Mother and son

So Myer celebrated its 100th birthday, simultaneously unveiling the A$300million Bourke Street flagship store revamp, with a million dollar party last night. Arguably the biggest star of the night was Melbourne modelling sensation Andrej Pejic accompanied by his proud mum Jadranka Savic, who looked beautiful in a custom-made black Grecian-style gown by Jane Lamerton. Kitted out in embellished gold trousers and tuxedo jacket by Yeojin Bae and towering black platform boots, Pejic's extravagant up-do was inspired, he told The Melbourne Herald Sun, by Helena Bonham Carter's character Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Noted Pejic, "I watched it on the plane and I'm like, that's the hair that I want". 

all images: youbeutie.com

Talking the talk: Fashion Torque, Live in the Studio and Insight

source

Have always been a big believer in fashion forums. In my brief incarnation as editor of Australian industry newsmagazine Ragtrader, I initiated a (very short-lived) series called “Breakfast with Ragtrader”, inviting various fashion players to have a yack about industry issues. In the many and varied fashion panels in which I have been invited to be involved in recent years (including FGI, New Zealand Fashion Week, the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival and a talk series hosted by the State Library of NSW during last year’s Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival), I have always walked away thinking that if anyone were to initiate an ongoing in-the-round fashion series in this country, it would probably be a hit. Social media conversations are fine, but nothing beats a live event. Interesting to see more and more activity in this regard. Fashion Torque was initiated a couple of months ago by Melbourne stylist Philip Boon and designer Jenny Bannister with various guest panellists. It runs every Thursday at 6.30pm at the Globe Café in Prahran and is free to attend. 

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image [ACMI] in Melbourne's Federation Square is running a (ticketed) panel series called Live in the Studio hosted by award-winning Melbourne-based UK animators/designers Ian Gouldstone and David Surman. Tomorrow night’s event at 7pm is dedicated to fashion and the small screen, notably Project Runway Australia and the guest speakers are Project Runway Australia series 2 winner Anthony Capon and yours truly. Click (here) for more details. 

The good folks at Australian creative portal Australian INfront have just launched their own talk series at Sydney’s Apple store on George Street called Insight, focussed on people working in the digital domain. Again, the series per se is not dedicated to fashion, but the third installment on April 27th just happens to be.

I was honoured (and somewhat gobsmacked) to be invited to present this third edition of Insight. Australian INfront editor Damien Aistrope was interested in my personal trajectory as a fashion journalist moving from print into digital, so that’s what I’ll be talking about for anyone who happens to be interested. 

The event was not deliberately timed to synchronise with Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, which runs from May 2-6 not too far down the road at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, but it’s serendipitous. These talks are free. Click (here) for the full blurb. Thanks to Sonny Vandevelde for the promo portrait. 

Gemma Ward impresses the critics and a new artist mate

the sunday telegraph

As a teenager Gemma Ward conquered the fashion world. Now 23, she is slowly making her mark in the film business, with her fourth film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, due for release on May 20th. But how does she shape up as a theatre performer? Not too shabbily, according to reviews of her stage debut in The Perth Theatre Compay’s production of The Ugly One, which premiered on March 22nd. “Ward does well on her stage debut and, to her credit, is better as the 73-year-old reconstructed cougar Fanny than as Lette's younger wife” says The West Australian’s David Zampatti; “It's impossible to ignore her international celebrity as a beauty but, while this perhaps adds an unintended extra layer to Von Mayenburg's text, it does it no harm”.

the australian

Notes Perth Now’s Maria Noakes:

“Can she act? In a nutshell, yes, she can. But she’s still learning and it’s a big leap from the catwalk to the stage. Swinging between three characters including Fanny, a 73-year-old woman with a fetish for plastic surgery and the young wife of Lette, Ward only stumbled over her lines once but at times, particularly at the beginning, she looked somewhat wooden. However she made a good go of it and as the play hit its straps she warmed and seemed to settle into her roles. 

Her co-stars WAAPA graduate Benj D’Addario, Brendan Ewing and stage veteran Geoff Kelso out shone her but that was to be expected – the trio have years of experience under their belts.

No doubt given time Ward will come into her own as an actress. Despite her inexperience she is mesmerising to watch. It’s a surreal experience seeing the towering former international supermodel perform just metres in front of you and an experience Perth audiences wont forget in a hurry”.

The Australian's John Kinsella didn't think Ward was too bad, but concurred that there is definitely room for improvement:

"Gemma Ward, cast as Lette's wife, and also a 73-year-old CEO who lusts after the new Lette, makes yet another subtext. Supermodel, and one of the faces of her time on the catwalk, she becomes a mirror for proliferating narcissism. Ward was acceptable, and certainly knows how to use the stage and hold her glances. But her voice was thin, and though the roles were deliberately flat, she could have made them more dynamic. The play relies so much on skin-deep humour that she was well-placed with her industry background to bring this out".

 

Wards mother Claire, naturally, loved the play. After the show, she told a reporter that her daughter was a little bit nervous about the sex scenes:





Prepping for her stage debut is not the only thing Ward has been up to in Perth. She also found the time to pose for US-born, Perth-based artist Matt Doust, for Doust’s entry in the 2011 edition of Australia’s most prestigious portraiture competition, The Archibald Prize.

"I think he's extremely talented, he's going to go so far and I was very honoured to work with him" Ward told News Ltd. "Just the alignment of every feature on her face intrigues me" noted Doust - who set tongues wagging at a Prada dinner in Perth on March 15th, that the duo’s relationship may have developed a little further than artist and muse.

Doust is the second Californian-connected artist to become enchanted by Ward’s features.

Danny Roberts, an LA-based fashion illustrator and colleague of Ward’s sister Sophie Ward, has done over 100 Gemma Ward portraits.

Andrejmania

holly blake for michael wolff

Are you ready for the seven days of Andrej? In his first visit back home downunder since his already burgeoning media profile went into overdrive, thanks to several rather groundbreaking turns on Jean Paul Gaultier’s runways in Paris in January, Serbian Australian modelling superstar Andrej Pejic touched down in Melbourne this morning for what frockwriter understands is a very busy week. We hear today is in fact his only free day. Pejic is in town for Thursday night’s big unveiling of the revamped Bourke Street, Melbourne flagship of Australian department store Myer. In and around that event, one rehearsal, one in-store photocall on Wednesday at 11.45am – not exactly a press conference, but the next best thing – and at least two photoshoots have been squeezed. One of the photoshoots is for an Australian eveningwear label – a womens eveningwear label, just to clarify. And Pejic will of course be catching up with his family, who were first profiled on Seven Network’s Sunday Night program on February 13th. 

Joining Pejic on the red carpet on Thursday will be his charming mother Jadranka, who has been outfitted for the occasion by designer Jane Lamerton. We attended last week’s fittings for Jadranka’s custom-made dress and took a few shots:

Pejic himself will reportedly be wearing a mashup of Arthur Galan and Yeojin Bae.

It’s unclear at this stage whether their red carpet sortie will be the only appearance that the Pejics make at the event.
 
Since we last covered Pejic’s skyrocketing career, after the Fall/Winter 2011/2012 show season, during which he walked for twelve different designers - half in menswear and half in womenswear - Pejic has been working flat out and the global publicity has not stopped. Little wonder he is edging closer to the world Top 10 of models.com’s Top 50 Men list, having just moved into the number 11 spot.
 
Notable jobs have included two magazine covers (Zeit Magazin and Photo), a photoshoot for Dazed & Confused and at least three videos: for Dossier Journal, Crash magazine and emerging talent website The Ones 2 Watch.





 
Just how to leverage this unprecedented interest into serious earnings... that’s the $64million question.
 
A big bucks Myer campaign? Too edgy for a mainstream retailer with a very conservative advertising image, say our sources – in spite of the fact that Myer is so keen to associate itself with Pejic this week.
 

Beauty contracts are where the big money lies in modelling. You have to wonder just how long it will be before a major name snaps Pejic up. Jean Paul Gaultier perhaps, for one of his fragrances? 

So far, two small Australian companies have been the only beauty advertisers to step up to the Pejic plate. The Fudge hair product brand and, most recently, Sydney hair stylist Michael Wolff. 

Wolff's ad, shot by Sydney photographer Holly Blake, featured in a recent edition of Harpers Bazaar Australia:

Wolff told frockwriter:

“I was looking and casting girls and I couldn’t really find the girl. The reference I was using was the story that Andrej did in French Vogue. And Holly Blake said ‘You know this guy is Australian don't you?' We spent a day with him, back in December, he was on his way to Paris. Whilst he was here, I coloured and cut his hair and the next day I shot with him. I have a good friend called Christopher Esber and I borrowed a shirt, a double shirt with cotton and rubber over the top. That was the hero shot I used for the ad.

”At the end of the day, I loved Andrej’s look so much, the whole androgynous thing… it elevated the whole image of the salon. It’s kind of like stepping into the moment. Does it matter if it’s a man or a woman? So many guys have long hair. People appreciate beautiful people. To me Andrej had the most perfect face.

”It’s what’s now. This is what’s happening now. I see lots of young people walking around and I think they’re quite androgynous. It’s not about sexuality, about being gay or straight. There’s a whole new thing going on now, so having the opportunity to shoot Andrej was very cool”.

Here are some hitherto unseen outtakes from the Michael Wolff shoot, which we just couldn't resist turning into a little flash animation.... 

all images: supplied to frockwriter by michael wolff/holly blake

Zanita Whittington shoots a Puma

It’s a trend that is, increasingly, bound to get up the noses of some professional photographers: self-taught snappers with blogs nabbing lucrative commercial contracts that might have gone elsewhere. Notable examples include Scott ‘The Sartorialist’ Schuman shooting for Burberry, among others and Jak & Jil’s Tommy Ton shooting for Sergio Rossi and Lane Crawford. In Australia, joining a list that already includes Hayley Hughes’ Windsor Smith advertorial and Matt Jordan’s campaign for Orri Henrisson, comes model-turned-photoblogger Zanita Whittington’s new e-lookbook for Puma Australia. Starring Tania Pozzebom, it features product that is exclusive to Puma’s concept stores in Sydney and Melbourne, including Alexander McQueen for Puma, Puma by Hussein Chalayan, Rudolf Dassler Shufabrik and Mihara Yasuhiro. Here is a first look. The Puma gig follows twelve months after Whittington was tapped as a face of US sportswear giant American Apparel, the news of which unleashed a mini storm of controversy over AA’s claim that it only ever uses non professional models.

images: zanita whittington for puma/supplied exclusively to frockwriter by puma

Death of a Hollywood icon

richard avedon

RIP Elizabeth Taylor.

"I'm obsessed with models" - Melissa George

Since departing these shores in the mid 1990s, following a three year stint playing Angel Brooks on Australian soap Home & Away, Melissa George has established herself as a queen of the US small screen. Notwithstanding a few features, notably Dark City, Mulholland Drive, The Amityville Horror and 30 Days of Night, George’s CV is replete with a score of American tv movies and series, including Roar, Murder Call, LA Confidential, Friends, Charmed, Alias, In Treatment and Grey’s Anatomy. Her latest small screen effort: Australian production The Slap, whose current filming schedule downunder facilitated her participation in last week’s L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival as the event’s official ambassador. Frockwriter caught up with George on Friday night – four years after we chatted to her backstage at New York Fashion Week. This time, she demonstrated that she is as much of an ambassador for the Argentinian fashion industry, as she is for its Australian equivalent, and offered a fascinating theory to explain the sudden proliferation of top Australian models - or at least those hailing from her native Perth. 

How are you enjoying the fashion festival?
I’m loving it. I was very moved by Maticevski [L'Oréal Paris Runway 5 show]. The music and the workmanship... I was almost on a film set.

Did you like the pavlova dress at the end?
You know why I loved it? Because every designer has their showstopping piece. It’s not about what you’re going to wear on the weekend. It’s about what item of clothing best represents my vision. And that’s it. The layering and....of course I wanted to wear it on a film set, running through the Scottish Highlands like after a lover. I was on a movie set, completely. I got quite emotional, quite choked up actually.

Are you doing a remake of Highlander?
No, nothing like that. I just think it was so romantic.

So, your impressions of the festival?
It’s been extraordinary. I mean, I think we all have to agree that it’s just been so well put together. The quality of the fashion, the fact that L’oréal has just put on this massive amount of publicity for the week. I mean it’s almost uncanny. I got off the plane from Buenos Aires and I arrived here and I’m like ....

Everywhere.
Like... hang on a second this is not normal. This is absolutely not normal and... It’s an honour.

Had you ever been to this festival before?
No. Never.

What are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I'm shooting The Slap. I’ve been shooting since January and then I went away for a month and now I’m back and I continue shooting on Monday. In between fashion shows I’ve been rehearsing with the director. Rob Connolly is doing the next two. We’ve had an array of directors – Tony Ayres, Jessica Hobbs, Matthew Saville. Amazing writers and directors. I love the balance - fashion and acting.

How would you describe your relationship with fashion?
It’s an emotional relationship I find. It’s not about putting on clothes for me. It has to evoke an emotion for me and I have to feel something. I’ve got these gorgeous, thigh-high flat boots... it’s not an Australian brand, it’s an American brand. [Joseph] Altuzarra for Sergio Rossi. And they’re thigh-high and they have croc tips on the toes and when I get up in the morning in New York and it’s cold and I put them on with leggings and a big Céline sweater and I get my New York Post and my coffee... it’s a simple boot but evokes such an emotion in me. And I think fashion creates confidence. It really does. Let’s face it, you can’t walk around naked, right?

Well some people like to.
Some people would like to... in the privacy of your own home.

No I mean the naturists – like you see in Europe. They have entire resorts.
Oh I know.

You see them playing tennis in the nude.
Oh well that’s fine. I mean that I agree with [laughs].

So what else is on the drawing board?
I’ve got a Mandy Moore movie coming up with Martin Freeman, who is shooting The Hobbit right now. And he and I and Mandy shot this fantastic romantic comedy in London [Swinging with the Finkels]. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. They thought I was drunk the whole time because I was laughing that much. It comes out in June. And then my movie in Scotland, called A Lonely place to Die. I don’t know if it’s going to be called that.

Oh so you did in fact recently shoot in the Highlands? Pity you didn’t have Maticevski on wardrobe.
I just shot a movie for four months in the Highlands. Nothing to do with the gowns at all but it was just an action film. Then that and The Slap, I’m really proud of that. It’s the first time I’ve come home since shooting Triangle. That was an American production. This is an Australian production. It’s the first Australian job I’ve done since Dark City with Jennifer Connolly.

Any other fashion or luxury brand projects in the pipeline?
There’s a couple.... But I think after this, I’m going to take a little bit of a break. Let’s not do more of this for a minute. You can’t get more beautiful than what Daniela Frederici shot [for the LMFF program], the campaign was gorgeous. Nothing really. I’m just busy in Buenos Aires really.

So yes, you live part of the year in Buenos Aires?
In Buenos Aires and New York.

Your husband is Chilean?
He’s Chilean but you know, we just fly over the Andes...

Do you speak Spanish?
I do speak Spanish.

Where do you spend the most time?
I don’t know really, it changes every year. Right now I came from Buenos Aires and I’m going to go back there. And New York’s my heart.

Are there some good designers in Argentina?
Yeah – [Pablo] Ramirez,  Liliana Castellanos. Look at this [reaches for a fringed, black alpaca shawl, below, that an associate is carrying for her].

Not to mention the whole Eva Peron legacy.
I live in her neighbourhood, where she grew up and she was buried right near where I live. This is Liliana Castellanos, which is alpaca and then they have the people in the country weave a border.

Is there an Argentinian Fashion Week?
There’s a Sao Paolo one.

You’ll be the face of Buenos Aires Fashion Week next.
Oh I don’t know about that. I don’t look very Argentinian. They always think I’m foreign. What other designers do I love? I love Tramando – look at their website. They’re right in my home. And [Jessica] Trosman is another good one. They’re really cool designers. They’re honestly the future. Everything is made out of Latex and layers.

There would be a very strong leather and leather craftsmanship tradition there.
Oh yeah and the crocodile and the skins and all that, which is not very appreciated in the rest of the world, but it’s Argentina. It’s a big meat-eating culture and everything.... the décor in our place is all animal or cowhide and stuff like that and there’s a French feel, there are a lot of French antiques there. But mixtures, like the Argentinians.

I asked you a couple of years ago about the success of all the Australians in Hollywood. Have you been following the more recent influx of Australian models overseas? They’re everywhere at the moment.
Oh look, they’re the most gorgeous....

Do you know any of the Australian models?
I’m obsessed with models. In fact I can spot them a mile away. I read Italian Vogue, French Vogue, Australian Vogue, I know all their names.

[Joking] Hey you probably comment on my blog. It attracts model obsessives.
I know who you are [yeah right]. They’re divine. They’re all from Perth.

Well that’s right, there have been quite a few from Perth, starting with Gemma Ward. So what’s in the water in Perth?
I think we’re just so far away. There are lots of billionaires... there’s a theory that all the rich miners married supermodels back in the ‘80s and so they all got themselves a hot wife and created beautiful children.

How does Rose Porteous [widow of mining magnate Lang Hancock] fit into that?
Oh yeah, you know, she’s the top of the ladder.
 

Frankie's gold class - LMFF 2011

Frockwriter’s last LMFF was Friday night’s L’Oréal Paris Runway 6 showcase presented by Frankie magazine. Fantastic, upbeat show featuring some great Australasian brands, from Alice McCall to Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Alpha60, Dhini, Limedrop and Nevenka, with cool girl styling that perfectly reflected Frankie’s fresh-faced readership, courtesy Jolyon Mason. Not to mention some new faces, notably 17 year-old Gracie Holt (above), who opened the show and walked in four other shows last week. Modelling for just three months, Holt hails from Alice Springs – making her the second great new girl to emerge from the Red Centre in five months, after 16 year-old Melissa 'MJ' Johannsen, who made an impressive debut at New York Fashion Week last month. Expect to see a lot more of both. Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery shot backstage during the show. 

Because the night - LMFF 2011

Alex Perry's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 presentation was not the only glamour event at last week's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Although unlike Perry's show, it provided no reveal of any brand new season's offerings, the L'Oréal Paris Runway 5 show on Friday night, presented by Harpers Bazaar Australia, was nevertheless a wonderful showcase of highend PM-wear from some of Australia's most acclaimed designers: Collette Dinnigan, Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, Jayson Brunsdon, Dion Lee, Scanlan & Theodore and Willow. Here are a few shots below. Click (here) to see frockwriter's backstage portfolio shot during the show.

Boy's own - LMFF 2011

A very high percentage of the fashion on last week's runways at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival was womenswear. But there was one menswear-dedicated show: Thursday night's Menswear Runway that was presented in tandem with GQ Australia. Oh and a local optical retailer whose name escapes us. Much to the frustration of backstage media - and, we understand, some of the organisers - nearly all photographers were kicked out at the last minute, in preparation for the arrival of VIP showpony, Helena Christensen. Celebrities often have demanding backstage riders, Christensen's apparently included no photographers and, beyond one or two interviews, no other press exposure. We understand the extent of the coverage outside of Melbourne reflected these restrictions. Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show.     

Alex Perry's Cuban revolution - LMFF 2011

Could Alex Perry have started something with his Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection unveiling last night at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival? A consumer event showcasing in-season collections to consumers, LMFF is popular with designers because its runways present what is in store right now - with some retailers reporting 30-50percent spikes in business during the event. But a wholesale collection that is traditionally shown to buyers and press six months ahead of the season? That's usually the territory of Australian Fashion Week. In reality, Perry showed 'first summer' last night - that is, the first half of next summer's offerings. He still plans to show at RAFW in May. Perry will show 'second summer' at that event - and according to his wingman, Josh Flinn, the second collection will be a lot more elaborate. With the fashion cycle continuing to accelerate, retailers offering far more frequent product drops than ever before and the rise and rise of Resort and Pre-Fall collections internationally, perhaps it makes sense for designers to gain additional exposure via consumer events such as this, at the same time providing some real news value for the fashion media. 

And what a show it was. 

En route to the venue - the magnificent Victoria era Royal Exhibition Building - it felt a little like you were making your way to a big Paris show at the Grand Palais.

Entitled Cuban Princess, the well-edited collection took Perry into somewhat unchartered waters - and he told frockwriter backstage that this fact had made him a little nervous. 

"I've never done colour before - or at least not so much of it" noted Perry. 

Eye-popping turquoise, kingfisher blue, buttercup yellow, magenta, chartreuse and tangerine were deployed in an elegant series of minimalist evening gowns, many of them with sporty, racerfront necklines and simple fitted waists, others softly falling from the bust, Empire style, with embroidered straps curling delicately like tendrils over one shoulder. 

The evening glamour sequence complemented the collection's smart daywear of '40s-nosed, crisp white suits, sheath dresses in a pretty black and red floral print and some fresh-as-a-daisy white sundresses crafted from heavily-embellished lace.

A great cast that included the week's top girls, Rachels Rutt and Grasso, Cassi van den Dungen, Simone Kerr, Annika Kaban, Tiah Eckhardt and Vanessa Milde, with some special additions in the form of Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware, Eliza Humble and of course, the star of the show, Megan Gale. 

Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous portfolio of 50 images shot backstage during the show.  

Juliana Forge often gets compared to Abbey Lee Kershaw

Tuesday's Kookai show looked like a million dollars thanks to a great cast headed up by the brand's current advertising face in Australia, Juliana Forge. Nineteen year-old Forge could be the next antipodian to clean up at the international show circuit, once she finally makes a serious move offshore. She has just returned from a shoot for Greek Vogue which could be a harbinger of big things to come. Here is a quick iv frockwriter grabbed with Forge backstage before the show, in which she mentions that people frequently bring up her resemblance to fellow Melburnite Abbey Lee Kershaw, now the world number five model.
   
Frockwriter: You recently shot Greek Vogue?
Juliana Forge: Yes, I just shot that in Athens, two weeks ago. It's coming out next month or the month after, I can't remember. Amazing pieces. We shot it next to a private plane. We were at an airport actually, freezing cold weather. The whole travel idea... very glamorous, beautiful colours.

FW: When might we be seeing Juliana Forge at the international shows?
JF: Potentially later this year, but it may be something that happens next year. 

FW: Do people often comment that you look like Abbey Lee Kershaw?
JF: Yes, I do sometimes get compared to Abbey. I take that as a huge compliment. 

FW: Abbey Junior?
JF: Or Abbey's little sister [laughs]. I think [people think] we have quite similar eyes. I think some of our features are similar. Not that I see the similarity, but it does come up.

FW: If you are by any chance planning to dye your hair platinum blonde, that might confuse things.
JF: Imagine. 

FW: What do you think about the success Australian models are currently enjoying internationally?

JF: I think they're doing incredibly. It's amazing that so many girls did so well at the shows.

FW: And not just the girls. You mentioned that you once did a shoot with Andrej Pejic - and didn't realise he wasn't a woman until after the shoot. 
JF: It was for the Herald Sun. It was a bit of a shock when the article came out and I realised it was a guy. He does look really feminine.