Deep in Vogue - LMFF 2011

Second up on the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival's main runway schedule was the Vogue Australia showcase, featuring the finalists of LMFF's 2011 Designer Award: Melvin Tanaya's and Lyna Ty's three seasons old menswear brand Song for the Mute, which won the award, plus Arnsdorf, Bassike, Dress Up, Ellery, From Britten, Laurence Pasquier and Lui Hon. Styled by Vogue's Trevor Stones, it was an edgy showcase of exciting, emerging Australian design talent. And it wasn't only the new brands that attracted frockwriter's attention. Rachel Grasso (above) was also a standout. Modelling for four years and repped in Sydney by Priscilla's, the 20 year-old Perth native of Irish/Italian ancestry must have walked in front of our camera on more than one previous occasion. For some reason, we really noticed her this week.

Cassi van den Dungen and Olivia Thornton haunt Ellery's Spring/Summer 2010/2011 'Horreurscope' campaign

All’s been quiet on the Cassi van den Dungen front for months. At least on the publicity side, which is probably the way van den Dungen’s managament likes it, given how many dramas there have been since she was crowned runnerup of Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 in July 2009. Of course there was this Daily Telegraph story on August 6th – which frockwriter has on good authority came about after the paper was knocked back for an interview with the 18 year-old and then just simply did what’s known in the tabloid world as a “doorstop”: turned up regardless at her front door, camera in tow. On the work front, however, van den Dungen has been head down, booked almost every day of the week according to her mother agency Work Agency (which is now van den Dungen’s only Australian representation, having recently left Camerons in Melbourne). 

We mentioned her Style Stalker and Myer gigs, others include campaigns for Leonard St,  Mink jewellery and, notably, a mini profile in issue 36 of RUSSH magazine, which described her as “candid, blithe, impossibly gorgeous... confident, easy to work with and fun”. Not a bad rap from a magazine that is dripping in cool and which happens to have a lot of creative credibility overseas.

Another great new get: Kim Ellery’s Spring/Summer 2010/2011 Horreurscope campaign shot by Holly Blake and co-starring Viviens' Olivia Thornton (who looks like she could be Catherine McNeil’s little sister in these images). A couple of images have been up on the Ellery website for the past week, but here is a selection of as yet unseen shots from the same series.

all images: holly blake for ellery, supplied exclusively to frockwriter by ellery