Bella Barber gets her best blue steel on for KAREN

Here is a first look at yet another edgy cover from Marian Simms' now Bali-based Australasian fashion title KAREN - issue #12, Winter 2012 This time shot by Troyt Coburn, styled by Michael Azzollini and starring Kiwi expat Annabella 'Bella' Barber. Repped by Nova in Auckland and Priscilla's in Sydney, Barber is rapidly emerging as an indie cover queen. This is her second KAREN cover and she has previously appeared on the covers of Oyster in Australia and No in New Zealand. Not to mention a recent cadaverous cameo in Kanye West's controversial new Monster video clip. Here is the accompanying editorial called 'Steel'. (And just a reminder that some some RSS subscribers may have problems viewing this photo gallery. Best to view on the blog). 

photography: troyt coburn
fashion editor: michael azzollini at DLM
makeup: angie barton at DLM
hair: diane gorgievski at the artist group

all images: supplied exclusively to frockwriter by KAREN magazine

Wake in fright: Samantha Harris toughens up for Karen magazine

 
We won't be seeing any of this at the David Jones Autumn/Winter 2011 runway showcase on February 8 presumably. But here is current season David Jones face and former youth ambassador for the upmarket Australian department store chain, like you have never seen her before. Recalling the modern horror cinematic genre - and perhaps some of the horrors experienced by her ancestors at the hands of European settlers - in the Bound More Than a Madman Is story from the upcoming edition of Karen magazine, the indigenous Australian model is blindfolded and bound to various pieces of furniture. These include a coffee table and an antique wood-and-wicker chair that looks like a sinister film prop from a Victorian lunatic asylum. Shot by Cara Stricker and styled by Bex Sheers, the story is accompanied by a short film (below). Here are a couple of images. Head to Pedestrian to see the remainder. Given that Harris returned from London Fashion Week earlier than expected last year because, according to industry buzz, she was a little intimidated by the big, bad world of international fashion, looks like she's over her shyness. A Terry Richardson shoot surely can't be too far away.

images: cara stricker forkaren magazine via pedestrian

KAREN's black and white Christmas

After the eye-popping February cover featuring Olivia O’Driscoll with blue lips, here is a sneak peek of the December cover of Australasian fashion magazine KAREN: a surrealist composite by London-based Australian photographer David Standish. The image features no less than three images of Russian (tks JT) model Alice Fadeeva, whose unique look could be yet another composite - of Monika Jagaciak and Iekeliene Stange. Not surprisingly, Standish cites Surrealism and American photographer Man Ray as major influences in this TO2W iv.