Mezi (fashion) plate: Anja Konstantinova dances around model protocol

patrick mcgreal for mezi jewellery

Another day, another big buzz new model, it seems, is springboarded out of the Australasian market. Twenty year-old Anja Konstantinova is not, however, just another sultry, sun-kissed Aussie blonde. Russian-born, Konstantinova has spent half her life downunder, moving here in 2001 with her prima ballerina mother Irina Konstantinova and father Sergei Konstantinov, both former principal dancers with the Kirov Ballet who now teach at The Australian Ballet School. Signed to Sydney agency Priscilla's six months ago, Konstantinova did just two shows at May's Australian Fashion Week (Ellery and Friend of Mine). But she has obviously caught the industry's eye. Since then, according to Priscilla's, she has shot for Vogue and GQ Australia, Oyster (five stories), Grazia (four stories), Marie Claire, No, Pages Online, Poster magazine, a Ksubi calendar, an Oroton catalogue and the Spring/Summer 2011/2012 campaign for rising Sydney jewellery brand Mezi. Above and below is a first look at the Mezi campaign shot by Patrick McGreal.

Repped by Viva in Paris, Marilyn in New York and Models One in London, the international market is also beckoning.

Last month Konstantinova flew to Paris to be shot for Jalouse magazine. In the US she has already shot campaigns for Urban Outfitters and Wildfox Couture, photographed by, respectively, Charlie Engman and Mark 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter.

All the hallmarks of a very promising modelling career, on which Konstantinova hopes to build over the next three and a half months in New York and Europe.

There's just one catch. Apart from her exotic Russian and ballet ancestry, there is one other factor which marks Konstantinova apart from the rest of the Australian model pack - make that the model pack, period.

She is only five foot four.

In an industry that has traditionally shut its doors to those under five ten, what's her secret? 

"She’s extraordinary and her personality is amazing, I think that that makes a big difference" says Priscilla's agent, Lizzie Leighton-Clark. "And she’s so well in proportion as well. She’s got such a great personality, such a great look, I don't think it matters".

The photographic studio is of course very different to the runway, where models tend to be of uniform height.

At 5'7" Kate Moss was one famous exception to the industry standard. Another Priscilla's protegée, Bambi Northwood-Blyth, also 5'7", has recently managed considerable success on the international runway circuit, booking prestigious shows such as Chanel and Balenciaga.

With the Spring/Summer 2012 show season just two months away, what realistic chance does the even more petite Konstantinova have on the international circuit? 

Notes Leighton-Clark, "I’m not sure about the shows, but I have no doubt that she’s going to be a major success. She might get one or two amazing shows. I think that everyone’s bored of the norm and looking for something a bit different".

photography: patrick mcgreal
hair and makeup: max may

all images supplied exclusively to frockwriter by mezi jewellery

Power couple

Congrats are due to Sydneysiders Trent Power and Jessica French, who just became engaged while on holiday in Bali. Power is of course more than well acquainted with the concept of putting a ring on it. As any high profilers who have attended Australian gala functions can attest, the Bulgari Australia publicist is the go-to guy for Bulgari sparklers. Power popped the question, where else, but the Bulgari Bali resort. And the ring? You guessed it, Bulgari. A, by all accounts, spectacular Bulgari Trombino ring of yellow gold, with pavé diamonds and a large oval cut emerald - as outlined by Power in some detail in an email blast to his mates this morning. It’s one of Bulgari's most iconic ring designs which dates back to the 1930s and if it’s anything like this example sold at Christie’s (below), all we can say is……….Kate Middleton may not be the only blinged-up new fiancée. French, a former model, who was runner-up in Cycle Two of Australia’s Next Top Model, is studying a Bachelor of Psychology at the University of NSW. Power proposed on bended knee at sunset last night on a rose petal-strewn clifftop, following a private degustation dinner. The ring was delivered to French by two young Balinese dancing girls. Frockwriter wishes the happy couple all the best. 

christies

Abbey Lee Kershaw channels Vali Myers for ManiaMania

maniamania SS11 via the new york times

It’s been quite a year for Sydney jewellery brand ManiaMania. First, it gets picked up by high profile European bloggers Garance Doré and Susie Bubble, catching the eye of Madonna and daughter Lourdes Leon and subsequently getting a nod on their Material Girl website. Now comes word that ManiaMania designers Tamila Purvis and Melanie Kamsler have scored Abbey Lee Kershaw as their new season face. Just gone up on The New York Times: The Moment blog: a first look at Kershaw shot by Barnaby Roper for ManiaMania's Spring/Summer 2011 campaign. Entitled Rêve, the collection was inspired by Australian artist, dancer, wildlife warrior and white witch, Vali Myers, who died in 2003 at the age of 72 after an extraordinary life, during which she befriended, was mentored by and/or played muse to some of the biggest art, literary and music figures of the 20th century, from Salvador Dali to Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams, photographer Ed van der Eisken, Patti Smith and Marianne Faithfull. As documented in four films. The perfect muse for ManiaMania which, in just three seasons, has forged a reputation for its bold bohemian jewellery. 

The NYT reports that the SS11 collection includes a “vagabond” cuff with the texture of whittled wood, quartz jewel necklaces and a bronze “immortal” ring inlaid with amazonite. All of which suits Kershaw, who is usually laden with bold jewellery, particularly over-sized rings. 

Kershaw is a quite extraordinary get for ManiaMania. Their last collection starred another Australian, the upwardly mobile Bambi Northwood-Blyth. 

This is an interesting turn of events for Kershaw, whose Australian work for the past couple of years as she has been building up an impressive international body of work, has almost exclusively consisted of magazine covers. And it's the second local campaign that she has recently booked.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, Kershaw shot the Autumn/Winter 2011 campaign for Australian fast fashion chain Portmans for an estimated A$120,000. Presumably this kind of fee would be out of the reach of Purvis and Kamsler, so we’re assuming ALK may have done it at mates rates and because she really digs the product. 

In the ManiaMania shots, Kershaw is sporting the same platinum blonde version of her infamous “Kob” bob, that was died on the eve of New York Fashion Week in September. And which some have speculated may have cost her some work in the interim. 

What does Kershaw's hair look like now just out of interest? Still the same platinum bob, according to sources who were on the Portmans shoot.

Check The New York Times story for more images. 

mania mania SS11 via the new york times

 

Old spice: Not even age shall weary Tom Ford's fashion porn stars

 

Following the Crystal Renn editorial in which the world's most famous plus size model receives a gamut of cosmetic surgery procedures - and some oral pleasure - yet more images of the Tom Ford-edited December 2010 edition of Vogue Paris have surfaced. In an editorial spread entitled 'Forever Love', this time Ford tackles the subject of old age, shooting two apparently septuaganarian models groping each other while showcasing the latest in fine jewellery. In a post-script, Ford, who also photographed the editorial, notes: “I am tired of the cult of youth. The cultural rejection of old age, the stigmatization of wrinkles, grey hair, of bodies furrowed by the years. I am fascinated by Diana Vreeland, Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Bourgeois, women who have let time embrace them without ever cheating. Society today condems this, me, I celebrate it. For this session of fine jewellery, I imagined a man and a woman who had been together for a long time, faithful to each other and always incandescent with desire”.

And that's all fine and dandy and at the end of the day an opportunity for some older models to make it into the "hot" issue of one of the world's most prestigious fashion titles. 

Ford did in fact use several 40+ and 50+ women in his debut womenswear presentation in New York in September, even Elsa Schiaparelli's sixtysomething granddaughter, actor Marisa Berenson.  

But there's just something a little gratuitous about a couple of these images.

And it's well worth noting that when it comes to his own ageing, you won't find a single grey hair or wrinkle on babyfaced 49 year-old Ford, who told The Advocate in December last year, “I’m a firm believer in Botox and Restylane. Absolutely.”

all images: tom ford for vogue paris via fashion_screen

Stolen Girlfriends Club has ordered 1000 jam jars for its Sydney party, but there won't be any Stolen Generation T-shirts

stolen girlfriends club AW11/kent vaughan

Next Thursday, Auckland hipster collective Stolen Girlfriends Club will stage its second Sydney shindig in five months, this time to unveil a new short film shot by renowned Kiwi snapper Derek Henderson, to promote SGC’s new Heavy Metal jewellery line. The film stars photogenic Kiwi lovebirds Dempsey Stewart and Jasper Seven modelling the inaugural collection, We Are Ugly But We Have The Music (below). Frockwriter has previously documented SCG’s predilection towards serving alcohol in jam jars at events and next week will be no different with, we are told, 1000 jam jars ordered for the occasion. One thing we won’t be seeing at the event, however, is an “I belong to the Stolen Generation” T-shirt, as appeared on SGC's runway in Auckland last month. 

After frockwriter asked just how well the T-shirts would go down in the Australian market – where the term The Stolen Generation refers to the generations of Aboriginal children removed from their parents by the Australian government – co-founder Marc Moore later told us that he and his partners Dan Gosling and Luke Harwood had previously been unfamiliar with the term and were horrified to learn what it meant in Australia. 

 

According to Moore, he and his brand-mates had originally been inspired by the iconic American “non-smoking generation” logo, down to the same font. 

The Stolen Generation T-shirt slogan has been canned reports Moore. The T-shirts will now read “I belong to the Broken Generation”.

Says Moore: 

“We changed it because it would have been incredibly insensitive to run it. Australia is one of our main markets and it’s close to home, so we want to make friends – not enemies. Sure our brand can be cheeky at times, but only as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone”.

Well, as long as you don't count those two pesky assaults after the last SGC show in Auckland....

screen cap 'heavy metal' by derek henderson for stolen girlfriends club

backstage, stolen girlfriends club AW10 show, auckland, september 2009

front-of-house at the stolen girlfriends club AW11 show, auckland, 23rd september 2010

Models in a hurry - backstage at the Newgen show

 
Meant to get out to my seat for this show, but wound up getting caught backstage. Kent Vaughan and I shot from two different angles backstage, capturing a little of the split-second timing and drama that goes into getting the models out onto the runway in their next looks. This group show featured four new New Zealand names: Kathryn Leah Payne, Maaike, Céline Rita and Riddle Me This. The standouts were definitely Maaike, Emilie Pullar’s brilliant new knitwear label and  Kathryn Leah Payne, who designed all the acrylic jewellery that accompanied her collection. See frockwriter’s Posterous for more images.  

Tamila Purvis blessed by Madonna and child

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AP via daylife

And you thought Kim Kardashian’s Twitter shoutout to Sylvie Markovina was a PR legup? Overnight, another Australian jewellery brand mentioned in last week's jewellery post, ManiaMania, just got a backpat from Lourdes Leon. Well, kind of. Madonna’s 13 year old daughter is the creative director of Madonna’s new Material Girl junior fashion line for Macy’s which launched a few days ago. Leon is also supposedly blogging for the Material Girl website. But even if she isn’t, the Madonna star factor alone is enough of a spotlight for anyone featured therein. According to bloggers who attempted to log on on the first day, the site crashed due to popularity, with Leon’s first blog post attracting 800 comments and the Material Girl Facebook fan page clocking up 4,900 fans. In a post entitled Rings! Rings! Rings!, accompanying two images - both unsourced - of rings from the year-old Sydney jewellery line, Leon noted:

"How amazing are these rings!?! They are almost like hand armor. They are all by Tamila Purvis form the Rosemount Fashion Week in Australia. The way she mixes up different rings is to die for.

We are seeing great rings everywhere! They are taking over the necklace trend".

It's a safe bet to assume that Leon and/or the Material Girl office spotted ManiaMania's work via British blogger Susie Bubble - who happens to be included on the Material Girl blogroll, was recently in Sydney for RAFW and blogged about ManiaMania on June 21st.

That Style Bubble post does not, however, mention the ManiaMania designers’ names. The brand is designed by Purvis, a well-known Sydney stylist (who works with Zimmermann, among many others) and art director Melanie Kamsler. Nor does the Style Bubble post use the same images that have been featured on Material Girl.

Kamsler does not get a lookin on Material Girl, and nor does the ManiaMania brand name or website, with Material Girl linking specifically to the separate Tamila Purvis website - which has no links to the jewellery site.

Consumers can (eventually) find ManiaMania if they look for it, however, with Google searches on "Tamila Purvis jewellery" quickly bring up references to ManiaMania.

Further down in the post, Material Girl tells you where you can buy some great rings immediately. You guessed it, Material Girl:

"We love these from Material Girl. Three totally different styles. The silver stackable rings have a romantic feel ($18.00), the gold tiger is just right for the daring girl ($16.00), and the large crystal ring is perfect for the vintage type ($16.00)!"

Update 04/07: Mystery solved. The shots are from a May 2 post on Purvis by French superblogger/photographer Garance Doré (who does not feature on the Material Girl blogroll). That post does not mention Kamsler either and nor does it mention the ManiaMania brand, however it does link through to the ManiaMania website, so it's curious that Madonna's outfit did not. Late yesterday, frockwriter managed to track Purvis down - the Material Girl cameo was news to her. But many thanks to Sacha Strebe and Leeyong Soo for the additional headsups this morning.

Purvis isn’t the only Australasian to be blessed by Material Girl Junior. New York-based, NZ-born Gala Darling also features on her blogroll.

Sylvie Markovina gets a hand from Kim Kardashian

@kimkardashian


Yes we know about the potential power of celebrity when it comes to shifting product and how proactive many publicists are in getting product to celebs. That's no guarantee they will wear it - especially if the only inducement is free product. We also know Australia is producing some stellar jewellers, led by Jenny ‘Victoria’s Secret’ Mercian, Michelle Jank and Sarina Suriano. Well supremely talented, but little-known Australian jeweller Sylvie Markovina (who frockwriter first met in 2005 at the Mercedes Benz Startup competition) just received a massive PR shot in the arm courtesy Kim Kardashian. On June 6, Kardashian Tweeted two images of herself in Markovina's Art Deco-look, fluted brass 'Laneway' rings, together with the captions “What do u guys think about my rings? U like? Dope right” and “A close up! Kind of Edward Scissor hands [sic] style!”. The photos have been viewed almost 300,000 times on Twitter.

Markovina’s New York-based publicist/showroom, Melt Management, then got the story into US Weekly, which conducted an online poll “Would you wear Kim Kardashian’s wacky jewellery?”.


@kimkardashian

Melt Management's Courtney Porkolab tells frockwriter that high profile fashion stylist Karl Templar recently borrowed some of Markovina’s jewellery for a Vogue Italia shoot with Steven Meisel. Not everything that gets called in for photoshoots makes it into magazines of course, so let’s wait and see what comes of that. Melt also claims UK retailer Kabiri recently placed a US$13,000 order of Markovina's jewellery.

How did Kardashian get the merch in the first place? Via Rosemount Australian Fashion Week.

A Melt Management team travelled to last month’s event, spotted Markovina’s jewellery in Sydney, signed her and then, she reports, later forwarded a lookbook to Kardashian’s stylist.

The stylist requested some jewellery, so Melt gifted six pieces to Kardashian.

It should be noted that RAFW was also the launchpad for Jank, Suriano and Mercian. So evidently, it's not just the frocks that benefit from the publicity.

Two newer, equally bold jewellery brands to emerge at the event are Maniamania, which was first showcased in last year's Zimmermann show and Alexandra Blak, whose spectacular Lucite earrings were the key accessory featured in last month's Spring/Summer 2010/2011 Manning Cartel show.

Bvlgari's 125 years of Italian jewels

With 13 shows a day, it's unlikely many Rosemount Australian Fashion Week attendees will have a spare moment to scratch themselves this week. Let alone, hop along to the Sydney chapter of the travelling 125 year retrospective exhibition of Italian fine jewellery maker Bvlgari, which opened last week and runs until Thursday in the flagship Castlereagh Street Sydney boutique. But for anyone not tied up at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, or just anyone with a passion for jewellery, this exhibition is a can't miss. The jewellery is extraordinary, with some pieces dating back to the early 20th century. Included are pieces on loan from collections such as Elizabeth Taylor's and also items worn by the screen legends Ingrid Bergman and Sophia Loren. Ram raiders and those after four finger discounts are, naturally, unwelcome - hence the exhibition has heavy security and is by appointment only. Those interested should email vintage@bulgari.com.