsdon and sass & bide are sitting the season out and Josh Goot will show at London Fashion Week.


josh goot FW0708 new york feb 07

Evidently a number of locals continue to scratch their heads about how New York Fashion Week works. They include journalists, publicists and even some designers.

Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, Alice McCall and Willow are not showing "on-schedule". Both happen to be listed on a document called the Fashion Calendar, which is essentially a road map of fashion presentations in NYC. With up to as many as six listings in the one time slot.


ray costarella backstage, new york feb 07

However the only thing approaching an official, centralised, organised - and indeed, civilised - schedule at New York Fashion Week is what is currently called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Neither McCall nor Willow are on this season's schedule.

Founded by the Council of Fashion Designers of America [CFDA] in 1993, originally as 7th on Sixth, and sold to IMG in 2001, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is the centrifuge of New York Fashion Week. It embraces eight days of shows - 85 of them all up this season.

The majority of these shows take place in show tents at Bryant Park. This season there are also 14 off-site - but nevertheless on-schedule - shows staged in various venues around Manhattan. The latter include Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Australia’s own Toni Maticevski.


aurelio costarella FW0708 new york feb 07

Here is a list of antipodians doing runway presentations in New York. It includes Kiwi Karen Walker and New York-based Australian expat Michael Angel who, as frockwriter reported two weeks ago, is opening IMG's schedule.

• MICHAEL ANGEL
ON-SCHEDULE Friday 5th September 9am The Salon, Bryant Park

• ALICE MCCALL
OFF-SCHEDULE Friday 5th September 6pm The Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street

• TONI MATICEVSKI
ON-SCHEDULE Saturday 6th September 12pm Roger Williams Hotel, 131 Madison Ave

• KAREN WALKER
OFF-SCHEDULE Saturday 6th September 3pm The Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street

• WILLOW
OFF-SCHEDULE Thursday 11th September 1.30pm

• AURELIO COSTARELLA
ON-SCHEDULE Thursday 11th September 9pm The Salon, Bryant Park

aurelio costarella FW0708 new york feb 07

Sydney: Finally relevant to someone

jayson brunsdon SS0809 show, may 2/getty

Those with WWD subscriptions may have already seen my Letter From Sydney on Thursday. Letters From… is a running series that is distinct from WWD’s regular global fashion news coverage in that the reports focus specifically on the cities themselves, looking at growth, real estate, vital stats and of course fashion developments. Here are some interview outtakes from a couple of key local players which did not make it into the story due to space restrictions.


Philip Corne, CEO Oceania, Louis Vuitton (the world’s biggest luxury brand)

On the Australian LV customer:

“I think the Australian consumer sits somewhere for me between London and New York. In terms of the way they shop. We’re part of Asia geographically, but I think shopping in Asia is a recreational activity, whereas in Australia it’s not quite the same. We shop with a purpose I would say, if I could put it that way”.

On where to take the guys from head office when they’re in town:

“The thing that we find impresses, and you can kind of roll a lot of things about Sydney into one, is those great restaurants around the harbour. And we find somewhere like Guilluame at Bennelong or Quay restaurant, if you’re there and you’re looking out over the harbour and you’re experiencing that level of service, that level of food and that level of wine….. For the French, who love their food and wine, to be able to do that and look out over Sydney Harbour, they’re gobsmacked”.

On the long haul factor:

“The day they [jets] get faster I think will be the day that travel to Australia will change dramatically. [It needs to be] Twice as fast. I think that the Americans can handle going to Europe and the Europeans can handle going to America, but it’s once you start to get into 24 hours they go, ‘You’ve got to be joking’. For me I just turn my brain into solid neutral and try not to think about anything, because it’s too hard”.

Robert Jordan, managing director Australia and New Zealand, Westfield Group (the world’s largest listed real estate property group by market equity capitalisation)

On the city of Sydney – and Australian retail culture:

“I think it’s naturally one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But as a retail location, I think the Australian culture of being fashion-conscious, being casual, being free, all leads to an interesting environment for retail, because I believe it’s a fairly open environment to that”.

On the difference between Australian and US malls:

“I think that Sydney and Australia is quite a competitive environment to be in. I think we also have land blocks that aren’t large, that are quite small, that we need to deal with. I think we have been quite entrepreneurial and inventive in being able to cope with a number of issues. It’s different to the US, which is the home of shopping centres, which traditionally have had very large blocks of land available, at intersections to freeways… We’ve had to deal with town centres. We have small blocks of land, have to develop on multi levels, we have to work out how they work. I think our centres are more vibrant. They actually attract a number of different disciplines, from food, fashion, homewares… Whereas a lot of the other countries have just been focussing on fashion, we’ve been focussing on a true town centre”.

On Westfield Group’s Oz roots:

“Australia has always been our base from which we’ve grown and it’s also probably our origins and where our intellectual knowledge has actually come from. Australia really is the breeding ground for what we do around the world. And if you look at [new A$600million CBD development] Sydney City for instance, it’s probably the culmination of many years work, which started at Bondi [Junction]…. I think a lot of people were surprised at what we could do [at WBJ]. We were regional mall developers and we actually challenged ourselves to reinvent ourselves”.

And of course, who could forget the inimitable response from the Sydney Chamber of Commerce communications director Nick Davy, following my request for an interview (for in fact this story) with the Chamber’s executive director Patricia Forsythe:

“this is..... just not relevant".

Girls of Summer: Which new Australians will make their marks on SS09?

marilyn via models.com


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?

New York hype continues to build around Myf Shepherd and Sarah Stephens.

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:

"Walking EVERYTHING…no doubt"

coacd

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:


the imagist

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:



IMG via coacd

Here is her current season's show card [a second image from which appears at the very top of this post]:


marilyn via models.com

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 frockwriter recently 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!

The Rothman prophecies: Project Runway Australia could run to series 2, 3, 4 ...

In Henry Roth's opinion Australia is the real winner of the first series of Project Runway Australia, which wraps up on September 15th with a big finale show that was shot two weeks ago in Melbourne. According to Roth, who plays the show's designer "mentor" role, that’s because of the depth of fashion talent that was unearthed on series one. But frockwriter reckons the real winner could be Roth himself.

Hardly a household name in Oz prior to scoring the PR gig, this third generation bridalwear designer departed these shores for New York a decade ago, changed his name, launched his own label and reinvented himself as a fashion-specialist media personality. Just as Ralph Lauren was once Ralph Lifschitz, Henry Roth entered this world as Henry Weinreich.

With the first series of Project Runway Australia under his belt, and signed for an undisclosed number of subsequent series, Roth has, in his own words, been "sucked" back downunder - and is "loving it".

I caught up with Roth after last week's Myer show.

So, what can you tell me?
What would you like to know?

Who wins?
All 12 designers are winners. But I will say Australia wins, because we’re going to honestly get some amazing designers out of this. And I will put my money on it, two or three of them, you will be able to buy in a year or two, in stores around the country.

Can you give me a hint?
No.

Just a tiny hint. You know you want to.
No I don’t actually.

You do.
I don’t.

Because you’ll get sued for breach of contract.
It’s not even sued or not sued, it’s just like, you know what, let the designers… why should I be the one to steal their thunder? That would be very selfish of me.

And Foxtel would be horrified.
Yes, that’s true. But also, it would steal their thunder.

When did you film the finale?
We did the finale about two weeks ago. It was done in the Docklands in Melbourne. It was an amazing event. Because the ratings have gone through the ceiling - I can tell you that it’s the highest rating show ever on Arena – they quadrupled the budget for the final runway. They’re thrilled with it.

So.. a big show?
Huge. Five hundred people.

Describe the winning dress.
[Slowly] All. The. Dresses. Were. Winners.


screen grab episode one

What about the 'Frocker’ [Helen Manuell]? She bombed out.
The Frocker… you know what, I happen to love the Frocker. Please note, she’s never been formally trained, she raised her own family, she’s a single mum, she went in there, she’s the oldest one, she meant to do business and you know what, if you don’t like the way she acts, that’s too bad, because I respect her.

She was like a mother hen at times.
She was. There were times when she was very tough because, you know what? She was in it to win it. That’s good.

They were all in it to win it.
Absolutely. Yeah, but she was particularly because, being the eldest, she’s not there to muck around.

Were you ever disappointed with the decisions that were made each week?
Unfortunately, I am not a judge. I am a mentor, I am an optimiser. Yes, I absolutely shed tears many times.

Give me some examples.
It’s always hard to say goodbye to people. It’s very emotional. People wearing their souls on their sleeves. I’ve been there. I’ve done it. I know what it’s like. It’s emotional. That’s why all of Australia is riveted to this show. Because it’s emotional – and personal.

So you had a tv background before this didn’t you?
Yes. I had a tv show in the states called Style Court. I was the Judge Judy of fashion and I had to adjudicate on crimes of fashion, which brought in my fashion profession and also my law degree. It was on the E Network and the Style Network, from 2003-2004 and we had 165 episodes.

But you also make wedding dresses?
I do. But we also dressed Shaquille O'Neal’s wife. My sister [Michelle Roth] and I have been on Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, Oprah… I mean you name it.

Is a second series of Project Runway Australia in the pipeline?
I would be dramatically surprised if there would not be. But I will say to you it’s tv, it’s entertainment as well… so I won’t be surprised if they say no. But I would be shocked if they said no.

Have you been asked to sign for a second season?
I was already signed for a second season - before I started my first season.

How many seasons were you signed for?
That’s confidential. I will tell you this, Foxtel have invested a lot of money in that franchise, so I personally would be surprised if it didn’t see a good two or three or four seasons. When we went into the auditions, Fremantle Media, the producers, did mention that they hoped that they would have a longevity, that there would be three, four, five or six episodes at least [he meant seasons, presumably].

So tell me some funny anecdotes. Things that happened behind the scenes.
I wanted to kill Lui, with the Kelly Rowland dress. What you didn’t see, which was heavily edited, was when I went in there and I saw the green fringes on the gold lame and I’m like, ‘Lui, you have to start from scratch’. I went home, back to my flat next door, it was midnight, and I’m like, ‘OMG, did I advise these guys wrongly? My whole professionalism is on the line’. And basically, I thought what the hell happens if Kelly Rowland walks in the next morning and she just loves that dress? Fortunately she didn’t, but honestly, it was hair-raising.

Did you all get on?
[Thinks] The bottom line is that this is the best production team in Australia. It’s the finest, most sophistiacted team of people front of camera and back of camera. And I’m privileged to be part of it.

You dodged the question did everyone get on?
You have to ask them.

It sounds like everyone didn’t get on.
From a production perspective it was the most harmonious production that Fremantle says that they’ve done, ever.

But beyond the production?
You’ll have to ask them. All I can tell you is, watch the show, watch what happens literally. Because what you see is what you get. And that’s what I’m so thrilled about. That it wasn’t edited to be distorted.

With the finale, Kristy Hinze didn’t do a Jodhi Meares then and hand it over to someone else?
She’s such a fantastic professional. She’s amazing and she just did a brilliant job.

What do you think about Jodhi Meares pulling out of the ANTM finale? You heard about that controversy didn’t you?
[Thinks] It’s all good.

Politically, presumably it’s a bit awkward for you to comment, given that it’s both the same network and production company behind Australia’s Next Top Model and Project Rrunway?
Absolutely, I can say whatever I want. But I think that …I’ve always been brought up to not pull people down but actually to lift them up. And that’s also why being a mentor is such a perfect role because that’s how I live my life. Honestly.

I’m talking about the host of Australia’s Next Top Model.
Yes I’m talking about the same thing. [It was] Her decision. She couldn’t possibly have taken that lightly. So I think that people need to stand back a little and just respect other people. It’s really easy to tear somebody down. A little bit more difficult to actually stand back and lift them up a bit. Honestly.

So you think Jodhi Meares should be applauded for having pulled out of the finale, when she not only accepted the job as the show’s host, but part of that job was in fact to tell aspiring models to conquer their own insecurities, to 'get on with the job' and to be professional ?
That’s a very good question. I’m not saying that she should be applauded. But I’m also saying that she shouldn’t be castigated either. Because there must have been something behind the scenes there that made her…

Something like sheer terror?
Whatever it is. Respect it. Move on.

You don’t really know what’s happening at the moment then, in terms of the show, where you’ll be living etc… You were living in the US?
Basically I’m running my parents’ business, and every time I try and get to New York… [hard to hear] Australia has wholly and solely sucked me in and I’m loving it. I’m loving it.

How long have you been back here?
For nine months. And it’s the longest time I’ve been out of New York City for ten years.

So you’re back for good?
Nothing’s for good, nothing’s forever. But Sydney rocks. Australia rocks. I love Melbourne.

Have you ever met [US fashion consultant/Project Runway US mentor] Tim Gunn?
No, but I’d love to. He’s a total icon. He’s amazing. But I made it very clear when I initially did the role, that it’s not a role to me, it’s a lifestyle, it’s how I live and if they’re looking for Tim Gunn they’ve got the wrong man.


max headroom/wikipedia

Finally, do you think you have much in common with Max Headroom? Because there are times when I look at you on the show and I think to myself, that is in fact Max Headroom,
That’s so cute, I love that, If I inspire in you images of other famous people, I’m flattered, I really am.

He was a computer graphic.
Yeah I know. I hear you. Well I can be a little bit of a computer graphic. And I can see that. I think also Robin Williams maybe a little bit. I am very fullon and I realise that.