The dark side: Meghan Collison covers Oyster 90

 

Well it’s not quite Samara Morgan in The Ring. And of course, anything is better than Abbey Lee Kershaw’s October 2008 cover of Dazed & Confused (below), in which Kershaw's face was totally eclipsed by shadow. But interesting choice of image, nonetheless, of Canadian Meghan Collison for the cover of Oyster 90. Shot by Pierre Toussaint, Collison is glancing downwards, her eyes obscured by her bangs and her deathly pallor only accentuated by the use of foundation in the place of lipstick. Given that she looks like a Burberry-clad vampire extra from True Blood, perhaps Oyster is being a little ironic with the coverline "LOVE LIFE". But the sombre cover may well complement the mood of the editorial contents, which include interviews with LA Zombie director Bruce LaBruce and actor Paz de la Huerta, a star of the dark, graphic Prohibition era US drama Boardwalk Empire. Not to mention a "fashion week adventures" diary from Catherine McNeil, whose Spring/Summer 2011 runway season ended in mysterious circumstances midway through the season at London Fashion Week. On sale Friday 10th December.

nick knight via dazed and confused

oyster cover: supplied by oyster

Jefferson Hack isn't the only big fashion name heading downunder in 2011

purple diary

Last night the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival announced more details of the lineup for its 2011 event, which will run from 14-20 March under a new creative director, Condé Nast's former mens fashion director Grant Pearce. Now in its 14th year, LMFF is a consumer-focussed event of in-season fashion parades and exhibitions that are open to the public. But ironically, it’s the industry-focussed Business Seminar that is arguably its hottest ticket, with a stellar lineup of speakers that has previously included former Selfridges ceo Vittorio Radice, Philippe Starck, Agent Provocateur’s Joe Corre and Serena Rees, Vivienne Westwood and last year, LMFF's first really big fashion kahuna, Calvin Klein Collection womenswear director Francisco Costa. In March, Jefferson Hack, editorial director of London’s Dazed Group, will join ACNE Studios ceo Mikael Schiller and Havas Worldwide ceo David Jones, in addition to 2011 Festival face, New York-based Australian actor Melissa George. George is a Perth native, but will nevertheless inject some Hollywood glamour into the event. 

Hack will inject the cool factor. 

A multimedia svengali who is hardwired into the indie fashion zeitgeist, Hack is now a front row fixture at every major international fashion show alongside fashion establishment stalwarts such as Anna Wintour. Even The Guardian recently asked its readers, could he be the coolest man in Britain? 

The co-founder of hipster bible Dazed & Confused in 1992 at age 19, Hack's empire now embraces Dazed Digital, AnOther Magazine and AnOther Man. Being Kate Moss' babydaddy hasn’t hurt his profile. 

Here is a taste of what the LMFF 2011 Business Seminar audience can expect: an interview Hack did earlier this year with The Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed, as part of BOF's 'Fashion Pioneers' series: 




 
There are more LMFF announcements to be made but one of them, frockwriter understands, will not be that Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey is joining the 2011 lineup. Bailey has been courted by the event for several years. 

But that’s not to say that we don’t be seeing him downunder next year. 

In April, Burberry is due to unveil a massive new 7000 square foot boutique at 343 George Street in Sydney, one of its biggest flagships in the Asia Pacific region. We hear that Bailey may be heading down to cut that ribbon.

If so, that will make April a busy month for fashion bigwigs in Sydney.

Sources at Diane von Furstenberg report that the queen of the wrap dress is heading our way in April, no doubt to officially christen her first Australian boutique that has just opened within Westfield Sydney. 

Rachel Rutt scores her second international cover - so why can't she get a gig downunder?

dazed & confused japan via chic management

In the deluge of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week coverage, frockwriter somehow managed to miss this cover. So congrats are due to one of this blog's faves, Sydney model Rachel Rutt, who scored this month's cover of the Japanese edition of Dazed & Confused. And while sure, it's not as visible as the cover of the UK parent edition (which Rutt's better-established Chic stablemate Abbey Lee Kershaw has cracked twice), it is nevertheless a fantastic get. It represents, moreover, her second international cover - after scoring one of 12 multicovers of the autumn/winter 09/10 edition of French Revue de Modesmade the cover of Dazed & Confused Japan last October, alongside big names including Coco Rocha, Ali Stephens, Karmen Pedaru, Dree Hemingway, Constance Jablonski and Maryna Linchuk. Coincidentally, in February, another Chic-ette, Rutt's great mate Myf Shepherd, scored the cover of Dazed & Confused Japan. So you could say that "MUTT" has this mag covered. 

As reported by frockwriter Rutt and Shepherd have been blogging in tandem under the MUTT hybrid byline, both for their Heyweird blog and for Australian IN Front's RAFW coverage.

For the latter, the duo interviewed local creatives including Luke Sales, Ryan Lobo, Alan White and.... themselves. Although Australian IN Front previously advertised that MUTT's RAFW interviews would be with anonymous fashion players, the only question mark hovering over MUTT's RAFW profiles concerns just which MUTT team member was being interviewed by who.

Pedestrian.tv has suggested that Rutt interviewed Shepherd. That seems unlikely however, given that Shepherd did not walk in any shows at the event ( frockwriter hears the girls swapped roles during the interview).

Rutt was one of the busiest models at RAFW - for the second year in a row - and had a great first New York season last September.

But although Dazed + Confused Japan makes two international fashion magazine covers for Rutt, she has yet to be booked for the cover of a local fashion print title (although she did appear on the December/January 08/09 cover of Australian online mag Pages Online).

Back in 2008, Rutt, who is half Singaporean, told The Australian that she was looking forward to working overseas, particularly Europe. In the latter markets, she claimed, Eurasian faces were far more welcome. Rutt described Australia as being very "Caucasian-oriented".

Beyond the late South Korean model Daul Kim appearing on a recent cover of RUSSH, several Australian modelling industry sources to whom frockwriter spoke this afternoon struggled to recall the last time an Asian model graced the cover of an Australian fashion magazine.

“For a very multicultural country, I'm surprised that it hasn’t happened” noted one observer who requested anonymity.

"People are reluctant to use girls who are not of northern European looks" noted another. "It's risky - because they're in a minority".

It's worth remembering, however, that another one of Rutt's high profile Chic Management stablemates, Catherine McNeil, was on the cover of high profile US fashion title V and Paris Vogue, before any Australian magazines showed an iota of interest in putting her on page one. (Correction: McNeil made the cover of RUSSH in January 2007 - the same month that she headed off to New York for castings and her first international ready-to-wear runway season. And four years after she began modelling in Australia).