Eye of the Tiger: Melise Williams rocks Nicola Finetti's lookbook

Melise Williams is definitely on frockwriter’s Ones 2 Watch list. We first spotted her in November 2008 in a student fashion show in Sydney when she was just 15. Clocked her February 2010 cover of NZ’s Metro magazine. And bumped into her at last month's Rosemount Australian Fashion Week – noting that she recently jumped ship from the Platform agency to Chic Management. Sadly Williams only did three RAFW shows - Gary Bigeni, Camilla and Therese Rawsthorne. Nicola Finetti was not one of them, however she did just score Finetti’s Spring/Summer 2010/2011 lookbook. Click here to see frockwriter’s preview of the lookbook on Posterous. Sixteen year-old Williams was also included in a series of promotional video interviews that were recently shot in Sydney to coincide with the launch of a new film called Tiger, a fictional story about models working in Tokyo.

Here's the trailer:



The film was produced by the Beaufort collective – which is fronted by the enigmatic, multitasking Sydney actor/producer/comedian and erstwhile model James McFay.

Also known as James Maclurcan, he is apparently best-known for playing Mackenzie 'Mack' Hartford, the Red Ranger, in Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive and was once part of a comedy group called The Nice Guys.

What does Williams have to do with Tiger or McFay/Maclurcan?

Absolutely no idea. But here she is:

In the swim: Melise Williams

metro/platform models

Remember Melise Williams? Frockwriter spotted her back in November 2008 at the graduation show for Sydney Institute's Fashion Design Studio. Then just 15, the statuesque Olga Sherer lookalike was too young to participate in 2009's Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. However Williams is now 16, RAFW's Spring/Summer 2010/2011 showcase - the fifteen year anniversary of the event - is just three months away and it will be interesting to see how she fares. Platform Models is not a major Sydney agency, but here's a player alert: Josh Flinn has just joined the agency as a booker. Well-connected Flinn is ex-IMG FASHION Asia Pacific, a great mate of Sydney expat uber-stylist Ms Fitz (and a Banana in Pyjamas in his spare time) and could help raise the agency's profile.

Williams has just returned from a month-long stint in Auckland, where she shot a multi-girl swimwear editorial for Metro magazine (above/below), with one of the shots making the cover.

While in New Zealand, where she is repped by Nova Models, Williams appears to have done at least one other swimwear shoot. This could enhance her chances of booking RAFW shows this particular season. Not every model is, of course, cut out for swimwear.

With the cancellation of IMG's Swim Fashion Week which was due to take place later this month, IMG has announced it will amp up the swimwear focus of the SS1011 showcase.

In the interim, the Gold Coast Council is planning to stage a smaller replacement event called BusinessGC on March 2-3.