Rosemary Smith and Emilia Skuza hop on fashion's trans Tasman locomotive

  

She was optioned for another big show, but Rosemary Smith pulled off the next best thing in Milan overnight: Fendi, alongside some of the biggest runway names in the business. Not bad for a first international show season, but Smith has got a long way to catch up with some other downunder newcomers, like Dempsey Stewart, whose already stellar first show season now also includes the blue chip Prada and Burberry shows. New arrivals to this already blistering antipodian show season are runway veterans Abbey Lee Kershaw, who has, not unexpectedly, been cleaning up with big name shows such as as Gucci, Fendi and Burberry; Myf Shepherd, after a year’s hiatus, walking so far for just Angelo Marani; Jessica Hart, who appeared at Matthew Williamson in London; and brand new Adelaide face Emilia Skuza. First emerging on the Paris haute couture runways last month, Skuza turned up at Aquascutum, Antonio Berardi, Mary Karantzou, Amanda Wakeley and Emelia Wickstead in London. The rise and rise of “trans Tasman models” has captured the attention of not only the blogosphere, but also the mainstream media. Today, The Australian ran a story about Bambi Northwood-Blyth and The Sydney Morning Herald covered the plethora of Australian models currently working the show circuit. 

all images: style.com/style.it


1/ rosemary smith at fendi
2/ emilia skuza at mary karantzou
3/ abbey lee kershaw at gucci
4/ myf shepherd at angelo marani
5/ dempsey stewart at prada

Bulgari's lion queen

How does Italian jeweller Bulgari top campaigns starring naked Julianne Moore alongside a sulphur-crested cockatoo and the next season, some adorable lion cubs? With a campaign for the company's brand new Mon Jasmin Noir fragrance starring another naked American actor, Kirsten Dunst, opposite... a full-grown lion. Behold what frockwriter understands is an exclusive preview of Bulgari's Mon Jasmin Noir campaign that is being released later today. It was shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott at Villa Balbianello in the exquisite Lake Como region just outside of Milan. Working alongside lion cubs is one thing, but even with the behind-the-scenes imagery (below), we're not convinced that Dunst happily nestled snugly against a real lion and/or that Mert + Marcus managed to get both it and Dunst to 'love the camera' at the same moment - and that's it's not a Photoshop mashup. Then again, Dunst is an old hand with big cats. Some movie sites list her as the voice of young Nala in Disney's 1994 animated feature The Lion King (IMDB has Nikete Calame voicing the role). The following year, she co-starred in Jumanji, opposite Robin Williams and some scary - albeit computer-generated - lions. 

 all images: supplied to frockwriter by bulgari

Gemma Ward is back - in black

perth theatre company via perth now

Well it's not Hedi Slimane or Tom Ford (we don't think), but this ill-fitting tux worn by Gemma Ward and conceptual photoshoot for The Perth Theatre Company's upcoming production of The Ugly One, in which Ward is due to make her stage debut, could be the next best thing to a piece of fashion theatre that Ward's fans have had since the former world number one disappeared herself from the sartorial stage. The shots have just been released by the PTC, presumably shortly after today's press conference in Perth, during which Ward's fellow actors Benj D'Addario, Brendan Ewing and Geoff Kelso were reportedly totally ignored by the assembled media throng, in favour of Ward. They should probably get used to this.

During the course of said presser, only one question apiece was permitted and it emerged that: Ward plays three roles in the production, including a septuaganarian; that she is playing ping-pong, chess and guitar with the Perth-based fam during her downtime; and that Marius von Mayenburg's play has prompted some introspection from Ward regarding the subject of beauty. 

Noted Ward, “It has made me look at everything that we feel about beauty and the way it affects us... I started to notice how often we refer to things as beautiful or not. It’s a fascinating prism to look at the world through.”

Clearly, she has been out of the fashion biz for a bit too long.  

perth theatre company via perth now

Gotham pretty

Abbey Lee Kershaw might have skipped New York Fashion Week this season, but rising up in her wake was no shortage of antipodian runway talent. If international casting directors did not already have Australian and New Zealand model agencies on speed dial, they will do from now on. Australia had at least 18 models at New York Fashion Week, seven of them brand new to the event and among those, several models with less than six months experience who scored some big shows. New Zealand now has its own potential modelling superstar. For the second consecutive season  - and from the same agency, Auckland's Clyne Management - the Land of the Long White Cloud delivered a face to watch. And then some. After Jessica Clarke nabbed a Calvin Klein exclusive last season, a 17 year-old total unknown Kiwi by the name of Emily Baker walked in pretty much every major show of the week, prompting models.com to declare her its first Top 10 Newcomer of Fall/Winter 2011/2012 - and noting that Baker is now “on the watch list of every major casting director, photographer and editor in the trade”. 

In her third New York season, Australia’s Julia Nobis walked in 18 top shows. 

After a slow start, Australia’s biggest buzz newcomer, Codie Young, added Calvin Klein to a stellar show list, that already included Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs, Rodarte and Halston. Great to see Dempsey Stewart and ‘MJ’ also make a strong debut. Ditto Australia’s unique androgynous superstar Andrej Pejic, who walked in both womens’ and mens’ shows and was never far from the headlines all week. 

Another Australian man also made his mark in New York: Jack Vanderhart who, as frockwriter revealed, was booked for a Calvin Klein exclusive.

After a slew of lowprofile showroom presentations, Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware finished the week with two highly coveted shows: 3.1 Phillip Lim and L’Wren Scott. 

What was perhaps surprising was the relatively small show tallies of Bambi Northwood-Blyth, Lauren Brown and Alice Burdeu. But the season is yet young. 

FYI, Ware and Burdeu weren’t the only ANTM alumni on deck in New York: Cycle 6 contestant Chantal Croccolo did four shows/presentations.  

Next stop: London. 

Julia Nobis

Richard Chai
Tadashi Shoji
Rag & Bone
Jill Stuart
Edun
Alexander Wang
Victoria Beckham
Thakoon
Monique Lhuillier
Marc Jacobs
Narciso Rodriguez 
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Diesel Black Gold
Vera Wang                      

Ports 1961
Michael Kors
3.1 Phillip Lim
Proenza Schouler
Isaac Mizrahi

Codie Young
Wayne (opened, closed)
Richard Chai
Peter Som
Band of Outsiders
Thakoon
Marc Jacobs
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Hexa by Kuho
Rodarte
Halston
Milly by Michelle Smith
Calvin Klein Collection


Annaleise Smith
Costello Tagliapietra (opened)
Betsey Johnson
Cushnie et Ochs
Douglas Hannant
Zang Toi
Daniel Vosovic
Risto
Odd Molly
Theory 
Venexiana
Naeem Khan
Theory by Olivier Theyskens
Yoana Baraschi
Pamela Love
Risto Bimbiloski
Pamela Roland
Song Jung Wan



Andrej Pejic

NAHM
Robert Geller
Richard Chai
Yoana Baraschi
Custo Barcelona
Kimberley Ovitz
Jen Kao
RAD by Rad Hourani
Jeremy Scott
Odyn Vovk

Dempsey Stewart

Richard Chai (opened)
United Bamboo
Marc Jacobs                                
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Preen
Diane von Furstenberg (opened the finale)
Cynthia Steffe
Karen Walker (closed)
3.1 Phillip Lim
Ports 1961

Ajek Deng

Richard Chai
Nicole Miller
G-Star
Libertine
Preen
Carolina Herrera

Jen Kao (opened)
Tibi
Reed Krakoff 

'MJ'
Charlotte Ronson
Rodarte
Denis Basso
Marchesa                                           
Mandy Coon
Tracy Reese
Creatures of the Wild
Yoana Baraschi

Amanda Ware 

Wes Gordon
Timo Weiland
Woolrich Black Label
Chado Ralph Rucci
3.1 Phillip Lim
L’Wren Scott

Tallulah Morton

Ruffian
Betsey Johnson
Cushnie et Ochs
Badgley Mischka

Alice Burdeu 

Honor
Timo Weiland
Chado Ralph Rucci
Naeem Khan

Lauren Brown

Rebecca Taylor
Chado Ralph Rucci
Yoana Baraschi

Chantal Croccolo

Bensoni
Trias
Threeasfour
Suno 

Emily Wake
Timo Weiland
Jeremy Scott
Yoana Baraschi

Elyse Taylor

Lela Rose
Nanette Lepore
Tory Burch

Bambi Northwood-Blyth 

Jill Stuart
Diesel Black Gold

Mallory Jansen
Kate Spade
Althea Harper
  
Ruby Jean Wilson
Theory by Olivier Theyskens (exclusive) 

Jack Vanderhart
Calvin Klein Collection (exclusive)






all images: style.com
1. annaleise smith, costello tagliapietra
2. chantal croccolo, trias
3. alice burdeu, chado ralph rucci
4. amanda ware, l'wren scott
5. jack vanderhart, calvin klein
6. andrej pejic, jeremy scott
7. elyse taylor, nanette lepore
8. MJ, marchesa
9. ajak deng, g-star
10. tallulah morton, bagdley mischka
11. julia nobis, michael kors
12. dempsey stewart, marc jacobs
13. bambi northwood-blyth, diesel black gold
14. codie young, calvin klein collection
15. lauren brown, rebecca taylor
16. emily wake, jeremy scott

Andrej Pejic on the cover of ZEIT magazin

zeit magazin's facebook

Andrej Pejic's first modelling job was a cover: issue #77 of Australia's Oyster magazine, in 2008, together with two female models. Given Pejic's profile today, that was extraordinarily good foresight on Oyster's part. What is surprising, perhaps, is that it has taken this long for Pejic to land a solo cover. Germany's ZEIT magazin is the first cab off what frockwriter understands is a rapidly lengthening cover rank for Pejic, with two other European covers shot in the past two weeks - one of them, quite a big deal in fashion terms. ZEIT magazin is the arts/culture supplement to German newspaper Die Zeit. Founded in 1970, the magazine describes itself as the paper's "emotional section" and its numerous investigations and scoops over the years include having tracked down, in Buenos Aires, the long-lost original version of Fritz Lang's 1927 German Expressionist masterpiece Metropolis, which then premiered at last year's Berlin International Film Festival.

The cover line translates as "She is a model" and Tillman Prüfer's cover story promises to be an interesting read, one that hopefully examines the broader cultural backdrop into which Pejic has landed.

The cover and accompanying fashion editorial were lensed by Juergen Teller in London over two days a fortnight ago - in between the Paris mens' fashion week and the haute couture shows, in which Pejic now famously walked as Jean Paul Gaultier's bride. Here are a few of the images below. Head to Les Mads to see a few more. It was the second time Teller and Pejic had worked together - after the Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2001 campaign shoot in Marrakech late last year.

Currently at New York Fashion Week, where he has so far walked in eight shows - half of them in womenswear and half of them in menswear - Pejic has also made several other television appearances since the Seven Network's Sunday Night profile ran on Sunday 13th February. Including CBS, Inside Edition and a live cross to Seven's The Morning Show.

zeit magazin via itfashion.com

Melissa queen of the desert

rodarte FW1112/style.com

When the Mulleavy sisters were dreaming up their Fall/Winter 2011/2012 collection with the Great American Plains in mind, chances are there weren't any pictures of Australia’s Red Centre on their mood board. And yet second out in the ethereal chiffon and guipure lace confections of their New York Fashion Week show on Tuesday was 16 year-old Melissa J who lives slap bang in the middle of Australia in Alice Springs, surrounded by desert. Yesterday frockwriter mentioned that in this bumper antipodian model season, a few, even newer Aussie girls were waiting in the wings. Melissa – aka “MJ”, who we first profiled in November – is one of them. Discovered by Adelaide's Finesse Models in October, she has already walked in seven New York shows and presentations this week (also Charlotte Ronson, Mandy Coon, Dennis Basso, Tracy Reese, Creatures of the Wild and Yoana Baraschi), with Hollywood red carpet favourite Marchesa lined up for today. Now 16, MJ is being chaperoned by her mother, brother and auntie and all were, we hear, in attendance at Rodarte cheering her on. Must have been a big thrill for them. 

rodarte FW1112 backstage/wwd.com

charlotte ronson FW1112/style.com

dennis basso FW1112/style.com

ANZAC day at Marc Jacobs

Frockwriter mentioned that a larger-than-usual contingent of Australian models was heading to New York Fashion Week this season. And that after day one, some of them were off to a cracking start. We have previously talked about upwardly-mobile New Zealand faces, notably Jessica Clarke, who was spotted by a Calvin Klein rep in Sydney two years ago and then in September 2010, walked a Calvin Klein Collection exclusive in New York. Another Kiwi has just emerged from left-of-field to become one of the most buzzed-about models of the season: Emily Baker. Modelling for just six months, Baker has a smouldering, sunkissed beauty that is reminiscent of 1970s American modelling icons Cheryl Tiegs and Patti Hansen, blended with a little modern Lara Stone moxie. This morning Baker added Marc Jacobs to her bulging top show list. And she was joined by three upwardly mobile Australians: Julia Nobis, now in her third international season after her own Calvin Klein exclusive this time last year and Codie Young and Dempsey Stewart, both of whom are working in New York for the first time. You could say the antipodians are having a bumper season. And waiting in the wings behind them on some interesting options are several other new Aussie girls... 

Andrej Pejic talks to Seven's Sunday Night

richard chai FW1112/style.com

Seven's Sunday Night current affairs program just ran its profile on superstar Serbian Australian model Andrej Pejic - as tonight's lead story no less. Here is the video below, in case you missed it. As outlined last week, I worked closely on this story with the Sunday Night team, setting up all their filming access as they went in Paris and London. I also travelled to Melbourne for the interview with Pejic's delightful family: mother Jadranka, brother Igor and grandmother Danica. Andrej, meanwhile, has just touched down at New York Fashion Week, where he is booked for a number of shows. Some are straight menswear, as in yesterday's Richard Chai (above) and Robert Geller shows. However some shows and presentations are womenswear, such as Ally Hilfiger's presentation for her Nahm brand (below). And it seems he may be earning womens' modelling rates. Way to go.   

nahm FW1112/style.com

Add Dempsey Stewart to the Aussie posse of Fall/Winter 2011/2012

richard chai FW1112/style.com

This time last week frockwriter mentioned that a contingent of Australian models was readying to take to New York Fashion Week's runways in what could be the biggest antipodian season to date. And after day one, it looks like they're off to a cracking start. We didn't include Perth's Dempsey Stewart in that mix, but with a cover story on WWD yesterday (below) and the prestigious opening slot of Richard Chai's show (above), it's a little hard to ignore her. Chai in fact cast four Australians in his show: Codie Young, making her international runway debut, together with Julia Nobis and Ajak Deng. Later in the day Young not only opened, but closed the Wayne show (below). ANTM Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware, meanwhile, made her OS debut in Wes Gordon's presentation. Saturday sees the arrival of two hot Aussie men - including, as reported, Jack Vanderhart, as an exclusive for the Calvin Klein Collection mens show. And it's only the first weekend of the season. 

 

wwd.com

wayve FW1112/style.com

Portmans takes Abbey Lee Kershaw back to her roots, taps Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Louise Roe to boot

While frockwriter noted that Abbey Lee Kershaw had signed on as the autumn/winter 2011 face of Australian high street chain Portmans, we haven’t touched the story in the interim because well, images of the Nicole Bentley-shot campaign have pretty much been everywhere since its January 27th launch. But here’s something that caught our attention: a sneak peek at Portmans' secret second winter shoot that Kershaw has just done in New York, this time with a US team headed up by photographer Matt Jones. Same stylist, however, Harpers Bazaar Australia fashion editor Christine Centenera (which just goes to show that it’s not only in Paris where salaried magazine staff moonlight as stylists on the campaigns of advertisers). And miraculously, Kershaw is rocking her original long-haired coiffure in these images: mousey blonde, with pastel highlights and bangs. A Portmans rep assures us that this is merely a wig and that Kershaw - who, as we first reported, is ditching New York Fashion Week to appear with her boyfriend’s band Our Mountain at its three London gigs next week - still has a platinum bob. Perhaps Portmans figured Kershaw’s platinum locks would blend into all the snow in and around the Meat Packing District location? 

Frockwriter can also reveal that Kershaw will be fronting a magazine-style catalogue that Portmans is planning to release in March, around the same time that these new campaign images are due to drop in Portmans' stores.

The magazine has been edited by LA-based Brit fashion journo and tv presenter Louise Roe, a guest of the 2010 Melbourne Cup, who writes for Elle, Vogue.com, InStyle and Glamour and whose numerous tv credits include MTV reality shows The City and Plain Jane.

Included in the editorial lineup of the first Portmans magazine are an editorial shoot with ANTM Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware, who is currently in New York hoping to score some shows. And, interestingly, a profile on Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, the French art director/model/socialite/It girl daughter of former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld.

According to Portmans, Restoin-Roitfeld was an active participant in the profile, talking to Roe about her personal style, fave labels and shopping. 

Given her family’s longstanding connection to Ford (Carine Roitfeld was a former consultant to Ford at Gucci and YSL) and that Restoin-Roitfeld modelled in both Tom Ford’s Black Orchid fragrance campaign and Ford’s debut womenswear show in New York last September, recently interviewing Ford for V Magazine, presumably his label would be at the top of her fave label list. Just a reminder that Kershaw is currently fronting Ford’s first womenswear campaign. 

Great publicity for Ford of course. And a clever way, all round really, for a run-of-the-mill fast fashion chain to dramatically lift its image.

 

images: supplied exclusively to frockwriter by portmans

Julia Nobis gets dark for Jac + Jack Autumn/Winter 2011

This time last year, not many people had heard of Julia Nobis. That was until her international runway debut at no less than Calvin Klein put her well and truly on the fashion map. In the intervening twelve months, the 18 year-old Sydneysider with the cool, Meryl Streep beauty has been quietly building an impressive body of work that has embraced runway turns for many other equally big names, campaigns for Proenza Schouler and Burberry Black and lookbooks for Prada and Alexander Wang. The current advertising face of Australian fast fashion brand Marcs, Nobis has just added a little luxury to her Oz portfolio. Photographed by Stephen Ward, here is a first look at Nobis in the Autumn/Winter 2011 campaign of Jac Hunt’s and Lisa 'Jack' Dempsey’s Sydney-based luxury knitwear label Jac + Jack. 

all images: supplied exclusively to frockwriter by stephen ward/jac & jack

Knit happens

hand knits for servicemen via micro revolt

Whatever your position on Australian troops in Afghanistan – and this week’s “shit happens” media furore over off-the-cuff comments made to same by Opposition leader Tony Abbott – here is one war-related story that can’t surely be accused of being a beatup. The Queensland Country Womens Association has just dispatched 136 hand-knitted woollen skullcaps to our diggers in Afghanistan to wear under their helmets. Reportedly at the behest of the Australian Defence Forces and with the support of the RSL and Bendigo Woollen Mills, the project involved 20 knitters from the QCWA’s Border Division handcraft group (which has also knitted clothing for babies in Africa). Included with the parcel, which was posted to the ADF in Sydney yesterday, was a sweet letter, which read: “As some of us are old enough to be your grandmothers or great-grandmothers, we felt that our pride in you could not only be knitted into these skull caps; But that you may feel a little of the love and appreciation, which Australians hold for you when you wear them. Be safe.” There is a very longstanding connection between knitting and the war effort, which dates back to at least the American Civil War.

In with the new - David Jones Autumn/Winter 2011

Tuesday's David Jones show felt the same, but different, to previous years' events. There was no Mark McInnes, Colette Garnsey, Miranda Kerr or even sass & bide. With the exception of relatively recent fashion ambassador addition Kerr, all had been front-and-centre at the show for almost a decade, laying the foundations for the "house of brands" into which the department store subsequently evolved. Taking their places and for a variety of different reasons - which ranged from scandal and resignations, pregnancy and defection, all in the space of eight months - was a new management team (albeit one promoted from within) and a swag of new labels, the absolute standout of which on the night just had to be Josh Goot and his colourblocked bodycon dresses and tulip skirts and tops with wildly expressionistic graphics. Not forgetting some highly polished Australian modelling talent, that included girls who have walked for some of the world's biggest fashion brands: Nicole Trunfio, Alexandra Agoston, Myf Shepherd, Stephanie Carta, Tiah Eckhardt and Christina Carey. And some newcomers who may soon follow them. Think Rosemary Smith (above, in Josh Goot), who is off to the European shows with at least one big name in her appointment book. Click (here) for frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of backstage shots taken before and during the show.