Liv life

thom kerr

Whatever happened to Olivia O’Driscoll? In 2008, at age 17, she emerged as one of New Zealand’s most promising modelling newcomers. Repped internationally by IMG, she walked in four Paris haute couture shows in July that year, before flying to to Milan on an exclusive option for the Spring/Summer 2009 Prada and Miu Miu shows. While those gigs never eventuated, she nevertheless shot editorial for French Elle, German Vogue, Japanese RUSSH, Wallpaper, AnOther Magazine, US Teen Vogue and Italy’s Amica. Only to suddenly drop out of the business, sparking various rumours. In spite of the fact that New Zealand has the second-highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the developed world, a pregnancy was not among these whispers. But a baby daughter, Hara Lea O’Driscoll, arrived a day after O'Driscoll's 20th birthday in December 2010. Now as a single mum, with new management back home in Auckland (Red Eleven/MHI) and Sydney (Chadwick) - and as “Liv” O’Driscoll, as she prefers to be known these days - she is attempting a comeback. She joins models Jourdan Dunn, Arizona Muse, Natalia Vodianova and Australia’s Cassi van den Dungen, all of whom took time out under the age of 20 to have children. Herewith an exclusive preview of some new test shots by Australian photographer Thom Kerr.

photography: thom kerr
styling: james dykes
makeup: stacy lee ghin
hair: lauren mccowan
fashion: alex perry
shot at kingsize studios, auckland

Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock awarded the 2010 Australian Fashion Laureate

life.com

Now this is a fascinating turn of events. Ten months after IMG Fashion Asia Pacific announced that Rosemount Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock would not be renewing his contract in October this year, amidst rumours of a straining of relations between Lock and IMG, which acquired the event in 2005 - and which speculation was only compounded after IMG virtually iced Lock out of this year's 15th anniversary event - Lock has just been announced as the 2010 Australian Fashion Laureate. This is an annual award that was introduced during Lock's tenure of the event as recognition for those who have made a significant contribution to the Australian fashion industry. In a release from IMG Fashion Asia Pacific, general manager Daniel Hill noted "This is a great exclamation mark on Simon's career in the fashion industry. With Rosemount Australian Fashion Week having celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, he should certainly feel very proud". Congratulations Simon. Well deserved. 

Gemma Ward proves her moment is far from "over" by snagging a role in Pirates of the Caribbean 4

steven meisel via trendnista

Yesterday's lead story in The Sunday Telegraph's gossip pages reported that Gemma Ward is about to embark on her fourth film role, having scored a small speaking role as a mermaid in Pirates of The Caribbean 4. No source was cited beyond a “friend” – who was not actually quoted confirming the role, just stating that "Gemma's focus is definitely on acting. She's spent the past year studying the craft full time in New York." In spite of the fact that neither IMDB’s Pirates of the Caribbean 4 nor Gemma Ward pages had any reference, the story whipped across the net. Not that frockwriter would presume to cast aspersions on The Sunday Telegraph's sources (well, apart from perhaps those involved in the Pauline Hanson photo debacle), but we did want to make an effort to check things out before putting digit to keyboard. And an extremely well-placed business associate (who we can’t name either unfortunately) confirmed it's true - Ward has definitely signed on for a role in the film.

The Pirates of the Caribbean news follows four months after a source at Ward’s US model agency IMG told The New York Post "Her moment's over. She's not coming back".

The comments were made in A Supermodel Betrayed , an extensive feature which recounted the story of Ward’s rise and fall in the fashion business, following weight gain (the latter of course being prominently documented by The Sunday Telegraph in a front page story last year).

A new day dawns at RAFW

So the first two shows of the first day of the soon-to-be post-Simon Lock era of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week have wrapped. The first, a very pretty collection of draped jersey goddess gowns and digital print blouses and maxi dresses from Fashion Week veteran Lisa Ho. Delivered in a nude colour palette jolted by shots of magenta and lichen green, it was an easy, breezy patio-perfect collection with relaxed lines. The same could be said for Ginger + Smart's 'The Transcendent' collection. Jumpsuits ruled, ditto a knockout series of bodycon dresses, fluid trousers, kimono tops and plissé blouses, the best in a spectacular digital print. Obviously an early SS1011 trend. Click here and here to see frockwriter's Posterous pic galleries of both collections. The relaxed mood of the clothes was in direct contrast to the vibe vis-a-vis the seating arrangements of RAFW founder Simon Lock. Lock usually sits in the very first seat on the right hand side at the beginning of the runway. Sitting in Lock’s spot: IMG Asia Pacific general manager Dan Hill (above). According to Lorraine Lock, Lock has been “banned” by Hill from attending many shows and is “beside himself”. Frockwriter will check with Hill for his side of the story (update: when we approached Hill, he suggested we discuss it at another time. According to an IMG source, Lock had to submit a "list" of show requests that he wanted to attend. Lorraine Lock reports a number of those names were crossed off by IMG). In the interim, it's worth noting that in 14 years, Lock always prided himself on never missing a single show. An interesting start to the week.

RAFW SS1011 - The (awkward) 15th anniversary edition

life.com

Frockwriter is not known for sitting back and waiting for the press release. For two years now, we have naughtily preempted IMG Fashion Asia Pacific's release of the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week schedule with our own running draft schedule and this year will be no exception. Herewith, the bare bones of the Spring/Summer 2010/2011 edition, which will take place from May 3-7 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal. This information, which will be updated, comes direct from the designers and/or their reps, who have, they claim, locked in times. An early adopter in social media stakes (in 2008 RAFW welcomed Bryanboy to what was in fact his first international fashion week, before he headed to the main circuit), IMG has already confirmed that Jak + Jil's Tommy Ton and Susie Bubble's Susie Lau will be attending this year. But they are not, we hear, the only blog stars who are heading downunder. (Garance Doré and Scott Schuman are also expected). (UPDATE 23/04/10: OFFICIAL SCHEDULE NOW ONLINE - WITH FROCKWRITER'S UPDATED DRAFT BELOW).

As for venues, RAFW-goers will recall that last year, the event was downsized from its traditional three venues to two, which was understandable in light of the GFC.

In November, IMG Fashion Asia Pacific's general manager Daniel Hill told WWD:

“Early inquiries about show options also lead us to believe there is a demand for three collection showroom options. Having said that, we are crucially mindful that these are still uncertain times for many businesses, especially those exporting abroad, so we have every intention to offer a range of economical participation solutions".

The schedule is still filling up and there is some indication that the adjacent Museum of Contemporary Art will include an additional venue on top of the regular MCA Showrooms. However frockwriter understands that for the second year in a row, RAFW's former Harbour Pavilion tent, which was traditionally the event's biggest venue, will not be on offer.

There have obviously been a few other developments since November.

In December, the second edition of the company's new Swim Fashion Week showcase was axed (sources say we are similarly unlikely to see a third edition of the company's Hong Kong Luxury Week this year).

Beyond Zimmermann and Seventh Wonderland, which say they are already on schedule, a number of other swimwear brands that were due to participate in Swim Fashion Week are expected to be incorporated into this SS1011 showcase.

Then in February, came the shock announcement, from IMG, that RAFW founder Simon Lock would not be renewing his contract - five years after he sold the event to IMG. The announcement came, curiously, a full eight months ahead of the expiry of said contract.

In a statement, Lock was quoted as saying:

"I look forward to celebrating the 15th year anniversary in May with my IMG and industry colleagues".

The statement continued on to say:

"IMG Fashion’s team structure in the Asia Pacific region will remain the same. Simon Lock, Peter Levy and Martin Jolly will all attend RAFW this season".

On Saturday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Lock may be persona non grata at the event, which is even more curious. And quite disappointing.

Any Americans unfamiliar with Lock's name just need to imagine 7th on Sixth, or as it is known today, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, without its founder Fern Mallis - who, like Lock, transferred over with the event when it was sold to IMG.

There will undoubtedly be some who will be overjoyed at the news of Lock's departure from RAFW.

From its launch in May 1996, the event was frequently mired in controversy. Lock's intensely competitive nature, moreover, found him at loggerheads with more than one party.

It should be remembered, however, that after several attempts by various parties at launching an internationally-focussed fashion trade showcase in this country, Australian Fashion Week finally put Australian fashion on the map.

It took an aggressive marketer to muster enthusiasm, dazzle sponsors and leverage media coverage.

Equally important: it took a branding professional to bypass the dull, commercial names that could easily have bankrolled the event in its early days, to focus instead on the new emerging designers who would give the event an exciting edge, some of whom were also financially assisted by Lock.

The industry owes him a huge debt of gratitude.



OFF SCHEDULE

THURSDAY 15TH APRIL
12.30 Leona Edmiston, Quay, Overseas Passenger Terminal

WEDNESDAY 28TH APRIL
11.00 Carla Zampatti, by invitation
12.30 Marnie Skillings, Royal Botanic Gardens

THURSDAY 29TH APRIL
TBC The Birthday Suit

THURSDAY 6TH MAY
21.00 Antipodium (cocktail party), venue TBC


RAFW


bold = name not originally on draft schedule (last updated 18/04)
strike = designer cancellation or changed slot

MONDAY 3RD MAY
09.00 Lisa Ho, off-site
10.00 Ginger & Smart, the OPT
11.00 Seventh Wonderland, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Camilla, the OPT
13.00 Lucette, Cargo Theatre
14.00 RTW #1 group show (Carly Hunter, Guanabana, Story by Tang, Uscari)
15.00 Zambesi, Cargo Theatre
16.00 Rachel Gilbert, the OPT
16.45-17.15 The MCA Group Collection and Art Installation Show (Francis Leon, IRO, Kylie Hawkes, Twenty8Twelve by S. Miller)
17.30 Bassike, Cargo Theatre
18.30 Aurelio Costarella, on-site
19.30 Bec + Bridge, Cargo Theatre
20.30 Christopher Esber, the OPT
21.30 Stolen Girlfriends Club, off-site

TUESDAY 4TH MAY
09.00 camilla + marc, off-site
10.00 Zimmermann, the OPT
11.00 Valerie Tolosa Sara Phillips, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Little Joe, the OPT
13.00 Sabatini White, Cargo Theatre
14.00 Sara Phillips, the OPT
15.00 Magdalena Velevska, Cargo Theatre
16.00 RTW #2 group show (Breathless, Gary Yang, Leigh Schubert, Sally Koeswanto)
16.45-17.15 The MCA Group Collection and Art Installation Show (Elissa Coleman, Kirstie Morris, O’Hara Designs, Thulie)
17.30 Flannel, Cargo Theatre
18.30 Nicola Finetti, the OPT
19.30 Friedrich Gray, Cargo Theatre
20.30 Alex Perry, sound stage 7, Fox Studios
21.30 Ellery, off-site

WEDNESDAY 5TH MAY
09.00 Therese Rawsthorne, off-site
10.00 Kate Sylvester, the OPT
11.00 Alice McCall, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Manning Cartell, the OPT
13.00 Bianca Spender, Cargo Theatre
14.00 RTW #3 group show (Mawlai, Anthony Capon, Nana Judy, Premonition, {Un} Naked, A.Concept, Humility Couture)
15.00 Phos Phoro, Cargo Theatre
16.00 Nookie, the OPT
16.45-17.15 The MCA Group Collection and Art Installation Show (Beau Coops, Del Playa Drive, Song for the Mute, TOS)
17.30 Jayson Brundson, Cargo Theatre
18.30 Anna & Boy, the OPT
19.30 Karla Spetic, Cargo Theatre
20.30 Konstantina Mittas, the OPT
21.30 Romance Was Born, off-site

THURSDAY 6TH MAY
09.00 Dion Lee, off-site
10.00 Kirrily Johnston, the OPT
11.00 Gary Bigeni Ae'lkemi, Cargo Theatre
12.00 The Innovators/TAFE NSW (Elliot Ward-Fear, George El-Sissa, Caroline Fuss, Christopher Dobosz, Nicholas Christensen)
13.00 Gary Bigeni, Cargo Theatre
14.00 Lui Hon, the OPT
15.00 Dhini, the OPT
16.00 Swimwear group show #1 Kooey Australia
16.45-17.15 The MCA Group Collection and Art Installation Show (Cilla & Pepe, Efigy49, Kushushu, Penniem)
17.30 Saint Augustine Academy, Cargo Theatre
18.30 Michael Lo Sordo, the OPT
19.30 Fernando Frisoni, Cargo Theatre
20.30 Ruby Smallbone, the OPT
21.30 Gail Sorronda, Cargo Theatre

FRIDAY 7TH MAY
09.00 Arnsdorf, off-site
10.00 Ms Couture, the OPT
11.00 Miss Unkon, Cargo Theatre
12.00 Swim Fashion Week @ RAFW (Agua Bendita, Blackbox Apparel, Karen Neilson Collection, Lisa Blue, Lisa Maree, Rebecca Manning Swim, Roopa Pemmaraju)
13.00 White Sands, Cargo Theatre
14.00 New Generation group show (Louisa Fredrica, Nathan Paul Swimwear, Plasidapparel, By Johnny, Emma Veall, Flowers for a Vagabond, Garth Cook, Ivana-Marija Stipicic, Krysalis, Sim.me.ri.an)
15.00 Annah Stretton, Cargo Theatre
16.00 Swimwear group show #2 Hussy, the OPT
20.00 Ksubi, Royal Hall of Industries, Fox Studios

From Churchill to Cassi-Gate, insulting the French is "nothing new" - The Times of London

After last week's post about Cassi van den Dungen's ill-fated Paris Fashion Week trip, where hasn't the story appeared? First The Sunday Telegraph, then The Melbourne Herald Sun, The Brisbane Courier Mail and Ninemsn.com.au. Yesterday, Seven Network's Morning Show devoted an entire panel discussion to the subject, with The Herald Sun's Luke Dennehy - who apparently "broke the story" - crossing live from Melbourne to anchors Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur and fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer, to discuss van den Dungen's Facebook rant against "frog eaters" and "snail slurpers" - as if it was an international incident (see below). Even the UK Telegraph picked it up.

Noone mentioned that van den Dungen herself was insulted on Facebook last year by Australia's Next Top Model co-hosts Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson, both of whom are, unlike van den Dungen, old enough to know better. With Dawson charmingly telling this blog that "We don't give a shit" about the fallout.

Also overlooked, the facts that: the Facebook rant came at the beginning of the trip, not the end; that van den Dungen travelled to Paris under option (ie reserved) for one exclusive appearance; that the option had already been facilitated by her Sydney agency and that all IMG had to do was get her to the castings/meetings (which by all accounts it did not do very well); and that many, many models are optioned for show exclusives, with no guarantee of success.

In spite of all the tut-tutting from commentators, you have to wonder whether the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity rings true here. The incident has only served to further raise van den Dungen's profile. According to Hoyer, most people in the fashion business probably wouldn't care, "because she really is the perfect look for a successful model".

Now today comes word from the distinguished Times of London newspaper.

It uses the van den Dungen anecdote as a springboard into a laundry list of historic insults and snubs served to the French by the English - and vice versa - as documented in Stephen Clarke’s new book, 1,000 Years of Annoying the French, which is to be published by Bantam Press on March 18th.

The Times story begins:

"The insults aimed at 'frog-eaters and snail-slurpers' last week were nothing new. What the model Cassi van den Dungen typed on to her Facebook page last week — after the frustrated runner-up in Australia’s Next Top Model failed to find employment on the catwalks of Paris — is just the latest faux pas in a long history of diplomatic gaffes. Relations between the French and anyone impudent enough to speak English have always been enlivened by wars and name-calling. That we’re supposedly friends these days seems to have only exacerbated the problem.


Just in case you naively imagined that the entente might be getting more cordiale, here are the Top 20 foot-in-mouth moments . . ."

Some of frockwriter's faves include:

"- In 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni declined a planned second night’s stay at Windsor and returned to Paris a day early. What rudeness!

- Édith Cresson, the French Prime Ministere, declares in 1991 that “one in four Englishmen is gay”.

- In 1990, The Sun, in full anti-EU rage, tells all “frog-haters” to face France and “tell the feelthy French to frog off”.

- Le Monde published a 48-page supplement about the Liberation of France in 2004. The first mention of non-French troops appears on page 18.

- Churchill on de Gaulle: 'He is like a female llama surprised in his bath.'"

Cassi van den Dungen takes one step back from her model dream

IMG

Are you ready for the next installment of the Cassi van den Dungen rollercoaster? Sadly this one ends with her 33,000 feet somewhere above Central Asia on a plane en route to Australia. Yes as frockwriter types, van den Dungen is winging her way back downunder, having failed to book a single show at Paris Fashion Week. No interest? Nothing could be further from the truth. Frockwriter can reveal that she was heading to Paris Fashion Week on option for an exclusive. Indeed a tremendously prestigious Paris Fashion Week exclusive which, if secured, would have undoubtedly launched her international career. She didn't get it. Even after three meetings with the design house and casting director. Now anyone who knows anything about the modelling business knows that this could have happened to any girl. There is however a little more to this back story, so buckle up.


Last month frockwriter reported that van den Dungen was heading to Paris Fashion Week for the shows, having been signed to what’s called the Paris “Development” board of the world’s biggest modelling agency, IMG.

IMG did not, however, broker the option.

That was already organised. All IMG had to do was manage van den Dungen once she landed in Paris – taking, of course, their percentage.

Work Agency made the decision to send van den Dungen for the entire week of shows after word of the exclusive started leaking back in Sydney – much to the surprise of the agency. It’s unclear who talked but frockwriter has her suspicions. The idea of sending van den Dungen for the week, one assumes, was that if she didn't get the exclusive, she might still get the opportunity to do other shows.

That was the theory anyhow. Things didn’t quite go to plan.

What happened after van den Dungen arrived in Paris is really between her and her agents. And it would have stayed that way had it not been for the extremely unfortunate fact that whatever did go down, she talked about it on Facebook.

It’s unclear when the following comments were made, but they were both posted on the RTV Games reality tv web forum on the 23rd February.

The anonymous poster – who some have suggested may be a former ANTM competitor of van den Dungen’s – could barely contain their excitement vis-a-vis the Facebook discovery.

They noted:

“annnndddd CASSI DOES IT AGAIN!!
shes chucked a tantrum and is coming home from Paris.. her and her boyfriend have made posts saying how much they hated paris and they are coming home and couldnt stand the people and how IMG just isnt before.
so once again another wasted opportunity!

did anyone else guess this would happen?
so much for being mature and ready!!!!”

Before cutting and pasting the following comments, apparently directly from van den Dungen’s and Brad Saul’s Facebook accounts:

“Cassi Van Den Dungen: coming home tommorow all these people are ****ed in the head the agency is trying to run me not the other way round i should be the boss ahh well IMG isn't the agency for me yay i miss my dog10 hours ago · Comment ·LikeUnlike · View Feedback (3)Hide Feedback (3)
Cassi van den Dungen i'm not upset infact im quite happy i dont like these frog eaters and snail slurpes anyway
9 hours agoCassi van den Dungen ohhhh and the frasians (french asians) are idiots
9 hours agoBrad Saul and they cant drive this one frasian couldnt get out of a parking space and kept reversing in to the cars infront and behind him funny ****

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brad Saul is coming home tomorrow fukn french people are ****ed up and arrogant10 hours ago · Comment ·LikeUnlike · View Feedback (1)Hide Feedback (1)
Brad Saul and rude and perverts and they just stare at ya i swear to god im am going to lose it with one of them soooooon lol”

With extraordinary efficiency, the Facebook comments were then circulated to at least another three web forums, including high profile fashion forum The Fashion Spot.

Forum users apparently couldn’t get enough of the drama, with pages of new posts generated.

Some expressed their incredulity and disappointment at the news, from van den Dungen’s own beestung lips, that she was upping stumps and heading home a week before the Paris shows had even begun.

Many, however, slammed van den Dungen for making what they deemed to be highly offensive and “racist” comments and for screwing up, they claimed, yet another opportunity.

Some have also expressed their surprise that van den Dungen was accompanied on the trip by her boyfriend, as distinct from the Work Agency booker who was originally supposed to chaperone her.

Sydney's Work Agency has worked with van den Dungen for the past eight months with, it seems, not a single step out of place. In hindsight, it seems unfortunate that she wasn’t also accompanied to Paris by a chaperone from the agency with whom she had at least some semblance of a working relationship.

Frockwriter got wind of the drama on Thursday evening, but it wasn’t until Saturday that we managed to reach van den Dungen’s agent to confirm the story.

Anyone who checked the original Paris post would have seen several new comments about the Facebook incident and an update from me, confirming that she had not left Paris but was still attending appointments. Whatever drama had transpired earlier in the week appeared to have blown over. Not so the online commentary however. Sources indicate that IMG was pretty pissed off about it. Even so, van den Dungen subsequently popped up also on IMG's New York Development board - only to be removed several days later (she remains on the Paris board).

It’s this blog’s understanding that van den Dungen did not have her final meeting with the fashion house in question until Saturday or Sunday (ie February 27/28). After not getting the exclusive, IMG made the decision to send her back to Australia. We understand van den Dungen was “devastated”. She boarded a plane on Tuesday.

Couple of points here.

There are no doubt plenty of people who are thrilled with the news that van den Dungen failed to launch this week in Paris.

Indeed, many have expressed their hatred for her on the abovementioned forums. It’s been a fascinating read actually. Beyond cutting-and-pasting her private Facebook comments into other forums, moreover, some of those parties have also been busy little beavers trying to make sure the story gets wider play by emailing at least one newspaper reporter.

Frockwriter was planning to do an update once we definitively knew that van den Dungen was on the plane.

The irony of this latest Facebook drama won’t be lost on ANTM co-hosts Charlotte Dawson and Alex Perry, who of course slagged van den Dungen off on their own Facebook accounts late last year, only to find those comments similarly spread across the internet at breakneck speed.

Just on the “racism” aspect – on which van den Dungen already stands condemned - let’s put that up for discussion here.

Frockwriter was unfamiliar with the term “frasian” and when we did a quick net check, all we could find were references on the Urban Dictionary suggesting an equivalent to Eurasian or one newspaper story, referring to French/Asian fusion cuisine. If it's a racial slur, we're not familiar with it. Similarly, van den Dungen's enemies appear to be insinuating that by “snail slurpes” she may have meant snail “slopes”. These parties are not, presumably, the slightest bit interested in entertaining the possibility that it could have been an innocent misspelling of “slurpers”. Childish, yes. Racist? Not so sure about that.

As for van den Dungen airing her agency business with her Facebook mates, there is no question: massive mistake.

Why didn’t the agency make her available for other shows once the exclusive fell through? Good question. She was, after all, in Paris and there is some suggestion that other parties were interested in her, but she was listed as “unavailable”. Which of course she was up until last weekend.

Probably not the wisest political move to complain about the French in the same breath as you critique your Paris agency.

Suffice it to say however that frockwriter has not met many people who returned from spending time in France without complaining about French arrogance (including this writer, who lived in Paris for three years).

Indeed, books have been written about French arrogance. The French government commissioned a report into its own reputation for arrogance. And the French have been called much worse things than frog eaters and snail slurpers. Try "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" – a phrase originally coined by The Simpsons and which found its way to, among other places, page one of The New York Post.

As noted, lots of girls have been optioned for exclusives and failed to secure them. Not necessarily because they are the embodiment of the anti-christ.

Sometimes there’s just a better girl. This seems particularly true when agents blab to mainstream media outlets before shows. It happened to both New Zealand’s Olivia O’Driscoll and Australia’s Georgie Wass with the Prada show. Clients and casting agents appreciate discretion - not a media circus.

IMG source on Gemma Ward: "Her moment's over. She's not coming back"

gilles-marie zimmermann

What with the shocking news of Alexander McQueen's suicide falling on the first day of the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show season in New York, it's a little hard to navigate around fashion news at the moment. Easy to miss in the deluge: A Supermodel Betrayed, a massive feature on Gemma Ward that has just gone up on The New York Post. Two of my earlier stories (at The Sydney Morning Herald and news.com.au) are referenced in it. It contains quite a few revelations, most of them from anonymous sources, which is pretty typical of the fashion business. I mean, let's not let the truth get in the way of commercial interests. Of particular note:

An IMG insider:

"Her moment's over. She's not coming back."

The reaction of one fashion editor after spotting Ward in Chanel's Spring/Summer 2008 show, in the bikini:

"I saw her on the [Chanel] runway… I almost didn't recognize her... [she looked] big, almost bloated."

Olga Liriano, a New York City casting director and model booker, who does go on the record:

"We have a collective body dysmorphia, where we don't even know what normal is anymore, where a size 6 or 8 is overweight for a model.....there was no compassion [for Ward]".

In November 2009 IMG reportedly turned down a photo-shoot offer for Ward from Harper's Bazaar US:

"stipulating that if she were to return to its pages, it would be on the condition that she be back in modeling shape".

According to one highranking fashion mag source:

"Once these pictures are out of her being big, her brand is diminished, at least as far as her agency and the mainstream fashion world goes. Gemma's torn. In the last few years [her weight gain] was very much her f--k you to the industry. She's rebelling by putting on 30 or 40 pounds, so now going back isn't a straightforward option."

Fascinating. We have yet to check this with Harpers Bazaar - who probably also won't talk due to commercial interests - but if correct, it means that a major magazine wanted to book Ward but IMG refused unless she lost weight. Because she suddenly represents an embarrassing plus size model?

If clients are trying to book Ward, how does that equate to her moment being "over"? And if there is no interest in her, why has a mass market newspaper just published a major story on her?

Sources tell this blog that elsewhere in IMG, other parties have talked of Ward definitely making a comeback.

Frockwriter's take on this is that the industry should be extremely nervous.

Ward is sitting on a goldmine of information about the machinations at its top levels.

She's also a Scorpio. And they're known for the stings in their tails.

Simon Lock out at IMG

lifestyleasia.com

Fifteen years after launching Australian Fashion Week - and five years after selling it to IMG - IMG FASHION Asia Pacific managing director Simon Lock will not be renewing his contract according to a just-issued IMG release (below). This is interesting for a number of reasons, which frockwriter doesn't have the time to get into right now. But it's well worth noting that this is the third - and obviously most high profile - senior staff member to depart the event in less than a year after senior PR Cat Rodwell and international marketing manager Jodi Pritchard.

Thursday 11 February 2010, Sydney: IMG Fashion announced today that Simon Lock, Managing Director of IMG Fashion for the Asia Pacific region, will not renew his contract and will be departing the company in late 2010.

Peter Levy, IMG Fashion’s Senior Vice President and Global Managing Director, based in New York, said, “We have been grateful for Simon’s energy and enthusiasm. He has, together with our team in Australia and around the world, made an imprint on our group and on the successful events we have produced in the region over the past few years”.

This year is the milestone 15th year of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), which was founded by Simon in 1996 and was acquired by IMG Fashion in 2005.

“We’d like to thank Simon for his contributions and his relentless passion for promoting Australian designers”, said Martin Jolly, Managing Director of IMG, Asia Pacific. “On behalf of everyone at IMG we look forward to seeing many more professional accomplishments from Simon in the future”.

Simon Lock said, “I am extremely proud of what RAFW has been able to achieve for the Australian fashion industry over the past fifteen years. It is testament to an amazing group of people who have dedicated, in some instances, much of their careers to this important endeavor. With RAFW now part of the global network of fashion weeks managed by IMG Fashion it could not be in better hands for its future growth and development. I look forward to celebrating the 15th year anniversary in May with my IMG and industry colleagues".

IMG Fashion’s team structure in the Asia Pacific region will remain the same. Simon Lock, Peter Levy and Martin Jolly will all attend RAFW this season.

Swim Fashion Week axed

swim fashion week SS09/IMG

In what is no doubt some extremely sad news for the Australian swimwear sector, the sophomore edition of IMG's new swimwear showcase, Swim Fashion Week, has been axed. The event was due to take place at Sanctuary Cove on Queensland's Gold Coast from February 23-26 2010. According to The Gold Coast Bulletin, the event collapsed after it failed to receive backing from Queensland Events. Why the organisation was not locked in for a multi-year arrangement remains to be seen.