Carla Zampatti's fair ladies

Frockwriter hears that Carla Zampatti had to have her arm twisted to use the basement of her Kent Street headquarters as a show venue on Thursday. Originally used in the late 1800s as a carriageway for horse-drawn vehicles, but now serving as Zampatti's garage, presumably the Australian fashion industry veteran figured the crumbling industrial interior was not sufficiently chi-chi for her classic, uptown designs. Celebrating her 46th year of business this year, good to see Zampatti take advice from a younger creative generation. The space was not unlike many edgy show venues that you would see at London Fashion Week. And stylist Michelle Jank made full use of the 19th century brickwork, using it as the backdrop for a model tableau that was choreographed at the end of the show. Wearing the strikingly elegant eveningwear from Zampatti’s 'Strength of Simplicity' Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection, which included columns with sporty necklines in tangerine, cobalt, black and ivory and a pretty short shell pink taffeta puffball dress - all teamed with beautiful, Beaton-esque picture hat-like silk georgette headpieces from Jonathan Howard ‘Hatmaker’ - the models draped themselves over chairs and ladders at the end of the runway. The image evoked the iconic Cecil Beaton photograph of models in Christian Dior’s 1957 collection, which has been copied a number of times by fashion magazines - one example of which we spotted backstage as reference. 

Although the name of Jank's magazine reference escapes us, the models appear to include Kirsten Owen, Stella Tennant and Naomi Campbell, which dates it. See below for the Beaton original, Jank's reference and a shot of Zampatti's finale, which is a dead ringer for the magazine image in more ways than one.

Although it is unclear who else may have been involved in the production, interesting that Jank would choose to return to this concept.

In May 2005, she copped quite some flack after both the staging and styling of her off-schedule Australian Fashion Week show, which was produced by Tony Assness and Victoria Fisher, was seen to bear a little too much of  a resemblance to Viktor & Rolf’s Spring/Summer 2005 ‘Flowerbomb’ show, that had been presented six months beforehand in Paris. Also apparently inspired by the 1957 Beaton photograph, the Viktor & Rolf show was similarly set against a backdrop of ladders. 

via jonathan howard 'hatmaker''s facebook

cecil beaton, 1957 - time life/getty images via metmuseum.org

Cassi van den Dungen won't be doing RAFW because she's four months pregnant

One face that we won't be seeing at next week's Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is 18 year-old Cassi van den Dungen. That's because van den Dungen is four months pregnant and is taking a year off from modelling. Although suspicions first arose that something was up several days ago, yesterday's publication of an interview with van den Dungen and her fiancé Brad Saul in the Australian edition of OK magazine, announcing the pregnancy, appears to have completely flown under the radar - no doubt due to the Royal wedding media frenzy. Van den Dungen managed to keep her pregnancy a secret at last month's Melbourne Fashion Festival, where these photos (above, below) were taken. No mean feat, considering how body-hugging some of the garments were.

Although she is by no means the only model to contemplate motherhood - nor, indeed, the only teen model to do so, with top British and Russians models Jourdan Dunn and Natalia Vodianova both falling pregnant at 19 - van den Dungen has never been far from the headlines since she first popped up on the media radar as a contestant in Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 5 in 2009. This latest chapter in the van den Dungen saga will no doubt prompt further discussion.

Dubbed a 'boganista' because of her blue collar background, van den Dungen was crowned runnerup of that year's competition, then raised eyebrows after turning down lucrative modelling contracts with the Priscillas and Elite New York model agencies.

Last year, she made international news after slamming the French as "frog eaters" and "snail slurpers" on Facebook, following an ill-fated trip to Paris Fashion Week - at which, as frockwriter can now reveal, she had been placed on exclusive option for the Balenciaga runway show.

We wish her all the best and hope to see her back modelling soon.

OK magazine via bianca/TFS

The Order of the Phoenix

thom kerr

Well Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is four days away but as has now become tradition in the leadup to the event, a vibrant off-schedule week of Sydney shows is underway. Yesterday, Life With Bird and Thurley unveiled their Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collections. This morning, it was Carla Zampatti’s turn, followed by tonight’s Ginger & Smart and Phoenix Keating shows. Phoenix who? The 20 year-old eveningwear designer from Sydney’s Bellevue Hill, who is now in his second season, will be making his runway debut tonight at Sydney’s Luxe Studios. Keating did a part-time TAFE patternmaking course while still at school, before receiving private tuition from retired Australian costume designer Jenny Clarke. He also spent one and a half years as an assistant to Australian makeup artist Jody Oliver, who is doing tonight’s show. Others giving a helping hand tonight include his first cousin, Sydney fashion PR queen Marie-Claude Mallat; Deni Hines, his sole client, who will be performing; and upwardly mobile Sydney-based fashion photographer Thom Kerr, who shot this portfolio of images to accompany the collection - starring new face Krystal Glynn. Keating looks to be sufficiently talented to make it on his own without name-dropping, but it is nevertheless worth noting one fascinating bit of bio trivia: five years ago, he discovered that his biological grandfather was the late Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.  

all images: supplied exclusively to frockwriter by thom kerr

styling and art direction: cassandra scott-finn
beauty: sinden dean
production: jovita lee 

Answers on an Abbey Lee Kershaw postcard

kamel rachedi

She has been photographed by the best in the business. Now comes Abbey Lee Kershaw like you have never seen her before: as an illustrated postcard or greeting card, courtesy under-the-radar French illustrator Kamel Rachedi. This illustration has just popped up on Rachedi’s portfolio on online art community Red Bubble, where it's being offered as a postcard or greeting card (AUD 2.52) or one of various prints (AUD 18.00). And Kershaw isn’t the only supermod to have been sketched by Rachedi. Edita Vilkeviciute, Lily Donaldson and Naomi Campbell also feature in Rachedi's portfolio (that’s Vilkeviciute and Campbell, below, with the uncropped version of ALK). Rachedi does not appear to have a dedicated blog, but it's probably not a bad idea as the blogosphere has proven to be a tremendous springboard for emerging illustrators. Two cases in point: illustrator/bloggers Garance Doré and Danny Roberts, both of whose careers were launched via blogs.

all images: kamel rachedi via red bubble

What Catherine did Next

christian dior RTW FW0809/sonny vandevelde via TFS

Catherine McNeil might still be listed as the world number 24 on models.com’s Top 50 Women list, but we have not seen much work from her of late. In fact a Vogue Australia cover in February this year, her fifth Vogue Australia cover, appears to be the highlight of her 2011 portfolio so far – after a stellar 2010 that saw McNeil book, among many other jobs, four advertising campaigns: Givenchy Fall/Winter 2010 ready to wear and Narciso Rodriguez, Carolina Herrera and Lanca fragrances. And all of this in spite of the fact that she had skipped several international show seasons. But there has been some movement on McNeil’s models.com profile. Her New York agency is now listed as Ford, as opposed to Next Model Management, which is the agency that launched McNeil's international career in 2006. Although models.com still has McNeil listed with Next’s affiliate agencies in London, Milan and Paris, Stephen Lee, McNeil’s former agent at Next, told frockwriter that, as of yesterday, Next no longer represented McNeil in any market. “We wish Catherine all the best for the future both personally and professionally” is all tight-lipped Lee would say. So, did she jump or was she pushed?  

It is certainly true that models move around from agency to agency. McNeil is not the only model to leave Next - or notably, the only model to leave Next for Ford. She is in fact the second Australian to jump ship from Next to Ford in five months, after Elyse Taylor in around November last year. Both models remain with the same Australian “mother agency” in Sydney – Chic Management.

In May 2010, Next sued Ford for allegedly poaching three of its top contracted models, Poles Ania Cywinska and Anna Jagodzinska and Estonian Karmen Pedaru. Seven months later, the three models in question initiated a claim against Next for US$3.66million in back pay and punitive damages.

It is unclear whether these cases have been scheduled for later hearings, settled – or perhaps even thrown - out of court. 

What is clear is that there has been bad blood between the two agencies for quite some time, with Ford reportedly taking legal action against Next on at least three previous occasions over alleged model poaching. In one 2009 suit, Ford claimed that Next had wrongfully acquired models and employees under exclusive contract with Ford six times in less than a year.

As for McNeil, she might well currently be ranked the world #24 by models.com, however she debuted on the list at #26 four years ago. And by July 2010, she had made it as high as #12.
 
But while McNeil’s MDC ranking is going south, Next currently has three models in the site's world top 5: Anja Rubik (#3), Karlie Kloss (#4) and Abbey Lee Kershaw (#5).

The winner, at just 14, of Australia's 2003 Girlfriend Model Search, McNeil remained at school and worked locally for three years before being launched internationally at the age of 17.

After an introduction by Next in late 2006, McNeil secured a six-month exclusive contract with leading photographer Mario Testino, which saw her shoot covers for Vogue Paris and V Magazine in record time. In March 2007, The New York Times called her “Fashion’s latest crush”.

Whether McNeil wants to work or not, is her business. She has achieved more in the past four years than many models do in an entire career. There are certainly much easier jobs than modelling - particularly modelling at an elite international level, where the pressures are extraordinary.

We wish her luck with her new agency.  

Dress circle: Leona Edmiston celebrates a decade of frocks

Congratulations to Leona Edmiston and Jeremy Ducker on the 10th anniversary of their fashion label. The occasion was celebrated yesterday at a small lunch in the Boathouse restaurant, which is located directly above Sydney University’s Women’s Rowing Club boatshed on Glebe's Blackwattle Bay. It was also an opportunity to unveil Edmiston’s Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection, 12 very pretty dresses from which were modelled by Tania Pozzebom, Caris Tiivel and Tiah Eckhardt [L to R, above]. Australia’s answer to Diane von Furstenberg, Edmiston’s hero product is the dress. In fact, that's all she makes. “By focussing on the one thing, we’ve been able to remain independent and grow at our own pace” Edmiston told her lunch guests. 

The business is the third and most successful incarnation of Edmiston’s fashion career, after she co-founded the influential Morrissey Edmiston label with Peter Morrissey in 1983 and then went solo with her own eponymous line in 1998. 

After an acrimonious split with her former business and life partner Peter Hutchison in 1999, the latter business would prove shortlived.

Third time lucky, however, for Edmiston. In 2001, together with new husband and business partner Ducker, she launched what has since blossomed into a highly successful business that boasts 26 boutiques, including six Myer concessions and standalone stores in Los Angeles, London and Shanghai.

Five new boutiques are due to open this year, with yet more brand extensions soon to be added to an already impressive arsenal of Leona Edmiston licenses, from jewellery to fragrance, shoes, handbags, hosiery, eyewear and childrenswear. 

Here's to the next ten years.

Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous backstage pic gallery.

 

Ben Pollitt is taking a break

boudist.com

A few Rosemount Australian Fashion Week shows are still up in the air ahead of this Thursday’s release of the official schedule by organisers IMG Fashion Asia Pacific. In the interim, see frockwriter’s preview of what's on. But one name will definitely not be among the late additions: Friedrich Gray. That’s because Ben Pollitt, the designer behind the Sydney-based label, has ceased production – temporarily, we are assured, by his spokeswoman Rae Begley, who confirmed that Pollitt “is definitely taking a break”. Although retailer Belinda Seper, Pollitt’s mentor and former employer, told us she was unaware that Pollitt had produced an Autumn/Winter 2011 range, according to Begley he did do a “small injection” for winter. But there is no Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection and for the moment, it is unclear just when Pollitt will be resuming work.

Over the past five years, Pollitt quickly established himself as one of Australia’s most exciting emerging design talents, noted for his androgynous, layered silhouettes in wool, cotton and leather and a sombre signature colour palette.

Entirely self-taught, Pollitt launched his brand in 2006 following industrial design studies and an eclectic series of work stints: as a stylist in New York, as a building site manager and as Seper’s delivery driver in Sydney. 

The accolades came quickly.

Pollitt took out the fashion category of the 2007 Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards and just a few months later, the Woolmark-sponsored Young Designer of the Year Award at the 2008 L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

"I've always known I can design and be creative, I just need to know more about the nuts and bolts of running a business and getting financing" Pollitt told The Daily Telegraph after the SOYA Awards - which awarded him $10,000 in prize money and a mentorship with Sydney designer Peter Morrissey.

But presumably Pollitt, who did not respond to our enquiries, did not manage to learn enough about the nuts, bolts, financing and pressures of the fashion business. Hype and accolades are great, but you can't pay your rent with them.  

“It didn’t surprise me because I know how tough it is” says Seper of the news of Pollitt's hiatus. The designer recently contacted Seper, seeking advice about his future options. 

“Also I know Benny’s personality well" she added. "It’s not like he trained as a designer. It wasn’t necessarily his career choice. It just fell upon him and he just happened to be exceptionally talented at it. If someone wants to take a break, someone wants to take a break. He’s young enough, he recently married [longtime girlfriend, photographer Bec Howell]. Maybe they want to travel. I’m sure he’ll come back and do something at a later date. For now, he wants to have some time out. And I can’t blame him. We’re fine but I know there are plenty of other retailers and designers that are finding the uncertainly of the climate difficult to navigate”.

RAFW Spring/Summer 2011/2012 - The commuter edition

Australia's most high profile fashion event, Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, runs from May 2-6. As per tradition, frockwriter has been making a list and checking it twice, ahead of the official release by organiser IMG Fashion Asia Pacific. Two years may have passed since the abbreviated "Recessionista edition", but that does not mean that retail is still not incredibly tough. Or that sponsors are not thin on the ground. Two longstanding RAFW partners will not be showing: Nicola Finetti, who has shown at the event every year since its 1996 launch and New Zealand's Zambesi. You can catch them in their showrooms. Also AWOL this season: Friedrich Gray, with designer Ben Pollitt taking a break from not just RAFW, but in fact putting his label on ice. The good news: among the big names showing are two of Australia's best-known designers, both returning to the schedule after several years showing in New York and London - Toni Maticevski and Josh Goot. Update 21/04: Good to see that Romance Was Born finally got over the line with its show plans. Although technically not on schedule, their slot is the next best thing: an unofficial kickoff to the week on the afternoon of Sunday May 1st. 

Also returning to the lineup are Lover and White Suede. 

A slew of solo runway debuts includes Yeojin Bae, Carl Kapp, Amber & Thomas and Friend of Mine. 

Much was made of the decisions by both Alex Perry and Kym Ellery to unveil their Spring collections at consumer events in Melbourne and Perth before RAFW. But that has not precluded their involvement at RAFW, with both now confirmed to show their second summer collections on-schedule at the event. Rachel Gilbert is also doing two presentations: a low-key lunch showing of Summer 1 on 13th April in Sydney, followed by a full-scale show at RAFW on 3rd May.

In terms of brand new labels being unveiled at the event, added to the annual TAFE 'Innovators' parade which has springboarded, among others, Dion Lee - who is showing on Thursday morning - comes a second graduate showcase this year from Raffles, showcasing six designers from Australia, China and Singapore. 

Yes, there are more off-site shows than ever before, but we understand IMG has organised a fleet of shuttle buses - as do organisers in London, Milan and Paris for their many off-site, on-schedule shows. In New York, you fend for yourself. Guys, we've had it far too easy, for too long.  
  

OFF-SCHEDULE
 
Wednesday 13th April, 12.30 - Rachel Gilbert
Thursday 14th April, 12.30 - Leona Edmiston
Wednesday 27th April, 09.00 - Life With Bird
Wednesday 27th April, 17.00 - Thurley 

Thursday 28th April, 10.30 - Carla Zampatti
Thursday 28th April, 18.30 - Ginger & Smart 
Friday 29th April, 09.00 - Sabatini (celebrating 20 years in Australia) 
Friday 29th April, 12.00 - Mrs Press  
Sunday 1st May, 15.30 - Romance Was Born

RAFW

MONDAY 2ND MAY
09.00 Zimmermann, off-site
10.00 Bec & Bridge, on-site
11.00 Alex Perry, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Arnsdorf, the OPT
13.00 Kirrily Johnston, off-site
14.30 Morrison, on-site
15.30 RTW group show 1, the OPT: Subfusco, Garth Cook, Uscari, Vagabond, Lanphi
16.30 Friend of Mine, Cargo Theatre
17.30 Flannel, the OPT
18.30 Karla Spetic, Cargo Theatre
19.30 Gail Sorronda, the OPT
20.30 Lover, off-site

TUESDAY 3RD MAY
09.00 Therese Rawsthorne, off-site
10.00 Rachel Gilbert, on-site
11.00 Sara Phillips, on-site
12.00 Little Joe, the OPT
13.00 Manning Cartell, off-site
14.30 Miss Unkon, Cargo Theatre
15.30 RTW 2, the OPT: None the Richer, Bless'ed are the Meek, Guanabana Designs, Wonders Cease 
16.30 Nookie, Cargo Theatre
17.30 Carl Kapp, the OPT
18.30 Amber & Thomas, Cargo Theatre
19.30 Marnie Skillings, on-site
20.30 Kate Sylvester, off-site

WEDNESDAY 4TH MAY
09.00 Lisa Ho, off-site
10.00 Talulah, the OPT
11.00 Magdalena Velevska, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Shakuhachi, the OPT
13.00 Fernando Frisoni, Sydney Opera House
14.30 Michael Lo Sordo, Cargo Theatre
15.30 RTW 3, the OPT: Foxton Danger, Karen Neilsen Collection, Roopa Pemmaraju, Terri Donna
16.30 Bianca Spender, Cargo Theatre
17.30 Dhini, the OPT
18.30 Gary Bigeni, on-site
19.30 Alice McCall, the OPT
20.30 Camilla & Marc, off-site

THURSDAY 5TH MAY
09.00 Dion Lee, off-site
10.00 White Suede, on-site
11.00 Yeojin Bae, on-site
12.00 TAFE Fashion Design Studio group show, the OPT: Leah Hibbert, Charlotte O’Carrigan, Emma Mulholland, Anna Westcott
13.00 Ellery, off-site
14.30 Lisa Blue, Cargo Theatre
15.30 Kooey, the OPT
16.30 Limedrop, Cargo Theatre
17.30 RTW 4, the OPT: Antonia Paris, Billi Keato, Luela, Sally Koeswanto
18.30 Stolen Girlfriends Club, Cargo Theatre
19.30 Alaistair Trung, the OPT
20.30 Josh Goot, off-site

FRIDAY 6TH MAY
09.00 Toni Maticevski, off-site
10.00 Lisa Maree, the OPT
11.00 Ms Couture, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Raffles RAFW International Showcase, the OPT: The Prodigal Son (Singapore), Zhigang Studio (Shanghai), Illuminati, Peggy Hartanto, Nosnim, Krystal Tsoi (Sydney)
13.00 Saint Augustine Academy, Cargo Theatre
14.30 New Generation 1 group show, the OPT: Paper Skye, Arj Selvam, Poppy Lissiman, Christopher Dobosz, Moek Theorem
15.30 Christopher Esber, Cargo Theatre

16.30 New Generation 2 group show, the OPT: Daniela Caputi, Daniella-Stephanie Puglisi, Del Playa Drive, Jaime Lee Major, Virginie Lynn
17.30 Bowie, Cargo Theatre  

images:
1/ josh goot/frockwriter
2/ toni maticevski/sonnyphotos
3/ carl kapp/supplied by little hero
4/ kate sylvester/frockwriter
5/ dion lee/frockwriter
6/ friend of mine/alexandra spencer via friend of mine
7/ emma mulholland/2threads
8/ amber & thomas/amber & thomas
9/ anna westcott/vogue.com.au
10/ stolen girlfriends club/frockwriter

Robyn Lawley covers ELLE France

One of the strengths of the Australian modelling industry, say industry insiders in New York, is its extraordinary versatility. "You cross every section - you have sexy, you have edgy, you have androgynous, you have it all” Elite Model Management's Doll Wright tells frockwriter. Add curvy to that list. Twenty-one year-old Robyn Lawley has just pulled off what no other plus-size Australian model has thus far managed to do: score the cover of an international fashion title. Here is Lawley on the cover of French ELLE’s ‘Spécial Rondes’ issue, which has just hit the newsstands. She also appears on 10 other pages inside the issue. Even more exciting: on Monday and Tuesday this week in New York, we can reveal that Lawley, an Australian size 14, shot an editorial and cover try for the June issue of far more prestigious European fashion title, with one of fashion's biggest photographic names. Yes, the shoot was for a plus-size story. But give her time.

Already, the world’s most high-profile plus size model, Crystal Renn, is ranked world number 21 on models.com’s Top 50 Women list, alongside the biggest so-called “straight size” names in the business. The latter include Australia’s Catherine McNeil, who is ranked #24.

Models move up and down on the list, pending how “hot” they are in the business – and their "hotness" factor can be impacted by whether or not they have gained weight.

Renn's rapid rise in the fashion industry has seen her recently book advertising campaigns for Jean Paul Gaultier and Jimmy Choo, shoot editorials for Vogue Paris and now her first Vogue cover, Vogue Mexico. 

Many have argued, however, that Renn's 'high fashion' ascent has coincided with a dramatic fall in her BMI. Although Renn concedes that she has recently stepped up her exercise regime, she insists she is a US size 10 - an Australian size 12. This is still significantly bigger than most other models with whom Renn is competing for mainstream fashion jobs.  

Lawley’s story is not unlike Renn’s – as documented in Renn's 2009 book Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves.

Originally from Sydney, but now New York-based, Lawley began modelling at the age of 14, when she was a size 8-10 according to her Australian agent Chelsea Bonner at Bella Model Management. 

One of her first jobs was for Dolly magazine, an editorial accompanied by a headline that would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, at least in the skinny-obsessed modelling business: "Super Size Me".

At 186cm (6’2”), however, it wasn’t only Lawley’s height that spooked clients. 

As Lawley matured, she had difficulty maintaining that size 8-10. Although she did try various diets, unlike Renn, she never developed an eating disorder according to Bonner.

At 18, Lawley gave up trying to fit in to the mainstream modelling business and joined Bonner at Bella. She never looked back, booking editorial work with Madison, Cosmopolitan, The Australian Women’s Weekly, New Idea, Woman's Day, US Glamour, Germany's Flair and advertising campaigns for Autograph, David Jones, Myer, Calvin Klein and, recently, H&M. 

At New York Fashion Week in February, Lawley was the solo star of the One Stop Plus show, which was broadcast in Times Square:

 

But if fashion is – very gradually – starting to include larger models, this apparently does not mean that agents like Bonner want to help facilitate any size 22s getting up on that runway.

Bonner reports that she often fields complaints from consumers that her models “aren’t big enough”.

“What is big enough?” she asks. “Big enough to us at Bella is if you are within your healthy weight range for your height and bone structure, that’s big enough. You shouldn’t be above that. With size 22 models, the garments don’t fit right. And it’s not healthy. I’ve not yet met a woman who is a size 22 who is healthy. Of course, there are also a lot of girls who are far too thin”.

all images: supplied by bella management