Cassi van den Dungen won't be doing RAFW because she's four months pregnant

One face that we won't be seeing at next week's Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is 18 year-old Cassi van den Dungen. That's because van den Dungen is four months pregnant and is taking a year off from modelling. Although suspicions first arose that something was up several days ago, yesterday's publication of an interview with van den Dungen and her fiancé Brad Saul in the Australian edition of OK magazine, announcing the pregnancy, appears to have completely flown under the radar - no doubt due to the Royal wedding media frenzy. Van den Dungen managed to keep her pregnancy a secret at last month's Melbourne Fashion Festival, where these photos (above, below) were taken. No mean feat, considering how body-hugging some of the garments were.

Although she is by no means the only model to contemplate motherhood - nor, indeed, the only teen model to do so, with top British and Russians models Jourdan Dunn and Natalia Vodianova both falling pregnant at 19 - van den Dungen has never been far from the headlines since she first popped up on the media radar as a contestant in Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 5 in 2009. This latest chapter in the van den Dungen saga will no doubt prompt further discussion.

Dubbed a 'boganista' because of her blue collar background, van den Dungen was crowned runnerup of that year's competition, then raised eyebrows after turning down lucrative modelling contracts with the Priscillas and Elite New York model agencies.

Last year, she made international news after slamming the French as "frog eaters" and "snail slurpers" on Facebook, following an ill-fated trip to Paris Fashion Week - at which, as frockwriter can now reveal, she had been placed on exclusive option for the Balenciaga runway show.

We wish her all the best and hope to see her back modelling soon.

OK magazine via bianca/TFS

Because the night - LMFF 2011

Alex Perry's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 presentation was not the only glamour event at last week's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Although unlike Perry's show, it provided no reveal of any brand new season's offerings, the L'Oréal Paris Runway 5 show on Friday night, presented by Harpers Bazaar Australia, was nevertheless a wonderful showcase of highend PM-wear from some of Australia's most acclaimed designers: Collette Dinnigan, Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, Jayson Brunsdon, Dion Lee, Scanlan & Theodore and Willow. Here are a few shots below. Click (here) to see frockwriter's backstage portfolio shot during the show.

Boy's own - LMFF 2011

A very high percentage of the fashion on last week's runways at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival was womenswear. But there was one menswear-dedicated show: Thursday night's Menswear Runway that was presented in tandem with GQ Australia. Oh and a local optical retailer whose name escapes us. Much to the frustration of backstage media - and, we understand, some of the organisers - nearly all photographers were kicked out at the last minute, in preparation for the arrival of VIP showpony, Helena Christensen. Celebrities often have demanding backstage riders, Christensen's apparently included no photographers and, beyond one or two interviews, no other press exposure. We understand the extent of the coverage outside of Melbourne reflected these restrictions. Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous pic gallery of the show.     

Alex Perry's Cuban revolution - LMFF 2011

Could Alex Perry have started something with his Spring/Summer 2011/2012 collection unveiling last night at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival? A consumer event showcasing in-season collections to consumers, LMFF is popular with designers because its runways present what is in store right now - with some retailers reporting 30-50percent spikes in business during the event. But a wholesale collection that is traditionally shown to buyers and press six months ahead of the season? That's usually the territory of Australian Fashion Week. In reality, Perry showed 'first summer' last night - that is, the first half of next summer's offerings. He still plans to show at RAFW in May. Perry will show 'second summer' at that event - and according to his wingman, Josh Flinn, the second collection will be a lot more elaborate. With the fashion cycle continuing to accelerate, retailers offering far more frequent product drops than ever before and the rise and rise of Resort and Pre-Fall collections internationally, perhaps it makes sense for designers to gain additional exposure via consumer events such as this, at the same time providing some real news value for the fashion media. 

And what a show it was. 

En route to the venue - the magnificent Victoria era Royal Exhibition Building - it felt a little like you were making your way to a big Paris show at the Grand Palais.

Entitled Cuban Princess, the well-edited collection took Perry into somewhat unchartered waters - and he told frockwriter backstage that this fact had made him a little nervous. 

"I've never done colour before - or at least not so much of it" noted Perry. 

Eye-popping turquoise, kingfisher blue, buttercup yellow, magenta, chartreuse and tangerine were deployed in an elegant series of minimalist evening gowns, many of them with sporty, racerfront necklines and simple fitted waists, others softly falling from the bust, Empire style, with embroidered straps curling delicately like tendrils over one shoulder. 

The evening glamour sequence complemented the collection's smart daywear of '40s-nosed, crisp white suits, sheath dresses in a pretty black and red floral print and some fresh-as-a-daisy white sundresses crafted from heavily-embellished lace.

A great cast that included the week's top girls, Rachels Rutt and Grasso, Cassi van den Dungen, Simone Kerr, Annika Kaban, Tiah Eckhardt and Vanessa Milde, with some special additions in the form of Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 6 winner Amanda Ware, Eliza Humble and of course, the star of the show, Megan Gale. 

Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous portfolio of 50 images shot backstage during the show.  

Juliana Forge often gets compared to Abbey Lee Kershaw

Tuesday's Kookai show looked like a million dollars thanks to a great cast headed up by the brand's current advertising face in Australia, Juliana Forge. Nineteen year-old Forge could be the next antipodian to clean up at the international show circuit, once she finally makes a serious move offshore. She has just returned from a shoot for Greek Vogue which could be a harbinger of big things to come. Here is a quick iv frockwriter grabbed with Forge backstage before the show, in which she mentions that people frequently bring up her resemblance to fellow Melburnite Abbey Lee Kershaw, now the world number five model.
   
Frockwriter: You recently shot Greek Vogue?
Juliana Forge: Yes, I just shot that in Athens, two weeks ago. It's coming out next month or the month after, I can't remember. Amazing pieces. We shot it next to a private plane. We were at an airport actually, freezing cold weather. The whole travel idea... very glamorous, beautiful colours.

FW: When might we be seeing Juliana Forge at the international shows?
JF: Potentially later this year, but it may be something that happens next year. 

FW: Do people often comment that you look like Abbey Lee Kershaw?
JF: Yes, I do sometimes get compared to Abbey. I take that as a huge compliment. 

FW: Abbey Junior?
JF: Or Abbey's little sister [laughs]. I think [people think] we have quite similar eyes. I think some of our features are similar. Not that I see the similarity, but it does come up.

FW: If you are by any chance planning to dye your hair platinum blonde, that might confuse things.
JF: Imagine. 

FW: What do you think about the success Australian models are currently enjoying internationally?

JF: I think they're doing incredibly. It's amazing that so many girls did so well at the shows.

FW: And not just the girls. You mentioned that you once did a shoot with Andrej Pejic - and didn't realise he wasn't a woman until after the shoot. 
JF: It was for the Herald Sun. It was a bit of a shock when the article came out and I realised it was a guy. He does look really feminine. 

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.