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. 

Once were couturiers - Australian fashion icons reband to launch LMFF 2011

So there I was, navigating the fluorescent yellow bowels of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, when I bumped into an Australian fashion icon waving a steam wand. Jenny Kee, co-founder of the 1970s label and boutique Flamingo Park, was trying to get the creases out of a multicoloured scarf headdress that was due to be showcased in Fashion Full Stop, last night's opening show of the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (which frockwriter is attending as a guest of the organisers and Tourism Victoria). Kee was resplendent in three examples of her own handiwork: a 1983 suit from Karl Lagerfeld's debut collection for Chanel, which incorporated Kee's black opal print, some vintage Flamingo Park and one of the scarves from her brand new online boutique. "It's all about online now" noted Kee, when I asked why she and former sidekick Linda Jackson don't relaunch Flamingo Park. "You need lots of money" explained Jackson backstage a few minutes later - reiterating sentiments she expressed at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week back in 2008, after Therese Rawsthorne showed a collection using Jackson's waratah print. They might not (yet) have put the band back together, but fantastic to see Kee and Jackson together again making fashion magic last night, with more than a little help from the new generation of Australian fashion talents, in one rollercoaster retrospective that spanned fifty years.

Michelle Jank did a tremendous job styling the show, together with Kelvin Harries. Other brands included Norma Tullo, Prue Acton, Kate Durham and Morrissey Edmiston. Models included Rachel Rutt, Tiah Eckhardt, Christina Carey, Simone Kerr, Samantha Harris, Vanessa Milde, Emily Cattermole and Greta Chesterman (who could in fact, it now occurs to me, pass for Anja Rubik's little sister).

I shot the whole show from backstage, which was manic, as the very large production included dancers, entertainers and various Melbourne celebrities. 

One memorable moment came at the very end of the show, as Jank and team frantically attempted to secure a massive tulle headpiece to Rutt's head at the climax of the bridal finale. 

An elaborate contraption that included several illuminated paper lanterns, it proved too difficult to secure in time, with Rutt's exit apparently synchronised to a fireworks sequence that was already queued. As they finally gave up and pushed her out onto the runway sans veil, at least a dozen people who had been watching uttered a collective sigh, which seemed so loud it may well have been heard from the audience. 

Rutt subsequently returned backstage, the headpiece was finally secured and she did a victory lap in the full ensemble. This may explain any continuity issues with photos. 

Great kickoff to the week. 

Click (here) to see frockwriter's Posterous backstage pic gallery of 72 images.