Rachel Rutt scores her second international cover - so why can't she get a gig downunder?

dazed & confused japan via chic management

In the deluge of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week coverage, frockwriter somehow managed to miss this cover. So congrats are due to one of this blog's faves, Sydney model Rachel Rutt, who scored this month's cover of the Japanese edition of Dazed & Confused. And while sure, it's not as visible as the cover of the UK parent edition (which Rutt's better-established Chic stablemate Abbey Lee Kershaw has cracked twice), it is nevertheless a fantastic get. It represents, moreover, her second international cover - after scoring one of 12 multicovers of the autumn/winter 09/10 edition of French Revue de Modesmade the cover of Dazed & Confused Japan last October, alongside big names including Coco Rocha, Ali Stephens, Karmen Pedaru, Dree Hemingway, Constance Jablonski and Maryna Linchuk. Coincidentally, in February, another Chic-ette, Rutt's great mate Myf Shepherd, scored the cover of Dazed & Confused Japan. So you could say that "MUTT" has this mag covered. 

As reported by frockwriter Rutt and Shepherd have been blogging in tandem under the MUTT hybrid byline, both for their Heyweird blog and for Australian IN Front's RAFW coverage.

For the latter, the duo interviewed local creatives including Luke Sales, Ryan Lobo, Alan White and.... themselves. Although Australian IN Front previously advertised that MUTT's RAFW interviews would be with anonymous fashion players, the only question mark hovering over MUTT's RAFW profiles concerns just which MUTT team member was being interviewed by who.

Pedestrian.tv has suggested that Rutt interviewed Shepherd. That seems unlikely however, given that Shepherd did not walk in any shows at the event ( frockwriter hears the girls swapped roles during the interview).

Rutt was one of the busiest models at RAFW - for the second year in a row - and had a great first New York season last September.

But although Dazed + Confused Japan makes two international fashion magazine covers for Rutt, she has yet to be booked for the cover of a local fashion print title (although she did appear on the December/January 08/09 cover of Australian online mag Pages Online).

Back in 2008, Rutt, who is half Singaporean, told The Australian that she was looking forward to working overseas, particularly Europe. In the latter markets, she claimed, Eurasian faces were far more welcome. Rutt described Australia as being very "Caucasian-oriented".

Beyond the late South Korean model Daul Kim appearing on a recent cover of RUSSH, several Australian modelling industry sources to whom frockwriter spoke this afternoon struggled to recall the last time an Asian model graced the cover of an Australian fashion magazine.

“For a very multicultural country, I'm surprised that it hasn’t happened” noted one observer who requested anonymity.

"People are reluctant to use girls who are not of northern European looks" noted another. "It's risky - because they're in a minority".

It's worth remembering, however, that another one of Rutt's high profile Chic Management stablemates, Catherine McNeil, was on the cover of high profile US fashion title V and Paris Vogue, before any Australian magazines showed an iota of interest in putting her on page one. (Correction: McNeil made the cover of RUSSH in January 2007 - the same month that she headed off to New York for castings and her first international ready-to-wear runway season. And four years after she began modelling in Australia).

Casting clout: Kannon Rajah carves up the show circuit, from Karl to Ksubi

Frockwriter has mentioned Sydney expat Kannon Rajah on several previous occasions. During 2008’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – on which he has worked in casting and show production since 2006 – and last year’s VS show, which we profiled in a tv story on Today Tonight. We caught up with the casting dynamo yesterday down in Bondi. Rajah, who now lives in New York with his Australian wife and son, returned to work on Ksubi’s show which closed RAFW. It was a bit of a homecoming for Rajah who started his career working for the then Mercedes Australian Fashion Week from 2001-2005, initially as a runner and eventually designer relations director and show producer. Victoria’s Secret isn’t Rajah’s only coup – in February he became the casting director for Italian luxurygoods maker Fendi, the latest in an expanding roster of personal clients, which also includes Gareth Pugh, Pedro Lourenco and Willow.


Yes that’s right, Rajah is now Karl Lagerfeld’s right-hand man – at least when it comes to the casting of the Fendi show, on which Lagerfeld works as creative director (here's Rajah, above, in an in-house video). Rajah would no doubt love to get his hands on Lagerfeld's other shows: Karl Lagerfeld and the luxury motherlode, Chanel.

That’s after five years working for some of the fashion world’s biggest show production companies. Here is a list of the companies and shows with which Rajah has worked since leaving Sydney:

With KCD:
Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton

With Bureau Betak:
Christian Dior, Victoria's Secret

With Villa Eugenie:
Lanvin, Chanel, Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel, Hermès, Hugo Boss

With OBO:
Victoria's Secret, Fashion Rocks

With Without:
Burberry, Gucci, Prada

With John Pfeiffer:
Victoria's Secret, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Lacoste, Halston, Akris, Hussein Chalayan

Of course had things worked out differently, Rajah might have been working these days with elite athletes.

Instead, he dropped out of physiotherapy and Sports Science studies at Sydney University to join Australian Fashion Week - and now finds himself working with elite performers of a different kind.

Of all the models of RAFW, Rajah says he has his eye on seven new names: Chic Management’s Juliana Forge, Viviens’ Eliza Humble and Dempsey Stewart, Work Agency's Jessica McColl, Chadwicks' Victoria Lee and Priscillas’ Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Zippora Seven.

The latter two models are both petite compared with the regular runway amazons. But then, Kate Moss was 170cm and that didn’t stop her.

“Even though they [Northwood-Blyth and Seven] might not have the typical height of a runway model, they more than compensate for it with their stunning features and body proportions” Rajah told frockwriter. “Also, they are great characters with great personalities”.






(top to bottom: eliza humble/RTW 1 SS1011; bambi northwood blyth/michael lo sordo SS1011; juliana forge/dion lee SS1011; zippora seven/stolen girlfriends club AW10 and dempsey stewart/manning cartell SS1011 via isaaclikes)

Here is a feature that US modelling authority models.com ran on Rajah in February, featuring 82 of his own Polaroids of his top model picks for the FW1011 season (including Australians Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Myf Shepherd - which is curious, given that Shepherd took the season off).

Here are a couple of frockwriter’s Posterous shots from backstage at Ksubi which went up on Twitter in real-time (each of which has been viewed over 1000 times).





Here is frockwriter's Posterous photo gallery of Ksubi backstage and the show.

And here is a mini wrap of the event that I wrote for News Ltd’s The Punch opinion site, which includes the Ksubi show.

Master blaster: Indie Kiwi startup asks "WTF has happened to magazines today?"

Last night, frockwriter’s attention was drawn to Master Mouse Patrol, an interesting new, free magazine from New Zealand which describes itself as "sexy, yet polite". Developed by three Kiwis - Sam Williamson, Benny Castles (whose day job is menswear director of Auckland-based fashion brand WORLD) and Richie Wildman - the magazine is edited in Sydney, printed in Auckland and designed in New York. Here is the link to the website, which adds new material on an ongoing basis and also includes a PDF of print edition one: a compendium of musings on New Zealand, Australia, travel, food, the arts, photography and a comic from Kiwi illustrator Jooles Clements. It’s the second magazine to have launched from within the NZ fashion community – after Karen Walker’s travel site, Runaway Now.

But not even Walker’s more illustrious guest contributors in the form of Sir Richard Branson and model Shalom Harlow are a patch on Master Mouse Patrol’s anonymous "fallen drag queen" scribe “Bambi”, who lets rip on a wide variety of topics and, elsewhere in the issue, plays resident Agony Aunt.

With kind permission from Bambi and Master Mouse Patrol, here is her dissertation on the state of contemporary fashion magazines, which frockwriter believes deserves far wider play. Enjoy.




WHAT THE F*** has happened to magazines today?

It’s bad enough the publisher thinks he/she/it is doing us (the reader) a favour by keeping the cover price under $10 (f***ing arseholes) in a genuine and deluded attempt to remain relevant in the market, and to keep competitive so that they can slim up to advertisers and lie that they have a readership! What readership!? Even lithium-fuelled subordinates are turning off magazines by the millions!

DO YOU know why?

Well it’s because they write shit about shit! All they worry about is getting that prestigious tampon or Gatorade advert, coupled with the drug-f***-lust for the freebee! What makes it even worse is that the freebees you are getting are so pathetic and cheap you actually don’t realise that even your advertiser hates you! You lazy Mother F***ers, all you care about is how fat you look in those jeans!! F*** I hate you so much! The reader gets a regurgitated piece of nothing filled with press releases whilst you plump your lips with free arsecream!

You fly around the planet consuming stuff and not really believing in any of it because you are basically the nerd outsider from the schoolyard that everyone hated!

Magazines were once fantasy-filled bibles of style, fashion, modernity! They allowed us, the great unwashed, to dream, to aspire, to want to work harder for a better life… OR was that all an illusion and really the fuckers never ever dreamed for us!?

I loved looking through National Geographic. Reading about exotic travels, looking at bizarre and beautiful people, things, places. Even the advertising was aspiring: Rolls Royce engines, Lufthansa flying to Machu Picchu! Or the Rolex Oyster, how it was made and how good it looked whilst scuba diving in St Tropez, ads telling you of an excellence that you may want to experience or have! Old Vogues, old any magazine were different, you know why? Well they were alive, they had a soul, the writers cared, the photographers cared, the editors cared, everyone actually cared!

It’s so simple - money was not the only frikkin object! The craft of the story, the committment to the photo, this was what mattered, the money came later! That’s why we have iconic publications (only a few), they remain beacons amongst a sea of vile, useless, fat, hideous, mundane magazines that do nothing but kill the planet!

I was recently lucky enough to meet with the Editor At Large for American Vogue, and it struck me how nothing mattered to him except the moment, the creation of the moment and the recording of the moment! Perfect for Vogue! I realised spontaneity, campness and humour all made taste and that really is Vogue. It’s an amazing formula, a recorder of fashion, he made the moment and then recorded it and off he went first class to Sydney and back home to NYC and then Paris! And here lies the thing! It’s that exact free spirit! That powerhouse of character, a career spent seeding a drag aesthetic that makes a magazine great! Remember it’s not war and peace, it’s a frikkin magazine! It is ephemeral, a thing that exists only to record the moment!

Magazines are still extremely important vehicles in connecting our planet, moving culture and society forward away from ignorance, bigotry and hatred towards Prada, Louboutin and Gucci!

But more and more I see a cancer creep into the industry and slowly killing it; this cancer of seriousness, of self-importance - and, unfortunately, there are too many mediocre people fuelled up with degrees, believing that they are the elite, the one that has the god-given right to take the freebee and then basically lie to us all about society today, distorting the truth and assassinating the moment!

I hate you all!

To all the f****ing hideous magazines that I see on the newsstands around the world I dearly hope you all go under or even better you end up under the umbrella of ACP, where your life will be a slow living hell, where even your shit has to be justified to a manager, then quantified by an accountant! I hate you all and you deserve to die!

X Bambi


All artwork supplied by master mouse patrol

Letters from TED (x)

TEDxsydney pic gallery on frockwriter's posterous

I was honoured to be invited to be among 650 audience members at TEDx Sydney on Saturday down at the Everleigh Carriageworks. Like many others, I live reported from the auditorium on Twitter (hence the bombardment of #TEDxSydney Tweets). For the uninitiated, TED is a non profit think tank dedicated to “ideas worth spreading” that has been staged annually in the US since 1984 (and more recently, also in the UK). The TED acronym stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and it has showcased some of the world’s most fascinating people. Some you know (Bono, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bob Geldof). But many, you have never heard of. They are all invited to give “the talk of their lives” in 18 minutes flat. Sadly I have never attended a TED, but pioneering Sydney e-tailer Remo Giuffrè has since 1993. TEDx is a new program of independently-organised events that aim to provide a potted "TED-like" experience and Giuffrè obtained the license to stage TEDx Sydney this year – after a much smaller Sydney showcase last year organised by other parties. And what a day it was.

Eighteen speakers (including several not mentioned in the official program, who spoke for three minutes) covered subjects ranging from microinsurance for the world’s poor (Andrew Kuper) to the sexually-ambiguous Intersex community (Gina Wilson); homophobia (retired High Court judge Michael Kirby - whose comments about Seven Network’s treatment of former NSW Transport Minister David Campbell last week drew a round of applause); nanotechnology (Amanda Barnard) and psychoterratic diseases (Glenn Albrecht).

My personal favourites were digital activist Brett Solomon who helms accessnow.org, which assists political dissidents jump firewalls imposed by repressive regimes, in addition to Rachel Botsman, co-author of the upcoming book ‘What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption’, who spoke about the rise of swap/share/recycle culture. Here is the video with which Botsman wrapped her chat:



And not forgetting aquanaut/aquabat Dr Sarah Jane Pell, who had the audience spellbound with a presentation about the very serious plans that are afoot to colonise the ocean. For anyone who wants to read more about this, head to the Atlantica Expeditions website. Team leader is former NASA bioengineer Dennis Chamberland. James Cameron is planning to be a crew member. Clearly, science fiction is about to become science fact.

Also of note, the eight wonderful musical performances which acted as palette cleansers in between each presentation.

Missy Higgins delivered a mesmerising live act, ditto Darren Percival, aka Mr Percival, a former backup vocalist who these days accompanies himself on stage: a solo a cappella performance, via the use of live sound mixing/looping. This guy really does deserve to be better known. I recorded this short sample.

The talks were all livestreamed and, according to the terms and conditions of the TED site, they must be made available to the public for free on the TEDx YouTube channel within one week of each TEDx event. So check there and the main TEDxSydney website for updates.




Beyond the 650 who made it into the auditorium, there would have had to have been another hundred or so, perhaps more, milling around the Carriageworks foyer area. They watched a live broadcast of the presentations on a large screen, in addition to the TEDxSydney Forum: a series of short interviews with the speakers, conducted by The Chaser’s Craig Reucassel. Reucassel’s Chaser colleague, Julian Morrow, did an excellent job producing the Forum, which provided non-stop entertainment throughout the day, whenever the proceedings in the main auditorium took a break.

At the very end of the program, MC Giuffrè took to the stage for one last time and called up his organising committee, which included Morrow and Baz Luhrmann's musical director Anton Monsted – who presumably curated the excellent musical component.

It was actually quite touching to see Giuffrè flanked by this new team, which has already vowed to produce a TEDxSydney 2011. They received a standing ovation.

It would have reminded anyone who did know Giuffrè in the days of his cult bricks-and- mortar REMO store, of his annual team photos. Housed in the location where American Apparel sits today, on the corner of Oxford and Crown Streets, REMO's “the community is the brand” motto, quirky product offer and award-winning mail-order catalogue gave a shot in the arm to Australian retail for eight years – before Giuffrè went bellyup in 1996. After several years working in the US, he reopened in March 2000 as an online operation. The business today has 46,649 customers in 137 countries.




If Saturday is any gauge, then Giuffrè should take heart that there is still definitely room for a bricks-and-mortar environment where people come together to share ideas and a common experience.

Part of this shared experience was community graffiti.

When we broke for the first coffee break, Giuffrè drew our attention to the fact that in each of our delegate bags, was a felt-tipped marker pen. He told us, words to the effect, 'You’ll work out what it’s for when you head to the coffee room'. In a dimly-lit space partitioned off behind the main stage, we were confronted by dozens of polystyrene cubes covered in white calico. Each served the dual purpose of chair - and blank canvas.

People immediately whipped out their marker pens and started scribbling – also on the white floor - quotes, observations and drawings. No idea what the organisers plan to do with the results (perhaps a TEDXSydney quilt?) but I thought I would record as many as possible for posterity with my camera.

Click here to see my Posterous pic gallery of almost 70 of them.

Included is a shot of three generations of Giuffrès: Guiffrè with his mother Marie, teenage daughter Lola and wife Melanie.

Juliana forges ahead

Frockwriter mentioned that Chic Management’s new star Juliana Forge walked in 21 shows at her first Rosemount Australian Fashion Week earlier this month. We were sworn to secrecy over Forge’s recent Ralph Lauren Rugby campaign, because, well, sometimes models shoot and are paid for campaigns, only to wind up on the cutting room floor. But in the case of the 18 year-old Victorian, that's not the case, because here she is in the Ralph Lauren campaign. And now here is a sneak peek at two Max Doyle images from Forge's upcoming Seafolly Limited Edition campaign – that’s the new high-end line from the 35 year-old Australian swimwear brand. It’s a pretty great get for a new model, especially considering the established names who have previously been cast: Alyssa Sutherland for the inaugural Seafolly Limited Edition campaign, with everyone from Miranda Kerr to Catherine McNeil and Jessica Hart modelling for Seafolly proper.

Add to this a multigirl Harpers Bazaar Australia cover, together with campaigns for Just Jeans and Red Earth, and Forge appears to be well en route. If not to be the next Miranda Kerr, as Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported yesterday, then at least certainly Australia's latest rising Australian modelling star.

Some of the information in the SH story is inaccurate, at least according to Chic Management, which reports that there was interest in Forge from German Vogue at one point, which however came to nought. There is no second Ralph Lauren Rugby campaign. And Forge does not leave for New York this week.

According to Chic, Forge is heading to New York in June, where there may well be a go-see with Victoria's Secret, as reported.

Chic Management and its New York affiliate Next do of course have a knack for getting their models into the VS show, so let's wait and see.

Lingerie was however apparently far from Forge's mind in 2008, when she was a Melbourne schoolgirl modelling part-time and repped by Melbourne's Camerons agency. In August that year she told The Age's Janice Breen Burns:

"I have a say in what jobs I do too - like, I won't do underwear. And I wouldn't be pressured into being really skinny".

At the time Forge also reportedly described catalogue gigs as "cheesy". But that doesn't appear to have precluded her recently doing what looks very much like an online lingerie catalogue gig for Bloomingdales.



both images: max doyle for seafolly, courtesy seafolly

The models of RAFW

Frockwriter profiled some of the designers and a few of the bloggers of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, but what about the models? Sadly we ran out of time in the leadup and our planned RAFW newbies post remained unfinished in story drafts. But we did photograph quite a few models as we went along, in our Twitter/Posterous feed and show photo galleries (which have also, conveniently, been archived on Facebook – thanks Posterous). But we also wanted to check with each of the major Sydney agencies to see which of their models were the busiest at the event. Some of their nominated newbies were included. Of course there were many, many other models who worked during the week and it’s not necessarily about who pulled the most shows. There was in fact an exceptionally strong cross-section of Australian model experience on RAFW's runways this season. As distinct from runway diversity, which Australian designers - like their New Zealand counterparts - have yet to fully embrace, with Asian and black models still fighting hard for visibility above the bevy of über-popular blondes and Europeans. "It's like they'll only use a black girl if there's a tribal theme to the collection" noted one observer.


Good to see, then, indigenous Australian Samantha Harris and Eurasian Rachel Rutt among the week's top catwalkers. Harris did 20 shows. Thanks to her first Vogue cover unveiled during the week, she was catapulted to a whole new level of visibility at the event.

Just before the FW1011 season kickoff in February, frockwriter asked is the world ready for the first indigenous Australian supermodel? Judging by the international coverage of her Sydney season, it seems the answer is a resounding yes. Let’s hope Harris has another crack at the OS circuit come September - or perhaps even earlier with resort and haute couture. Harris travelled to London in February, but was called home shortly afterwards. The official story was that she came home to shoot the Vogue cover, even though Abbey Lee Kershaw's cover was shot as late as the week before Christmas, for an early February release.


samantha harris/jayson brunsdon

Runway veterans who added some international polish to the event included Alexandra Agoston, who has become far more acclimatised to the runways of Paris over the past five years, ditto Stephanie Carta, Alyssa Sutherland, Amy Finlayson and also new mum Tiah Eckhardt, who walked in 10 shows according to Viviens.



lauren brown/ginger & smart (top); julia nobis/dion lee

Then there were two of our latest OS stars, Lauren Brown and Julia Nobis. For those who were not following the Twitter/Posterous coverage, here is the short video iv that I recorded with Nobis straight after the Dion Lee show:



Work Agency only had two models at the event – Cassi van den Dungen, who only did four shows (and who it was nice to finally meet after all this time). They were nevertheless key shows: Dion Lee, Ellery, Romance Was Born and Manning Cartel. Another Work model, Jessica McColl, did Ksubi.

It was a little difficult extracting information from Viviens, which did supply a top girls list, however declined to elaborate on exact show numbers other than those of Brisbane law student Eliza Humble (16) – one of frockwriter’s personal faves, who we photographed on a number of occasions backstage. If anyone can elaborate on the exact show numbers of the other Viviens’ girls, then please feel free to add in the comments.





(top to bottom) cassi van den dungen/romance was born and dion lee, eliza humble/ellery and georgia fowler/romance was born

The most popular model of RAFW appears to have been Chic Management’s Meg Lindsay (below). It was by no means Lindsay’s first RAFW. Here she is in Fully Chic’s RAFW newbie list just prior to the 2008 event. Lindsay also walked at RAFW last year. Did she stand out from the pack at either event? No, for some reason. But this year, Lindsay really hit her stride, booked for an astonishing 32 shows – or over half of the entire program of 60 shows. The OS circuit could be next.





(top to bottom) meg lindsay/dion lee, rachel rutt/camilla, juliana forge/dion lee and greta chesterman/dion lee

Rachel Rutt, the breakout star of last year’s RAFW, clocked up an impressive 26 shows, with Chic’s hot new star, Juliana Forge – who looks like a cross between Abbey Lee Kershaw and New Zealand’s Georgia Fowler (who, with 18 shows, outwalked every local Priscillas’ girl), doing 21 shows in her first Sydney season.

Frockwriter also really liked Louise van de Vorst (very top of this post, backstage at Gail Sorronda - and directly below, at Manning Cartel). After having only done a few RAFW shows here and there in the past, van de Vorst also seemed omnipresent at this event. Chadwicks’ Greta Chesterman was another model we noticed. Chesterman has a bit of a tomboy vibe – à la Julia Nobis.



Also of note, Courtney James from Scene and Priscillas’ newbies, 16 year-old Ruby-Jean Wilson from Terrigal and 19 year-old Sydneysider Bambi Northwood-Blyth. In her first RAFW, Wilson did 12 shows, including Romance Was Born, camilla + marc, Ellery, Zambesi, Manning Cartel, Sara Phillips, Fernando Frisoni and Lui Hon. Northwood-Blyth did 13.





(top to bottom) courtney james (via carly hunter), sarah chuot/kirrily johnston, ruby-jean wilson/manning cartel and bambi northwood-blyth/michael lo sordo.

As a result of RAFW, reports Chadwicks, Ashleigh Wesseling and Sarah Lorimer (who we profiled here) were both picked up by IMG Development worldwide – courtesy IMG Models’ New York-based David Cunningham and Jeni Rose, who were in Sydney all week scouting.



(top to bottom) ashleigh wesseling/alice mccall (getty via daylife) and sarah lorimer/karla spetic

Myf Shepherd, who springboarded from RAFW 2008 into an instant international career, but who has put her modelling career on ice for the moment to study art in Sydney and is blogging in tandem with Rachel Rutt, made a few appearances at parties throughout the week.

As already reported, Tallulah Morton is also taking off time from modelling to study art in Sydney. So it was interesting to see her on the runway at RAFW, in no less than 12 shows – and looking pretty damned good.

Here are the top show tallies from each agency:

CHIC MANAGEMENT
Meg Lindsay - 32 shows
Rachel Rutt – 26 shows
Juliana Forge – 21 shows
Louise van de Vorst – 21 shows
Samantha Harris – 20 shows
Stephanie Cherry – 18 shows
Olivia Henderson – 13 shows

PRISCILLAS
Georgia Fowler (NZ) – 18 shows
Julia Nobis – 13 shows
Bambi Northwood-Blyth – 13 shows
Lauren Brown – 12 shows
Ruby Jean Wilson - 12 shows

CHADWICKS
Victoria Lee – 15 shows
Greta Chesterman – 13 shows
Ashleigh Wesseling – 8 shows
Sarah Lorimer – 5 shows

VIVIENS
Eliza Humble – 16 shows
Tiah Eckhardt – 10 shows
Dempsey Stewart – Shows including Zambesi, Bec & Bridge, Camilla & Marc, Ellery, Kate Sylvester, Kirrily Johnston.
Sarah Pauley – Shows including Aurelio Costarella, Sabatini
White, Ellery, Kirrily, Romance Was Born.
Sonya Kukainis – Shows including Lisa Ho, Nicola Finetti, Rachel Gilbert, Jayson Brunsdon, Ksubi.

SCENE
Tallulah Morton – 12 shows
Adele McLennan-Gillings – 6 shows
Sarah Chuot – 5 shows
Courtney James – 2 shows

WORK AGENCY
Cassi van den Dungen - 4 shows
Jessica McColl - 1 show

World's spot of bother in Woollahra

Those kooky kids over at World have come to blows with Woollahra Council, which apparently doesn't have much of a sense of humour. The Auckland-based fashion brand, which bills itself as a “factory of ideas and experiments” (the dress, below, is from their AW10 collection) and operates eight stores in NZ and Sydney, has come to the attention of the council regarding a paint job that was recently given to its Paddington, Sydney store. As it emerges, multi-coloured polka dots are illegal in Sydney's trendiest shopping strip. In a letter dated May 17th, Craig Jenner, Woollahra Municipal Council’s Team Leader – Compliance, gave World’s landlord 28 days to nix them.


both images/world

Here are a few terms of the order:

1. Restore the subject premises to the condition in which they were before work was unlawfully carried out by:

(a) Removing from the shop window the multi-coloured polka dots and:

(b) Painting the walls to the façade of the shop in a uniform colour, to remove the unauthorised multi-coloured polka dots that have been painted onto the front façade of the shop adjacent to Glenmore Road.

The letter goes on to say:

1. Condition 9 of development consent DA625/2004 requires the exterior colour scheme for the subject premises to accord with the requirements of Part 5.2.9. of the Paddington Development Control Plan 1999.

4. Council is satisfied that the multi-coloured polka dots displayed on the window and wall surfaces of the building are an advertisement. “Advertisement” is defined in Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 1995 as “a display by the use of colour, pattern, symbols…for promotional purposes… whether or not the display includes the erection of a structure of the carrying out of work”.

6. The advertisement does not satisfy the exempt development criteria for a flush wall sign or a window shop front sign, or the criteria for advertising in Heritage Conservation Areas, as specified in Woollahra Development Control Plan Exempt & Complying Development 2005.

It is not the first time that the council has taken issue with a fashion retailer in this vicinity.

In 2004, Woollahra Council deputy mayor Keri Huxley described the green used by World’s neighbour, Scanlan & Theodore, for its new Sydney flagship on the corner of Oxford Street and Glenmore Road, as a "hideous" and "particularly disgusting colour".

Huxley was unable to veto the colour however, because it was included in the building's development approval.

World's response?

“We are outraged the council is so ignorant and lazy!” World director Francis Hooper told frockwriter.

“If they just took the time to ask us why?! World wanted to make a statement for the season, to bring colourful cheer to the neighbourhood, to take away the doom and gloom and recession fever that has gripped the city. All the locals love it! We have become a mini tourist attraction. We have only had positives from everyone. Even our landlord has commended us on uplifting the area. It’s obvious this wonderful spotty art is just a temporary installation. Trust the council to bully a small business out of business. Arse holes!”

Sarah Jessica Parker gets down to Bassike

splash via popsugar.com

Sarah Jessica Parker gave a boost to the early careers of sass & bide’s Heidi Middleton and Sarah Jane Clarke by sporting some of their clothing on Sex And The City. Her latest Australian fave is apparently Sydney eco label Bassike. Fashion kingmaker Parker would quite obviously have her pick of clothes to wear on and off the big and small screens, with designers throwing their collections at her. Parker is currently on the promo trail for Sex And The City 2 and did a press conference in New York yesterday. And here she is off duty in New York on Saturday in Bassike’s ‘Dot’ logo T. Bassike’s Sydney PR, Emma van Haandel, is very good at getting clothes on visiting celebrities downunder – remember Sienna Miller in another EVH stablemate, Scanlan & Theodore, last year? Just how did the clothes get to SJP? According to a Bassike spokeswoman, the T-shirt was gifted by a mystery “friend” of the brand in the US, where it had its official launch one month ago at Barneys.

But not only did Parker wear the T-shirt, she personally called the Bassike HQ at 4pm yesterday.

According to EVH, Parker rang to say how much she loved the clothes and ask could she "place an order"?

"Yes, it was a surprise" the Bassike staffer who took the call told frockwriter. The call was then passed onto sales manager Jono Alder – who apparently initially thought it was a joke.

En route to Parker now are two pairs of Bassike’s Slimrise jeans, some scoop Ts, one opal print T, the lightweight crew sweatshirt, a denim jacket, a jersey tank, the Galah print trench from the SS1011 collection and some swimwear. No credit card was needed according to EVH.

Launched by Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan in 2006 as a capsule collection of organic cotton jersey T-shirts, pants and dresses, Bassike has grown into a cool little collection of basics, denim and tailoring. The SS1011 show included printed swimwear, some great jackets - two cases in point, the Galah trench and a funnel-necked utility parka – in addition to acid wash-look, high-waisted jeans and some striking striped knits and open-weave sweaters and tunics.

Here is frockwriter’s Posterous pic gallery – only managed to get a few decent shots of that particular show. It’s one of several that I did not get a chance to blog during the week.

You can see the full collection on the Bassike website.

The bloggers of RAFW Part 4: Imelda's Matt Jordan

And finally, a quick chat with Matt Jordan, who blogs about shoes in character as Imelda Marcos on Imelda: The Despotic Queen of Shoes - recently adding a new mens street-style blog called The Style Tyrant. Would have loved to have done more blogger ivs at last week's RAFW, but in between coverage of the jam-packed schedule, there was only so much time. Hope to do more.

The bloggers of RAFW Part 3: Sassi Sam's Sam Winter

The third interview in frockwriter's bloggers of RAFW series: a chat with Sassi Sam’s Sam Winter. Sydney-based Winter established her Sassi Sam e-commerce site five years ago - and the Sassi Sam blog 18 months ago.

The bloggers of RAFW Part 2: An Australian Wintour's Megan Aney

As part of frockwriter's bloggers of RAFW series, here is a short interview with Gold Coast-based Megan Aney, from An Australian Wintour.

The bloggers of RAFW Part 1: Aych blog's Hannah McArdle

For those who followed my RAFW coverage on Twitter, this particular video will be a repeat: a quick chat with Auckland’s Hannah McArdle of Aych Blog. It was part of a short series of blogger interviews I shot at last week's event. Given that it only went on frockwriter’s Posterous feed (where it has nevertheless been viewed over 650 times), I wanted to blog the bloggers of RAFW series in order here, so voilà.

ABC Art Nation's story on Sonny Vandevelde

On the eve of RAFW, frockwriter mentioned that the ABC's hot new Art Nation show would be dedicating its entire May 2 edition to fashion. After sending the embed code for the fashion bloggers story, the producers kindly shot through deets for the standalone story on photographer Sonny Vandevelde that was also featured. It was shot during the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, when Sonny had a solo exhibition of his backstage work at Mars Gallery. Great to see his editorial work also given some due attention.

Dion Lee's fashion analysis

To those who may have been wondering whether Dion Lee was going to be able to pull off a second blockbuster collection fresh out of design school – in his case, the seminal NSW TAFE, this country’s equivalent to London's Central Saint Martins – the answer was delivered yesterday morning at approximately 9.30am. Yes, he did. Set against arguably the most iconic of Australian backdrops, Sydney Harbour, by way of the northern foyer of one of the world’s most beautiful buildings, the Sydney Opera House, the twenty-four year-old Sydneysider mesmerised his audience with a small, but perfectly formed collection entitled Façade.

It began with a dose of the complex, razor-cut, yet deconstructed, tailoring with which Lee has quickly established his name. The collection quickly moved into a series of bodycon microdresses with a honeycomb effect, created by the layering of synthetic mesh. These segued into yet more microdresses, this time in a sheer stretch georgette, splattered with a striking, ultraviolet Rorscharch inkblot effect print.

If asked by a fashion shrink what you saw in the patterns, you might well say Josh Goot and Michael Angel, coincidentally, two other Australians. Unlike Lee, Goot and Angel are both self-taught. They have nevertheless been at the vanguard of the recent digital print power trend. In Goot’s case, as far back as his Spring/Summer 2008 collection presented at New York Fashion Week.

Lee closed with a breathtakingly beautiful series of draped crepe microdresses in soft duck egg blue and taupe. Their skirts consisted of layered micropleated panels, with the bodices crafted from soft ropes of the same fabric, meticulously draped, knotted and interlaced.

The "drapé" was effectively trademarked by Madame Grès in Paris last century. Dion Lee just deconstructed it. If anyone is planning to revive that haute couture house, you know who to call.

Click here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show.

Jayson's New Wave

Every season Jayson Brunsdon mines some bygone hard glamour era for inspiration, more often than not hovering around the mid century. Last night, he made poolside chic his muse and cited a couple of film refs: Jacques Deray’s La Piscine from 1969 and Jean Luc Godard’s 1963 film Le Mépris (Contempt). Both were part of the French New Wave cinema movement, which coincided with a new, futuristic mood in French couture, one that was spearheaded by Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges. Courrèges was Brunsdon’s biggest reference, heralding a new sporty direction for the Sydney fashion illustrator-turned-designer. Beyond the trademark hostess dresses and shirtdresses, was a smart, structured series of trench coats, piped A-line skirts, striped sweaters and knit sheaths, with a cute two-tone, A-line shift in caramel and white. The short, full dirndl skirts and roomy pailletted tanks are sure to appeal to Brunsdon’s more mature customers, which is obviously where the money lies. But there was no shortage of youthful exuberance in pretty wasp-waisted, full-skirted party dresses, which looked tailor-made for the new generation Brigitte Bardots and Jane Birkins. Click here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show. And here for a video of the finale.

Manning Cartell's backstage drama

While snapping away in the show leadup, wound up getting stuck backstage at Manning Cartell for the show proper this morning. Not such a bad place to be, of course, provided you can steer clear of the production team, as they scramble to dress the models in between exits. There are often five dressers to one girl, each pulling at a different part of the outfit. A more sophisticated collection than we have come to expect from Manning Cartell, with luxury fabrics such as guipure lace deployed in elegant sheaths and jet embellishment used on cigarette trousers and a few interesting addons - notably, a gunmetal-beaded, 20's-look bib, layered over a black lace sheath. Teamed with the entire collection: dramatic Lucite earrings from Alexandra Blak. Click here for frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery.

Kate Sylvester's charming summer

The collection was called ‘This Charming Man’, but there was no sign of Morrissey the muso (or the Australian designer for that matter, who has nevertheless been flitting in and out of shows for the past two days). Auckland’s Kate Sylvester did however deliver yet another charming collection of her signature discreet chic. If you had tapped leather as an emerging trend of this antipodian summer season, you are not wrong. Several collections have included leather, among them yesterday’s hot newcomer Flannel and Sylvester one hour ago. Her caramel leather series included a mid calf length A-line skirt, bomber jacket and matching bustier and knickers. Also of note, soft Liberty-like florals on sweet pinafore dresses and roomy trousers – another emerging trend in Sydney – and her knit twin sets, swapping a cable knit bodysuit for a regular sweater with one pair. A little more subdued than usual - the autumn/winter 2010 collection shown in Auckland had much more attitude - but there is more than enough to keep Sylvester’s cult fan base happy. Click here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show. And keep up to date with our real-time coverage of RAFW via Twitter and Facebook.

Sally Koeswanto and the Ready to Wear 2 show

There's no doubt about it, the quality of RAFW's group shows is getting stronger. Here is frockwriter's pic gallery of yesterday's RTW2 group show, which we covered live backstage. Particularly liked the Jakarta-based Sally Koeswanto, who had a couple of very strong looks - not to mention some killer accessories, all her own collection.

Kristie Lawrence's hot Flannel

One of my personal highlights of RAFW Day 2 just has to be Flannel. It's a new brand by an industry veteran, Kristie Lawrence - who launched Empire Rose over a decade ago. Buttersoft leather tabards, jodhpurs and A-line skirts and a series of quite spectacular suede dusters with ultra-long fringes, screamed luxury sportswear. They were teamed with sweet lace dresses, roomy trousers and other simple, yet sophisticated, separates in a barely-there colour palette of white, mustard and ecru. Here is frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery with a few runway shots. And below, the final walkthrough and a post-show iv with Lawrence. Once again, just a reminder that if you would like to follow frockwriter's live coverage of RAFW, head to our Twitter feed or Facebook.

ABC Art Nation's story on fashion bloggers

Here is the ABC Art Nation story on fashion bloggers that I mentioned was due to air on Sunday evening, for anyone who missed it. The entire half hour show was in fact dedicated to fashion, which was great to see on Australian television - for once. Will bring you the other stories as quickly as the ABC can get those embed codes over. There was a great standalone profile on our buddy Sonny Vandevelde. And not before time.

Gail Elliott rocks it out for Little Joe's Sydney debut

Great runway debut earlier today from British model-turned-designer Gail Elliott. For anyone who is wondering why Elliott chose Sydney for the runway launch of her Little Joe line (which is not new - it's just the first time Elliott has shown it at RAFW), she is married to an Australian, her business partner Joe Coffey, her business is headquartered here and the couple spend much of the year in Sydney. Elliott launched her label with lingerie, moving into ready-to-wear after a couple of seasons. At first, I found myself making a mental note that Elliott could perhaps have left a few pieces in the showroom. Editing for the runway is often an acquired skill: every runway piece needs to sing and buyers can see the more commercial pieces upon appointment. But as the collection moved forward, set to a high energy 70s rock soundtrack, the looks got stronger. The cuffed khaki silk combats and harem pants and soft military jackets over maxi skirts lent a utility feel. But the pretty slip dresses and a knockout series of tiered maxi dresses had boho de luxe written all over the them ("sex on the beach in Ibiza" is the first thing that sprang to mind on Twitter). Click here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show. And here are two videos - the final walkthrough and a quick backstage chat with Elliott afterwards. To keep track of my Twitter coverage on the spot, here is my Twitter feed. And here is my Facebook page, where everything is aggregated.

Zimmermann's 'Vanishing Point'

A little futurism from Zimmermann, the Sydney fashion brand that had never done swimwear before the birth of Australian Fashion Week in May 1996, but which launched a capsule swimwear collection there specifically with an eye on the export market. In the 15 year interim, Zimmermann has established itself as one of the world's most fashion-forward swim brands. Unlike many swim brands however, fashion is at the heart of Zimmermann. The collection, entitled 'Vanishing Point', featured a collision of linear graphics and soft florals in a romantic futuristic vision, that was ably assisted by some spectacular silver neckpieces, courtesy Sydney jewellery brand MANIAMANIA. An easy summer wardrobe of sheer, fluid trousers, jumpsuits and maxi dresses, many of them featuring geometric cutout panelling. The best maillots had wrapped bodices with cutout detailing. The showstoppers: a series of fringed tops and dresses in eye-popping turquoise. Click here for frockwriter's Posterous gallery of photos.

digital prints and huge silver neckpieces - zimmermann SS1011 #RAFW

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Christopher Esber, Australia's latest fashion star

The revelation of Day 1 however, most definitely had to be Christopher Esber. Now 23 and sewing from the age of eight, Esber cancelled his solo debut at last year's RAFW because of a death in the family. Esber had previously shown his graduation collection in 2008 as part of the NSW TAFW group show. A tightly-edited and perfectly-executed brand statement, it left you wanting so much more. Esber is a disciple of minimalism and to be sure, a legion of legends did it first, from Halston, to Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang. Esber is also not the first hot new Australian talent to launch with this aesthetic bent, two cases in point, Josh Goot and last year's RAFW breakout star, Dion Lee. But his futuristic vision embraces not only sculpted cigarette pants, high-collared shell tops, crisp leather gilets and tailored sheaths, but sweet little whimsies, such as the ice-blue, micropleated skating skirt - which, on closer inspection backstage, was constructed over a bizarre satin foundation garment. Little wonder Australia retailer Belinda Seper ran backstage after this show (as she did with the earlier RTW1 show, specifically to check out Carly Hunter. Here is a quick chat we had backstage). Click here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of Esber's show. No doubt we will be hearing a lot more about him.

Camilla Franks takes one big step forward at RAFW

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.

tammy stone (l) and greta chesterman backstage B4 aurelio costarella #RAFW

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