Carla Zampatti: Australian Fashion Laureate

vogue.com.au

Congratulations go to Carla Zampatti, who was awarded the Australian Fashion Laureate this afternoon in Sydney.

In the wake of the demise of the FIA Awards, the Fashion Laureate is being touted as the highest Australian fashion accolade.

The award is a year-old joint initiative between the NSW government and IMG FASHION Asia Pacific - the latter which operates essentially as a defacto Australian Fashion Council.

According to the NSW Department of State and Regional Development:

“To be eligible, a candidate's body of work must have been carried out in Australia, must have global reach, must align with high ethical standards, and must link fashion to business”.

Sadly I could not make today's presentation.

I was however interested to read an AAP report of Zampatti's acceptance speech, in which she made reference to both IMG FASHION Asia Pacific managing director Simon Lock and Australian Fashion Week, the event Lock's Australian Fashion Innovators company founded in May 1996.

Zampatti is quoted as saying:

"We came of age with fashion week. We are now on the international calendar. Lock deserves all the accolades from the industry for achieving this."

It was an interesting comment, given that as far as I can recall, Zampatti only ever graced the Australian Fashion Week runway on one occasion.

From the outset of the event, Lock and co had always seemed quite focussed on targetting the new, younger, export-driven fashion guard which had emerged in Australia from the mid 1980s onwards.


carla zampatti

Carla Zampatti is undoubtedly an icon of the Australian fashion industry.

After migrating from Italy with her family in 1950, she launched her fashion business at the age of 23 and in 2005 celebrated the fashion milestone of 40 years in business.

Zampatti quit wholesaling in 1990 to focus on a vertical operation. The company's website lists some 18 Carla Zampatti stores within Australia.

Zampatti is no stranger to accolades, having been made a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the fashion industry and a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Zampatti is also a recipient of the Centenary Medal, the Chair of Australian multicultural broadcaster SBS, a director of Westfield Group, a trustee of the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation Trust, a member of the Development Committee of the Sydney Theatre Company and a board member of the Australian Multicultural Foundation.

But does she export and/or do her fashion endeavours have anything remotely approaching a global reach?


carla zampatti

Sarah Stephens: "Good vibe" from Mario Testino, hat trick from Greg Kadel

A very quick chat with Sarah Stephens (R ^) and Rachel Rutt backstage after Tuesday's David Jones show.

Stephens must have been on a whirlwind trip back downunder because she has been in New York for the past two months, where she does not appear to have stopped either working - or talking to media outlets.

Here are some details via Stephens' new New York magazine model profile and a few others, including that amusing New York mag video she did last month.

With Stephens was another potential Chic hatchling, Rachel Rutt, who told me that she's just waiting to finish her last year of school this year, before she plans to head OS as well.

Rutt speaks with an American accent - and for a reason that not even she appears to understand.

"Yeah it's American, apparently" said Rutt. "I grew up in Japan".

Here's the chat with Stephens:

So just a quick visit back home then – are you heading back to New York soon?
Sarah Stephens: I’m going back Thursday week. Going back for the shows. Give them a go.

What was the Mario Testino shoot for? The New York reporter mentioned it [in the above-linked video] but I don’t recall seeing anything else about a Testino shoot.
It was just for a casting. So mainly I just got a good vibe from Mario.

Testino didn’t option you exclusively then – à la Catherine McNeil?
Not that I know of. I’m not sure. And I worked with Greg Kadel three times, for Numero Homme and French Numero and Italian Vogue.

So it’s been pretty hectic?
It’s been pretty hectic over there. It’s quite daunting to go back there again. I’m just really planning to go back and do the castings for the shows.

Is Myf [Shepherd] still over there? Are you friends with Myf?
Yeah, I think she’s back here at the moment. She’s doing her final year of school.

QF 424 Melbourne-Sydney: A graphic recording

comic-turned-steward craig hall rocking the morrissey qantas uniform


My Qantas flight* back to Sydney last week was delayed by almost an hour. "Technical problems", the voice over the airport PA system announced. Which didn't really augur well, given the recent spate of technical issues on Qantas jets. I prayed that they managed to sort out any cracks in the drip trays or dodgy oxygen cylinders.

Once we finally arrived on the plane, a very nervous-sounding captain thanked us for our patience and explained that the technical issue in question had concerned the flaps.

"Safety before schedule" the captain noted, mantra-like, on several occasions throughout the address.

After takeoff I found myself looking out at said flaps, hoping that the techs did manage to sort out the problem and not just simply quick-fix it with a couple of rubber bands - which is probably what Garuda would have done.



My attention was also drawn to the safety instruction booklet. I think it's the first time I've ever looked at it.



I was struck by just how much the safety booklet looked like a graphic recording.



I was inspired to attempt a graphic recording of the flight.

Not being equipped with a Charters pen set or large sheets of paper, I took out my notebook and biro.

I logged snapshots of dialogue from Deborah Hutton's welcome video and news stories including the trial of Radovan Karadzic, a profit downgrade at gaming machine maker Aristocat, media censorship at the Olympics and the Australian Ballet's search for a new Billy Elliott.

My concentration was interrupted by an inquisitive steward.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

"A graphic recording" came the reply.

"Is that like graphic design?" he asked.

"Sort of" I replied. "It's complicated".

A longer chat revealed that the steward, Craig Hall, used to be a standup comic.

An affable chap, he was more than happy to pose for a shot - even with those iconic beverage accoutrements of the flight attendant.

"You mean my jugs?" he asked.

I asked if Hall ever found any use for his comic training on the new job.

"Yeah sometimes - it comes in handy for hecklers" he replied.



After filling the page, I flicked through the in-flight magazine.

In between a story about some new luxury topend resorts and ads for a new production of Wicked, which is apparently being sponsored by Qantas, I stopped at another ad.

At first glance, it could have been mistaken for a promotion for the new David Cronenberg collab production, The Fly The Opera.

Upon further investigation, it turned out to be an advertisement for Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services:



The plane landed - in 48 minutes.

Why some planes can do the Melbourne-Sydney trip in 48 minutes, while the rest require 1.5 hours, escapes me.

Perhaps it has to do with the size of the jet.

Or the flaps.

Anyhow, here's my graphic recording:



* I covered all my own expenses for this Melbourne FGI trip.

FGI roadshow Part II

Last Wednesday, the FGI Fashion Flash decamped to Melbourne. I wish I could report that the trip involved a tour bus, singing to Tiny Dancer, with Ivan Gomez astride the roof of the vehicle, arms outstretched, screaming “I am a golden God" (Almost Famous joke).

Instead it involved a very pretty aerial view of the snow-clad Australian alps, followed by an arrival at Avalon airport – which, for the benefit of anyone who has never flown Jetstar to Melbourne, is a tin shed in the middle of a paddock located approximately 45 minutes out of the city. You could be forgiven for thinking you had arrived in Dunedoo, not Australia’s second biggest city.

En route I did a Sunster and snapped the view from above:



The second Flash was staged inside an auditorium at RMIT. It was a much smaller setup than the Sydney affair.

The show nevertheless ran to the same format as the Sydney event: the video, topped and tailed by a presentation from FGI's Sydney regional director Mary Gualtieri, followed by the panel discussion.

The Melbourne panellists were Ivan Gomez and Adelaide-based eveningwear designer Razak Mohammed who designs the Razak label. Razak also operates the multibrand emporium Miss Gladys Sym Choon - an Adelaide fashion retail landmark which was opened by its Chinese namesake, Miss Gladys Sym Choon, in 1928.

(L to R) Razak, Mary Gualtieri, Ivan Gomez and me at RMIT:



Razak arrived in a bit of a fluster, nervous about the prospect of facing the audience.

Razak was really very nervous – so nervous that I assumed the entire presentation would have to be carried by Gomez and myself, with Razak trembling in the corner in fear of public speaking.

Once we started however, you couldn’t shut him up.



To one side of the auditorium, as we spoke, a woman furiously scribbled notes and drawings on a couple of large pieces of white paper that had been stuck to the wall.

Mad RMIT professor?

No – graphic recorder.

Que?

Launched in San Francisco in the late 60s/early 70s, the fascinating little world of graphic recording apparently boasts some 500 exponents worldwide.

That's according to Donna McGeorge, the woman with the pencils at the RMIT Fashion Flash.

McGeorge, who normally works as a facilitator, is attempting to kickstart the graphic recording industry in Australia.

The industry Grand Poobah is apparently an American by the name of David Sibbet, who founded "the mecca" of graphic recording in San Francisco: The Grove.

Call them modern-day cave painters, idea mappers - or as McGeorge suggested, "minute-takers on steroids" - graphic recorders capture ideas and expressions as they are being spoken, in the moment.

Just don’t call them cartoonists. Apparently graphic recorders believe the latter term trivialises their work.

The recording instrument of choice is in fact not a pencil, but the Charters brand of felt-tipped pen – purchased from, where else, The Grove.

Here are some before and after shots of the FGI graphic recording, which I gather is later going to be auctioned by FGI for charity.

McGeorge started with an almost blank canvas, save for renderings of a runway and a dress dummy:



Here's the final work. Anyone (such as Jodes) who is interested in a precis of FGI's take on the FW0809 runway trends, click to enlarge - it contains the main points of the video presentation:



Although I did not take any video of McGeorge while she was recording, here is a YouTube video of a graphic recorder in action in the US:



McGeorge and her business partner Deb Dalziel are in Chicago this week attending the 13th annual International Forum for Visual Practitioners conference.

In November in Melbourne, McGeorge will graphically record a presentation by Sir Bob Geldof who is being flown out to Australia by Diversity at Work.


deb dalziel (L) and donna mcgeorge

I was interested to learn that GR guru David Sibbet was originally a journalist - with urban planning ambitions.



I was reminded, for some reason, of the partnership of Hunter S Thompson and illustrator Ralph Steadman. And smiled, when McGeorge mentioned that there’s a point at which a graphic recorder may find themself at risk of no longer recording impartially - but becoming too involved with the story.

Graphic recorders call this “being hooked in content”. Call it the graphic recording equivalent of “Gonzo” journalism.

McGeorge reached it at one point during the FGI trends video presentation, when a series of Prada handbags flashed up on the screen.



"I began salivating" she told me after the presentation.

Noted Dalziel, mimicking McGeorge gobsmacked by the Pradas in mid-record:

“Suddenly you realised, 'OMG I’m in content!'”

Model revheads: Dad and Orlando bonded over bikes

inco/fame pictures


It’s great for designers, and models, to be able to have their nearest-and-dearest with them at fashion shows. The only problem is keeping them away from the press. In Miranda Kerr’s case, after Tuesday night’s DJs show, there were 15 family members in tow. I had a quick chat with dad John Kerr - who revealed there was a little more to the story surrounding those motorcycle pics of Miranda’s bf Orlando Bloom that were shot at Dare Jennings' Sydney motorbike shop Deux ex Machina in May (^).


Is this the first runway show of Miranda’s that you’ve seen?
John Kerr: It’s the first big one that I’ve been to.

Which other shows have you seen?
I’m not sure. Not too many. Only on tv. Like everybody else, sit in the armchair and watch.

It’s a long way from Gunnedah.
Yeah, it’s not too bad. I drove down here last Sunday. Had dinner and breakfast with Miranda and then drove home.

There are quite a few famous Gunnedah girls. One bagged a Packer.
There is. Yes, that’s right.

And one might bag a Bloom?
Yeah, no… there’s some famous people that have come out of the area. There’s also sports people…

So, something in the water?
Must be (chuckles).

Miranda has had a fantastic career.
Oh yeah, yeah… It’s been amazing for her, yes.

She started when she was so young.
Yes she did. It was mainly for Dolly. And then she went and finished school. So she did year 11 and 12. And that’s when she really started to model full-time.

So you have your whole family here?
Pretty much.

How many people are here?
Fifteen of us all up.

Who’s here?
I’ve got my mum and dad. My sister and there’s some other cousins, Therese’s brother and sister-in-law and nephews and nieces.

So a whole family affair.
Pretty much.


john kerr with wife therese and miranda after tuesday night's show

Is there a David Jones in Gunnedah?
No. There might be soon!

Where is the nearest DJs?
I think you’ve got to go to Newcastle. There was one in Tamworth, but I think they closed it down. But yeah, they’re saying they’re opening up a few stores around the place.

And what do you think about Orlando?
He’s a nice guy.

When was the last time you saw him?
The last time I saw him was when he was here. Back a couple of months ago. We went motorbike riding together.

Did you? Where?
We went down south of here. Just trying to think of the place. It’s where they hold some motorbike riding…south of Sydney.

So some sort of competition?
No, no - just him and I.

What sort of bikes?
We rode Yamahas, KDMs, stuff like that.

Do you like motorbikes?
I like riding motorbikes.

What was Orlando like on a bike?
He was good.

How long were you riding bikes for?
All my life.

No I meant how long were you and Orlando riding bikes for?
Oh all day. Yep, all day.

So you hung out, had a few beers?
Yeah, yeah… no it was good.

Does he seem like a bit of a hellraiser to you?
No not really. Pretty sort of down to earth guy. I wouldn’t call him a hellraiser.

Noone had any stacks?
No, not at all. We had special guides. Actually training us how to ride better. So that was good. Because even though I’ve ridden motorbikes all my life, you don’t know everything. You can still teach an old dog new tricks.

Miranda Kerr: I was a teenage political pawn

1997 dolly scan via vogue.com.au


Had a (very) quick chat with new David Jones fashion ambassador Miranda Kerr after last night’s show. I was particularly interested in her take on the recent decision by DJs to ban under-18 models from its runway show. I thought Kerr would be well-placed to comment on the subject given that she made her modelling debut in Dolly at the age of 13 (see above scan^), in a blaze of controversy.

Sadly I am unable to quickly locate the original print stories from 1997. I was however working in current affairs television at the time and I recall the "child porn" outcry.

There is a quote that is widely attributed to Kerr on matter, on the net – the exact origin of which is unclear.

The quote appears on many modelling sites and on what appears to be a Victoria's Secret fan site, under Kerr's Victoria's Secret Angel profile.

Here is the quote:

“They were blowing out [sic] of proportion. In the media at the time they were trying to cling on to anything remotely to do with paedophilia. Dolly is a magazine for teenage girls, not for old men. And I was fully clothed! Doing a winter shoot! They just made something out of nothing.”

The Australia Institute appears to have a slightly different opinion on the subject of children in advertising - even when the children are advertising childrens' clothes.

In its 2006 discussion paper Corporate Paedophilia: Sexualisation of Children in Australia, the Institute pointed the finger at several retailers over marketing material which featured children.

David Jones dropped legal action against the Institute in May 2008.


kerr rocking alex perry last night



Here is the i/v with Kerr done backstage last night, before Kerr was whisked away to other duties.


David Jones recently introduced a ban for under-18 models. You yourself started modelling at 13.
Miranda Kerr: I wasn’t doing fashion parades at that age. I was modelling for magazines that were targetted for young girls.

There was a lot of controversy at the time.
There was. That was running in the media at the time. There were people running for Senate and they were using me as a platform to enhance their own careers basically.

Gemma Ward started her career at 15 – she was in at least one David Jones show.
The thing is that I was always at school and I never let modelling interfere with school and I just modelled for Dolly magazine, which was a young girls’ magazine at the time. I was two weeks off 14.

Do you think girls should be modelling at 14?
Well I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with it. But I think the reason why David Jones has said ‘We’re not having them for the runway show...’ is because, for the runway show, their target audience is women and adults. So that’s why they’ve chosen adults to model for them. So it makes sense to choose adults [who are] over 18.

Front-of-house David Jones

Times might be tough, retail sales might have fallen by their biggest margin in six years and almost half of David Jones market value might have been wiped in 2008, but you couldn't wipe the smiles off the DJs crew last night at the SS0809 season launch.

With the exception of Collette Dinnigan's bodycon glitter finale, DJs looks to be hoping for a trapeze-led recovery.

The trapeze-line shift, voluminous babydoll, sack or smock has been on the retail horizon for well over twelve months. Consumers couldn't buy enough of them - much to the chagrin of many men, who decried their tent-like appeal as sexless. Some hoped to see the back of this trend.

But I lost count of the trapeze shapes last night at DJs.



Even DJs group general manager for apparel, cosmetics, footwear and accessories Colette Garnsey was rocking a hot pink Akira trapeze dress. Here's Garnsey with general manager womenswear David Bush, incoming fashion ambassador Miranda Kerr and the incumbent Megan Gale at the post-show press call:



Searing colour was also big news, the maxidress trend is not going away (as we saw at the Australian Fashion Week SS0809 shows in April), ditto florals, embellishment (even for men), feminine ruffles, a touch of Techno Tribal, leggings and 50s-look full skirts.




With not only the world's tenth highest-earning model as the retailer's new fashion ambassador, but also top international catwalker Alexandra Agoston and hot newcomers Sarah Stephens, Louise van der Vorst and Rachel Rutt, DJs' runway lineup was impressive.

Sarah Stephens:



Rachel Rutt:



Some of the other models did not seem terribly confident at all however. Some also looked a lot older than those models which the fashion crowd is used to seeing in most runway presentations, both in Australia and overseas.

Given that DJs recently banned under-18s from the show - when in seasons past it has employed models at least as young as 15 - that's hardly surprising.










Dinnigan's finale was particularly strong. Of course, she showed embellished cocktail dresses - that's her signature.

But these versions seemed shorter, sharper and more bodycon than ever before. The dresses reminded me of the Flapper showgirl costumes in Chicago.

Backstage @ David Jones

kent vaughan

It ain't Dior - but it might just be Victoria's Secret.

Backstage at the David Jones Spring Summer 2008/2009 show, Sydney, 5th August, with two of Australia's best-known modelling exports - Victoria's Secret Angel/new David Jones face Miranda Kerr and Galliano muse Alexandra Agoston - vamping it up in Jets swimwear and Sydney Mardi Gras headpieces from Priscilla. Shot by makeup artist Kent Vaughan, who worked on the show.