The show goes on for David Jones... without sass & bide

 

As per David Jones' famous advertising slogan, there used to be no other department store in Australia for sass & bide. But after days of rumours, it is now confirmed that David Jones' arch rival Myer will become the brand's exclusive Australian department store partner moving forward, having just acquired a 65percent stake for A$42.25million plus a performance bonus based on fiscal 2011 sales results. David Jones, which has winter 2011 sass & bide stock on its hands and features the brand in its winter 2011 "brand book" catalogue (above), has responded with its own Australian Stock Exchange announcement this morning that it is ending its 10 year association with sass & bide following David Jones' decision not to acquire a stake. Oh and it wasn't doing very well anyway, added DJs (at least at DJs - Myer reports that sass & bide overall delivered 50percent year on year sales growth for the past two years). Noted ceo Paul Zahra, “We did the calculations and could not justify the price paid for the business, particularly given the lack of growth in our sass & bide business with sales and gross profit in FY10 at approximately FY05 levels". This is fascinating, given that David Jones gave sass & bide its prestigious finale spot in the Autumn/Winter 2010 show one year ago. What the Myer decision ultimately means for the sass & bide brand remains to be seen. Not surprisingly perhaps, the brand has been yanked altogether from tomorrow's lineup, David Jones has confirmed to frockwriter.

But that's not to say that there won't be some familiar faces on the runway. 

It might not be quite the same as having Miranda Kerr, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil in the show, as occurred in the last two seasons, but David Jones nevertheless has a pretty impressive cast list for tomorrow’s Autumn/Winter 2011 showcase, which kicks off at 6.30pm at the Elizabeth Street, Sydney, flagship. 

Led by Nicole Trunfio, the cast includes several Australians with international runway experience, notably Alexandra Agoston, Myf Shepherd, Christina Carey, Tiah Eckhardt, Stephanie Carta and thirtysomething Queenslander Heath Townsend, a former face of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Ralph Lauren. 

Others of note include Samantha Harris, Pania Rose and Chic newcomer Rosemary Smith, who will be heading to the Milan and Paris legs of the northern Fall/Winter 2011/2012 show season in a fortnight. 

Here is the complete cast list:

CHIC MANAGEMENT
Nicole Trunfio
Alexandra Agoston
Myf Shepherd
Christina Carey
Samantha Harris
Pania Rose
Charlotte Lohmann
Anna Sjoberg
Vanessa Breuer
Emma Taylor
Emma Power
Louise van der Vorst
Rosemary Smith
Sarah Stephens
Cisco Tschurtschenthaler de Helmhein
Jasmine Yarbrough
Annika Kaban
Brigitte Malcolm
Valerija Erokhina
Amy Finlayson
Lina Mihailova
Clare Venema
Heath Townsend

PRISCILLA'S
Eliza Humble
Greta Chesterman
Simone Kerr
Stephanie Carta
Rachel Grasso
Laura Gorun
Bella Barber
Cat Edwards
Kerry Doyle
Bruce Raubenheimer
Blair Norfolk
Lewis Grant

VIVIENS
Avril Alexander
Tiah Eckhardt
Nicole Sherriss
Karima Alexander
Ruby Brown
Nick Ingall
BJ Jarrett
Philippa

CHADWICK
Claire Quirk
Lorene Renard

EMG
Adhiel Tulba
Chris Knee

FRM MANAGEMENT
Nikki Thot

MENS DIVISION
Nicolas Curnow
 

Meet the new girl, Emilia Skuza

elie saab haute couture SS11/getty via daylife

In spite of the deluge of global publicity following Jean Paul Gaultier's decision to cast Serbian Australian male model Andrej Pejic as the bride of his haute couture show in Paris on Wednesday, Pejic was of course not the only Australian on the haute couture runways. Abbey Lee Kershaw, a recent Chanel advertising face and runway regular, turned up at Chanel for yet another exclusive, no surprises there. Also scoring Chanel: Julia Nobis, who had a busy haute couture season, also walking at the Elie Saab, Georges Hobeika and Bouchra Jarrar shows. Ajak Deng walked at Alexandre Vauthier. According to Priscillas, Lauren Brown, who has appeared in several Chanel ready-to-wear shows, was in town for the haute couture castings but as far as frockwriter can tell, did not turn up on a single catwalk. One Australian who has slipped completely under the radar until now walked at Elie Saab and Bouchra Jarrar, alongside Nobis, as well as the show of new haute couture name Maxime Simoens - Emilia Skuza.

And three haute couture shows were not the sum total of Skuza’s catwalk appearances in Paris over the past fortnight. 

On Thursday 20th January, the 18 year-old, Adelaide-based Polish Australian was one of several women cast for Smalto’s menswear show (see below) on day one of the Paris Fall/Winter 2011/2012 menswear season and she also appeared in the Etam parade at the Grand Palais on Monday 24th. 
 
Etam is a French mass market lingerie and swimwear retailer. The company’s big bucks, Victoria’s Secret-style extravaganza featured performances from entertainers such as Beth Ditto, The Kills and Boy George and high profile modelling names such as Karolina Kurkova and Australia’s Nicole Trunfio. Although it’s a little difficult to tell from the video, below, that looks like Skuza at 9.58. Trunfio appears at 6.24 and 13.21.  

Skuza, who has just scored a TER of 99.7 in her HSC, is repped by Finesse Models in her home state, Chadwick in Sydney and IMG's Development division in New York and Paris.

Her experience in Australia consists of a few local parades, including shows at the Adelaide and Sydney Fashion Festivals and some low-profile beauty and fashion shoots.  

A dead ringer for a young Gisele Bündchen, Skuza is one of several new Australian models who are poised to make their marks on the Fall/Winter 2011/2012 womens runways, which kick off in New York on February 10.

smalto fw1112/enmodefashion

 

Nicole Trunfio to officially replace Miranda Kerr as the face of David Jones' winter 2011 launch

vogue italia

In July, following the news that Miranda Kerr would be skipping David Jones’ Spring/Summer 2010/2011 runway showcase to enjoy her honeymoon with Orlando Bloom – amidst a deafening chorus of speculation she was three months pregnant – frockwriter predicted that Nicole Trunfio would replace Kerr as the face of the department store’s upcoming Autumn/Winter 2011 runway showcase and that Kerr would resume her official duties for the Spring/Summer launch in July 2011. So it’s official. Today’s Sunday Telegraph reports that Trunfio will “replace [Kerr] as the star of the David Jones Winter 2011 season”. Trunfio, who is also currently profiled in a video interview on the website of Vogue Italia, was flown by DJs to Sydney this week to shoot the winter catalogue. 

vogue italia

Kerr will still have a minor role to play. 

Fairfax's rival Sunday newspaper, The Sun Herald, today published an image of Kerr from David Jones' upcoming Autumn/Winter catalogue. The shot was recently taken in LA – with a 60 Minutes crew in tow, as anyone who saw that recent interview with Kerr would recall. 

vogue australia via the sun herald

The Sun Herald also scored an interview with Kerr, who told the paper that she will feature in several images in the Autumn/Winter catalogue, but is “looking forward to coming back to support and work with DJs for the summer season and continuing in my role as fashion ambassador''. 

The Sun Herald speculates that “one or more” of the models who filled in for Kerr in July in Sydney - Trunfio, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Alexandra Agoston and Catherine McNeil – will be gracing the retailer's runway in February.

As we now know, Trunfio will definitely be there. Agoston and McNeil may be two other contenders. We doubt very much, however, that Kershaw would avail herself for this show, given that its timing will coincide with the peak of the northern hemisphere Fall/Winter 2010/2011 runway season, during which Kershaw is always in huge demand.

Evidently, one paper scored the interview with Kerr and the other, the interview with Trunfio. And it looks like The Sunday Telegraph may have felt it got the short end of the stick. 

In what reads as an extraordinarily bitchy comment, the paper notes that Trunfio “is taller, thinner and younger than pregnant Kerr”. 
 
Elsewhere in today's edition, The Sunday Telegraph also reports that yet another nude image of pregnant Kerr will be published in the January 2010 issue of Vogue Australia, whose cover she graces, noting:

“Here's a radical idea, Miranda - how about posing with your kit on for your next shoot?”

Abbey road: Australians on the Spring/Summer 2011 runways (New York)

So we know how at least one Kiwi went at New York Fashion Week - Calvin Klein's exclusive Jessica Clarke (head to Isaac Likes for full documentation on NZ models in SS11) - but how did the Aussies fare all up? A pretty good effort. Congrats to all the girls. Abbey Lee Kershaw, not surprisingly, pulled off the most shows: 13 in total according to frockwriter’s calculations. Great to see the return of Catherine McNeil, although with just five shows under her belt (including several big names and opening one show), one might have expected to see her do a little better. According to (reliable) backstage sources, McNeil came very close to booking the blue chip Tom Ford presentation, but was cancelled at the last minute. Julia Nobis, Ajak Deng and Georgie Wass powered ahead. We’ve already talked about the expected/unexpected success of Bambi Northwood-Blyth. Although her mother agency, Chic Management, did report that Nicole Trunfio was heading to the event, beyond turning up in Michael Angel's front row, Trunfio did not, apparently, walk in any shows. Here are the show tallies. Anything we’ve missed, thanks for a headsup. On to London, Milan and Paris.  

Abbey Lee Kershaw
Rag & Bone (closed)
Isaac Mizrahi (opened)
Donna Karan
Ralph Lauren
Anna Sui
Alexander Wang
Derek Lam
Proenza Schouler
Vera Wang
Carolina Herrera
Tom Ford
Preen
Jason Wu 

Catherine McNeil
Ohne Titel (opened)
Jason Wu
Carolina Herrera
Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out show
Oscar de la Renta

Julia Nobis
Proenza Schouler (opened and closed)
Vogue's Fashion’s Night Out show
Narciso Rodriguez
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Rag & Bone
3.1 Philip Lim
Alexander Wang
Matthew Ames
Diesel Black Gold
Joseph Altuzarra

Ajak Deng
Matthew Ames (opened and closed)
Parkchoonmoo
Y-3
Vogue's Fashion’s Night Out show
Edun
Marc by Marc Jacobs
L’Wren Scott
Nanette Lepore
Lela Rose

Georgie Wass
Tory Burch
Nanette Lepore
Mulberry
Band of Outsiders
Candela
Thuy
Halston
Bebe

Bambi Northwood-Blyth
Diesel Black Gold (closed)
Rag & Bone
Jen Kao
Joseph Altuzarra

Ruby Jean Wilson
Dallin Chase
Lacoste
Karen Walker
Custo Barcelona

Lauren Brown
Joseph Altuzarra
Elise Øverland
Yoana Baraschi

Annaleise Smith
Joseph Altuzarra (opened)
Carmen Marc Valvo
Monique L’Huillier

Amelia Brown
Kimberley Ovitz

Jessica Hart
Gottex


Images:
1/ Abbey Lee Kershaw, Ralph Lauren. Vogue Italia via TFS
2/ Catherine Mcneil: Ohne Titel, Dazed Digital via TFS
3/ Julia Nobis: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Getty via Daylife
4/ Georgie Wass: Mulberry, Dazed Digital
5/ Ajak Deng: Y3, style.it
6/ Bambi Northwood-Blyth: Rag & Bone, Getty via Daylife
7/ Ruby Jean Wilson: Karen Walker, style.it
8/ Annaleise Smith: Joseph Altuzarra, wwd.com
9/ Lauren Brown: Joseph Altuzarra, wwd.com

Get shorty: The personality girls of Spring/Summer 2011

bambi northwood-blyth/aje AW2011 via sportsgirl

The Spring/Summer 2011 show season kicks off in New York next Thursday and it’s time to ask, once again, which antipodians will make their marks on the international runways? We mentioned FRM Model Management’s Ajak Deng yesterday. Chic Management’s Abbey Lee Kershaw is of course tipped to continue her climb to the top. Already at #5 on models.com, could this show season help her make it to #1? Other veterans either already in New York or en route include Viviens’ Skye Stracke. Priscillas’ hot new girls Lauren Brown and of course, Julia Nobis, who first emerged on the radar in February with a Calvin Klein exclusive, will be there. Joining them will be some brand new Australasian faces. Interestingly, unlike Nobis, Kershaw, Deng and co, three are under the standard runway height requirement of 5’10”.

Yes of course, Kate Moss was 5’7” and that did not hold her back from a spectacular modelling career. Moss is the exception however. Twenty year-old Sydneysider Bambi Northwood-Blyth, also 5’7” according to Priscillas (even though Elite New York lists her as 5'9" on its website), is no doubt hoping she has enough of the same mysterious 'X' factor to carry her through to an international career.

So far so good according to her mother agency Priscillas, which reports that Northwood-Blyth hasn’t even left the country and already has some interesting New York Fashion Week show options.

bambi northwood-blyth/cue via TFS

This Sydney It girl has worked every day this year according to Priscillas, with her sultry pout and trademark caterpillar eyebrows seemingly everywhere at the moment in Australia. She has shot multiple times with Harpers Bazaar Australia and Grazia, been featured in Oyster and Love Want and has booked a myriad of local advertising campaigns and lookbooks, including Sportsgirl, Cue, Just Jeans, Myer, MANIAMANIA and Ksubi (whose co-founder, Dan Single, is Northwood-Blyth's boyfriend). Such is the extent of her campaign work, some have complained she is a little "overexposed".

In May, New York-based Australian casting director Kannon Rajah told frockwriter that he had his eye on Northwood-Blyth. And now leading international casting director Ashley Brokaw has told The New York Times that Northwood-Blyth (along with Nobis) are among the names at the top of her casting list. Brokaw casts for the biggest names in the fashion business, including Balenciaga, Prada and Calvin Klein.

Rajah talked about “personality” having the potential to outweigh other more traditional requirements in casting and it seems a new casting mood may have settled over New York, with Brokaw telling The New York Times:

“Things are steering away from the army casting we’ve seen in recent years.”

Rajah said he also has his eye on another Priscillas charge, New Zealander Zippora Seven, who Priscillas reports also already has some New York Fashion Week show options. Seven recently turned 18 and has grown to 5’8” the agency claims - which is still nevertheless short in international runway terms. Seven has also just shot a US advertising campaign with Nathaniel Goldberg.

zippora seven/stolen girlfriends club FW2010 backstage

Priscillas is really starting to gain some market share at the international shows which are an important talent showcase and can of course lead to lucrative ad campaigns for. Joining Brown, Nobis, veteran Stephanie Carta and newbies Northwood-Blyth and Seven this season will two other northern hemisphere show virgins: 16 year-old Ruby Jean Wilson and 19 year-old Sydney-based Kiwi Annabella Barber who has been almost as busy as Northwood-Blyth this year in Australia.

Barber has just been shot for Russian Vogue, adding to a portfolio that includes editorials in Australian and Singapore Harpers Bazaar, Grazia, Summer Winter, Fallen magazine, a Myer campaign, a slew of designer lookbooks including Alice McCall, Fleur Wood, Akira, Anna + Boy and Ellery and three Australasian magazine covers: Oyster, KAREN and NO. Barber is 5’9” according to Elite New York.  Our industry sources say that's code for 5'8".

(top to bottom) annabella barber/oyster via trendhunter; julia nobis, calvin klein FW1011/daylife; ajak deng, david jones SS1011

Interestingly, Chic Management has really cut back on its runway models this season, in part due to the ongoing constraints of the GFC, the agency reports, with the strategy to focus on the top showgirls. Joining Kershaw in New York will be Catherine McNeil and Nicole Trunfio, who of course recently worked together at the David Jones show. Not one of Chic's big buzz new faces such as Meg Lindsay, Samantha Harris and Juliana Forge are heading over, which is curious.

(left to right) samantha harris, abbey lee kershaw, nicole trunfio, catherine mcneil, alexandra agoston/david jones SS1011 via daylife

Chadwicks will be represented by Georgie Wass, Jessica Hart, Andrej Pejic and newbies Ashleigh Wesseling, Annaleise Smith - who has already had a taste of the northern hemisphere runways, as she walked for Zac Posen at the recent Resort 2011 shows in New York - in addition to Grace Hollows from Auckland (repped locally by Red 11).

annaleise smith, zac posen resort 2011/style.com

 

Beyond Skye Stracke, Viviens will be represented by Avril Alexander and Emma Ishta. Viviens may well be about to enjoy its best OS show season since the Gemma Ward days once Codie Young has finished highschool. Modelling for just a few months, the Vogue Australia September covergirl is expected to make her debut at the Paris haute couture shows in January.

Scene Management, now called EMG Models, is sending Aidin Taylor, Jordan Coulter, Amelia Brown and Tallulah Morton,. The latter is bound for the final Paris leg of the season and clearly isn’t having as much of a modelling break as she previously announced.

jessica clarke via clyne model

Other New Zealanders include Stella Maxwell and notably, Jessica Clarke, who frockwriter profiled back in December 2008, after she was cast by cK Calvin Klein creative director Kevin Carrigan in the brand’s big Sydney party that month. Repped by Clyne Management in Auckland, Clarke was 15 at the time and had been modelling for just one month, scoring the cover of Australia’s Frankie straight off the starting block. Like Carrigan, Ashley Brokaw is now also singing Clarke's praises, telling The New York Times:

“Just saw a girl Jessica Clarke @DNA. VERY excited about her. Classic supermodel material from New Zealand.”

Super Tuesday at David Jones

 

Tremendous effort this morning from David Jones. The retailer's corporate stewardship might be under a dark cloud of controversy at present thanks to a sexual harassment suit, but as far as fashion shows go, it was the best DJs show that this journalist could remember. "I'm rolling with the punches" new ceo Paul Zahra told frockwriter before the show, when asked how he is coping with his baptism of fire. Beyond the scandal that prompted the "mutual termination" of Zahra's immediate predecessor Mark McInnes on June 18 - which culminated in yesterday's shock news that the retailer is now being sued for A$37million - the company also had to contend with the sudden withdrawal of its expensive new fashion ambassador, Miranda Kerr, just a fortnight before its biggest fashion showcase of the year, after she eloped with her Hollywood fiancé Orlando Bloom. The solution: wheel in some supermodel replacements. 

Sure, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeil had walked in DJs shows before - years ago, prior to heading offshore to try their luck on the international fashion stage. Kershaw used to be a DJs youth ambassador. McNeil's last DJs show was in August 2007

But they returned today as modelling superstars, opening the show in tandem - in spite of reports that the show would be opened by Nicole Trunfio (who turned up a little later in the first swimwear section).

The cast was exceptional. 

Alongside Kershaw, McNeil, Trunfio, haute couture queen Alexandra Agoston and Stephanie Carta, the show included some of Australia's finest up-and-coming modelling talent, including Samantha Harris, Emily Wake, Meg Lindsay, Victoria Lee and the stupendous Ajak Deng - who arrived on a flight from New York earlier in the morning and headed straight to the show. Top of the list of brand new faces: Chic Management's exciting new name Rosemary Smith eighth shot from the bottom, below), who really stood out. 

After four years at various locations around the city trying to out-do Myer in the so-called seasonal "store wars", this season's "at home" location really worked: Djs' erstwhile designer floor on level seven. 

You could almost touch the models and you could see the details on the clothes and the accessories. 

The collections included snapshots from some of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week's best shows, including Camilla Franks' dazzling digital print kaftans, Zimmermann's geometric print tunics and leggings (but not the spectacular, fringed tabards, surprisingly) and Carla Zampatti's bold cocktail and eveningwear, as well as Akira Isogawa's vibrant floral print dresses that have not been seen on a runway.

The finale - a 40-exit ode to the nude evening gown trend, from every designer on the program - was both clever and subtle. 

Below are some backstage shots taken by frockwriter before the show.

Head to frockwriter's Posterous for our gallery of 57 runway shots - and also some of the shots we Tweeted live from backstage. 

all images: frockwriter

Nicole Trunfio is "stepping in" for Miranda Kerr

david jones AW10/getty via daylife

On Wednesday frockwriter asked, Is Nicole Trunfio Miranda Kerr’s understudy at David Jones? Trunfio had arrived in Sydney a full week ahead of DJs' August 3rd Spring/Summer 2010/2011 runway show – while her high profile runway colleagues Catherine McNeil and Abbey Lee Kershaw only arrived over the last 24-48 hours. Sources also reported Trunfio has been booked for in-store signings, she Tweeted that she was excited to be “part of the David Jones family” and she features heavily in DJs SS1011 catalogue. Well lo and behold, if the headline on a page one splash of the first edition of tomorrow’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper doesn't read, “Nicole Trunfio – The next Miranda Kerr”. While inside, a story entitled "DJs next supermodel" reports “Nicole Trunfio is the heir apparent. David Jones has recruited the Aussie supermodel to lead its spring/summer fashion parade on Tuesday, stepping in for newly married Miranda Kerr”.

News Limited's interstate papers have added a few other details. 

Perth's Sunday Times headlines its version of the story:

"WA model Nicole Trunfio the new face of David Jones".

While Melbourne's Herald Sun reveals that Trunfio will be opening the show wearing camilla + marc - one of several labels to have recently defected to DJs from rival Myer, whose SS1011 runway show takes place two days later.

News Limited reports that Trunfio played down as "gossip" the “rumours” that she was being prepped to “replace” a pregnant Kerr. 

Just a reminder that an understudy is not a replacement. An understudy is someone who steps in when the lead player can’t perform.

Most modelling contracts, we are reliably informed, include a provision for suspension, in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

If Kerr is pregnant and, all going well, due in January, then it’s probably unlikely that we will be seeing her on DJs Autumn/Wiinter 2011 runway in the first week of February. It's possible, but unlikely.

It would be even more unlikely that she would be available to shoot that season’s campaign in the preceding months so really, what would be the point?

Trunfio is clearly being given star billing for next week's show and frockwriter predicts she will also be the star of next season’s campaign, with Kerr resuming duties this time next year. 

 

There's no other store for maternity wear like David Jones?

The KerrBloom camp can run, but it seems it can’t hide, from those pesky pregnancy rumours. This morning, Miranda Kerr’s publicist Carlii Lyon was still adopting a no comment position on the now deafening chorus of claims that the real reason behind Kerr’s and Bloom’s elopement – and her withdrawal from next Tuesday’s David Jones Spring/Summer 2010 runway show in Sydney – is because she is three months pregnant. The US press is now running hot with the story, after US Weekly yesterday quoted an unnamed friend  confirming the pregnancy, while OK! Magazine quoted a Victoria’s Secret colleague, Jessica White, proclaiming, so discreetly, “She’s preggos!”. With The Sun quoting hotel staff. Today’s mail delivery of the David Jones Summer 2010 “Brand Book” unfortunately did not really do much to help quell speculation. Not surprisingly, it features Kerr on the cover. But inside, Kerr shares quite a lot of space with Nicole Trunfio and Viviens’ Allegra Carpenter. And while Kerr often does share the catalogues with other faces, notably when it comes to showcasing the junior fashion lines, Trunfio seems to be unusually prominently placed here, which may suggest she is poised to assume a greater DJs role.

Trunfio’s numerous catalogue cameos include the back cover (bottom, also second from the bottom), a full page of Willow runway shots and a lingerie spread (below), which includes one image of Kerr - who, some might well argue, appears a little more ample-bosomed than usual.

Trunfio also wears a one-shouldered Lisa Ho dress in which Kerr was originally photographed for the catalogue, a shot that was included in a series of images recently released to The Sunday Telegraph (several other shots from which do not appear in the catalogue). 

Kerr is photographed wearing several structured dresses but, it could be said, the angles are quite flattering. 

She does, however, seem to be wearing a number of loose garments.

Blame it on all the pregnancy talk, or just fashion’s evergreen smock/muumuu/babydoll trend – which men have been complaining for several years now makes women “look pregnant” - but dang if Kerr doesn’t look like she’s sporting the very beginnings of a baby bump in some pictures. You be the judge.

all images: chris colls for david jones, scanned by frockwriter