Nicole Kidman's burning ring of fire

We know about the Great Wall of Sutton Forest – a 250m long, 2.5m high dirt wall erected by Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, to shield their 100 acre Bunya Hill property in the NSW Southern Highlands from the prying lenses of Sydney’s notoriously aggressive paparazzi. Not to mention their fourth line of paparazzi defence: a line of conifers they subsequently planted between the dirt wall and two fences (to which another barrier of green shadecloth has since been added). You have to wonder what the "Kurbans" would make of what frockwriter can reveal is the latest installation to be made adjacent their property: a monster, 4m high, 6m wide bonfire, erected on the grounds of their next-door neighbour, the Sutton Forest Inn and looking their hillside mansion straight up the barrel.

When we called the Inn, a rep told us the bonfire was erected in preparation for a 31st July fireworks display.

That promises to be one hell of a display.

At 20 acres, the Sutton Forest Inn technically qualifies for "backyard burning" under the provisions of the Wingecarribee Council. That said, the bonfire is so ridiculously big, once lit, it could potentially pose a fire hazard. There is a lot of dry winter grass all over the region.

How close to Bunya Hill is the bonfire? Right at the property’s front fence. The previous owners of Bunya Hill reportedly used to drive their car to the bottom of the hill, park their car and climb over the fence to head to the pub.

Here is a shot of Bunya Hill from the Sutton Forest Inn carpark taken in July 2008, standing where the bonfire is located now:

This is the same pub that has proposed an extension of 100 additional motel beds – and which at one stage offered to sell to the Kurbans if they had a problem with the development.

The Kurbans made a well-publicised visit to the property at Easter in 2009.

Frockwriter’s sources say the couple has returned in the interim – and that while they are not in residence, the property is “used regularly” by Kidman’s parents, her sister Antonia and her nephews and nieces. Other local sources report that a jogging track was recently installed around the property for Kidman and that there have been "a lot of staff problems" at the property, with numerous personnel changes.

Whoever is in residence on July 31, let’s hope their fire extinguishers are in good nick.


all images: copyright © 2010 patty huntington

Andrej Pejic mixes it up at Jean Paul Gaultier

jean paul gaultier SS11/style.com

Who was the intriguing, androgynous blonde at Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring/Summer 2011 menswear show in Paris overnight? Melbourne’s Andrej Pejic, that’s who. Frockwriter knew it would not be long before Pejic appeared on a major runway and there he is in three outfits at JPG. Update: Pejic reports that he will also be doing John Galliano's show today. Since first popping up on our radar at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week last year, as reported by frockwriter, Pejic shot a 14 page editorial for Australia’s RUSSH magazine and headed to London, where the 18 year-old was snapped up by Storm Management. Pejic, whose mother agency in Australia is Chadwicks, is now repped by New Madison in Paris and I Love Models Management in Milan and has shot for Dazed + Confused Japan (see below), London-based magazines Libertine and Wonderland and Martyn Bal. Stand by for what could be his biggest career break to date: editorial (including a cover try) just shot by a major international photographic duo for the September edition of a major international fashion title.

Pejic emerges on the international stage at a moment when androgyny has never been more topical - and not just in fashion.

Gaultier first proposed the idea of western men in skirts in the 1980s - two decades before Marc Jacobs began kitting himself out in his now signature kilt. Beyond Scotland, of course, men in several other cultures wear skirt-like garments.

But that was definitely a dress from his women's collection in which Jacobs put male model Cole Mohr for his Marc by Marc Jacob Fall/Winter 2008/2009 campaign - some believe inspired by Jacobs' defacto muse, Manila-based blogger Bryanboy, one of several male fashion identities who blend gender stereotypes with their personal mens/womens fashion mix.

Sydney-based label Chronicles of Never is one of several labels offering unisex collections.

On a far more serious note, last month at the inaugural TEDx Sydney summit, intersex rights activist Gina Wilson gave a moving presentation about the challenges and discrimination faced by the estimated 1.7percent of the population who are born defying traditional male/female sexual stereotypes.

And Australia's own Hollywood superstar, Nicole Kidman, is set to star in a film about Lili Elbe, née Einar Wegener, one of the first known recipients of male-to-female sex reassignment surgery. Not only is Kidman playing Elbe, she is also producing it. It's an interesting career choice for Kidman, who would undoubtedly be well aware of the longstanding urban myth that claims she was born a hermaphrodite.


photo credits:
dazed + confused japan/mens model talk 
storm via mens model talk
wonderland/mens fashionscapes