Transsex and the city

screen cap 'transsex & the city'

Chloe Sevigny channels Terry Richardson on the cover of the third edition of Candy, Luis Venegas’s irreverent “transversal style magazine”. And inside the edition, following last issue’s hilarious tranny take on American Vogue’s Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, Venegas also takes on Sex And The City’s Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. Highres images from the just-landed mag are yet to surface, but in the interim here are some screen caps frockwriter took from a behind-the-scenes video that Venegas has posted of the Ellen von Unwerth shoot. Entitled ‘Transsex and the city’, the story stars Ladyfag, Darian Darling, Mona Marlowe and Zeb Ringle and Brian Shimansky. 

screen caps 'transsex and the city'/candy's vimeo

Andrej Pejic on Sunday Night

neil barrett FW1112 backstage/sonny vandevelde

Gird your loins, Andrej Pejic fans. Next Sunday, on Australia's Seven Network, the first comprehensive television profile of Pejic will go to air on the Sunday Night program (6.30pm). A Sunday Night crew embedded themselves with Pejic during his most recent tour of fashion duty at the Paris mens shows - during which he walked for a number of designers, but was notably cast by Jean Paul Gaultier as James Blond and then the following week, as the traditional bride of Gaultier's haute couture show. From castings to fittings, photoshoots, backstage, front-of-house and interviews with some of the world's leading fashion commentators, it's going to be a fly-on-the-wall look at a pretty fascinating fashion moment. Sunday Night just ran an in-show promo at the end of its first show back on air tonight after the summer hiatus (video and screen grabs below). Relieved to finally be able to talk about this after several weeks of intense work.

As regular readers of this blog would know, in addition to freelance print work, I also work in current affairs television. With the permission of Pejic and his mother agency Chadwick, I took this idea to Sunday Night, knowing that a brilliant documentary opportunity in the mens shows was rapidly approaching. An hour-long program which does longform current affairs stories (anywhere up to 15-20 minutes apiece), I had confidence that Sunday Night would do this story justice.

I did not travel to Paris (and just to clarify, nor did I produce this story), but worked closely with the Sunday Night team - headed up by Walkley Award-winning producer Nick Farrow and reporter Rahni Sadler - engineering their filming access and interviews as they went. Take it from me, you haven't blagged your way into a fashion show until you've done it at short notice on behalf of a four-person camera crew 17,000kms from the action. 

Many thanks to Andrej, for allowing a camera crew in his face for almost ten days, Matt Anderson and Joseph Tenni from Chadwick, Arnaud Vanbleus from New Madison and Team Secret Squirrel - Sonny Vandevelde and Isaac Hindin-Miller, who provided some on-the-ground support. 

Looking forward to seeing the final result.  

 

screen grabs/sunday night

Inception via Twitter? Black nail polish-wearing ABC anchor dreams of Freddie Mercury duet

As the anchor of ABC’s prestigious late-night current affairs bulletin Lateline and the network’s former Washington and National Security correspondent, Walkley Award-winning Australian journalist and author Leigh Sales has covered some big stories. What’s her dream job? Noted Sales on Twitter this morning, “I had the coolest dream last night that I was playing a grand piano with Freddie Mercury. Real life seems a bit greyer today”. Now it's unclear if Sales has always been a Freddie Mercury fangurl - or just how well she was previously versed in Mercury’s pioneering efforts vis-à-vis the black nail polish beauty trend. Coincidentally, however, on August 23rd, two days after Sales played a key on air role during the ABC’s federal election coverage – wearing black nail polish - we Tweeted the following (tongue in cheek) observation: “top marks BTW go to abc #ausvotes anchor @leighsales for doing more for the visibility of black nail polish than freddie mercury on sat”. We know Sales spotted it, because she immediately replied via Twitter:  

“It was unexpected that I also ended up in a black suit. Didn't mean to look quite so emo”. 

Pushing our luck, we had the temerity to ask which brand? To which Sales responded:

“I don't know actually, whatever the nail place uses”.

Now Frockwriter has lost count of the number of stories broken on this blog, that have wound up in mainstream media outlets. Yesterday, The Australian Financial Review picked up the MJ Bale/P Johnson cartoon ad campaign fracas. And The Daily Telegraph today names Jasper Glavanics as the photographer whose eight year-old nude images of 18 year-old Miranda Kerr have been shopped around to the highest bidder - four days after frockwriter named him, while The Tele's own Sunday edition published two of Glavanics' Kerr images but withheld his name at his request.  


But inception via Twitter is getting a little ridiculous surely?


 
photoshop composite + captions: frockwriter. original abc screen cap: ruby goes/flickr

Wayne Cooper in talks for his own tv show, still hating on plus size women

screen caps 'the wc'/exero films

Wayne Cooper could be the “Gordon Ramsay of the fashion business” if Kostas Metaxas has anything to do with it. The Melbourne-based filmmaker has a "fashion comedy miniseries" called The WC starring Cooper in development and is currently talking to Australian and international television networks. Curiously, there has been zip local publicity on this, beyond a press release about a National Association of Television Program Executives award the teaser webisode, below, won in LA in July. The webisode was made specifically for the latter competition according to Metaxas, who tells frockwriter he has shot three quarters of the material for a full-length feature, but that The WC could be, pending interest, “a feature, a tv series or 20 webisodes....This is like a starting point. Wayne is an interesting character, and he’s an exceptional actor. And at the same time he has a sense of humour. He understands that what we’re doing is not meant to be rocket science”.





The concept, a mélange of scripted sitcom and reality television, Sacha Baron Cohen-style, revolves around Cooper’s real-life job as a fashion designer. Written and produced by Metaxas, it is, coincidentally, being shopped around at the same time that New York fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone is said to be in talks with MTV regarding a new script-based fashion show.

The webisode - which also stars professional actors Tim Constantine as Cooper’s assistant “Sydney London” and Elisabeth Shingleton as the advertising manager for Vague magazine, in addition to cameos from Melbourne hair stylists Stavros Tavrou and James Razos from Collins Street salon Rakis - sees Cooper preparing to show at London Fashion Week. The fictional scenario has Baz Lurhmann tapped as Cooper's show producer, a planned mandolin-and-didgeridoo musical score and a stream of VIP phone calls into Cooper's studio from (former Australian PM) Kevin Rudd, (Oz celebrity) Lara Bingle and Boy George - all fobbed off by Cooper.   

Metaxas might just as easily have based the story on Cooper’s real life story, which at times has verged on a soap opera.

A London law school graduate, the loudmouth Cockney emigrated to Australia in 1985, settling in Sydney and later founding the Brave and Wayne Cooper fashion labels.

Cooper was the first designer to show at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in May 2006 and in 2000 he was the first Australian (not counting US-based expat Richard Tyler) to show at New York Fashion Week. Known for his extravagant spending, in 2005 Cooper went into voluntary administration, owing $3million. Later that year, he and his family narrowly escaped a terrorist bomb blast in a restaurant in Bali. 

In 2008 he endured a messy, public split from his partner Sarah Marsh who accused him of domestic abuse on national television. Cooper later pleaded guilty to common assault. The pair eventually reunited and were married in Bali last month.  

“They’re going to do a pilot with someone in New York, I think it’s going to be an American thing” was all Cooper could tell us this afternoon, when we tracked him down in his car.

Metaxas is no stranger to television, having sold numerous documentary series to networks in Australia and other markets, including the Masters of Luxury (2008) and the Masters of Fashion (2005). He met Cooper while shooting the latter.

Although obviously a parody, The WC webisode nevertheless features several vox pops and footage of real people and fashion figures, shot in Melbourne and London. 

One of them features in the closing scene, which comes across as particularly snarky.  

In it, Constantine and Shingleton salivate over an off-camera black dress.

“It’s magnificent - it’s like a cold glass of water after being out in the desert for years” effuses Shingleton.

The camera pans over to show an apparently unsuspecting Hayley Hughes (above), a Melbourne blogger, photographer and stylist (who regular readers may recall recently starred in this Today Tonight story about plus size discrimination in the Australian fashion industry).

In another part of the film, Cooper describes one of his dresses as “very slimming”. Cooper famously once described Australian models as “porky” compared to their European counterparts.

“I think it’s tongue in cheek” says Metaxas of the Hughes scene. “It’s the notion that fashion and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s not meant to be a putdown. If you met me, I’m also large. It’s like the Jews making jokes about the Jews. We’re not trying to be too serious”.


all images: screencaps 'the wc'/exero films
 

ABC Art Nation's story on Sonny Vandevelde

On the eve of RAFW, frockwriter mentioned that the ABC's hot new Art Nation show would be dedicating its entire May 2 edition to fashion. After sending the embed code for the fashion bloggers story, the producers kindly shot through deets for the standalone story on photographer Sonny Vandevelde that was also featured. It was shot during the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, when Sonny had a solo exhibition of his backstage work at Mars Gallery. Great to see his editorial work also given some due attention.

ABC Art Nation's story on fashion bloggers

Here is the ABC Art Nation story on fashion bloggers that I mentioned was due to air on Sunday evening, for anyone who missed it. The entire half hour show was in fact dedicated to fashion, which was great to see on Australian television - for once. Will bring you the other stories as quickly as the ABC can get those embed codes over. There was a great standalone profile on our buddy Sonny Vandevelde. And not before time.

ABC Art Nation tracks fashion bloggers

Well we did say RAFW is shaping up as a blogocalypse. And look, frockwriter actually means that in the nicest possible way. A mere whisper at the 2006 event, bloggers are really coming into their own this year. According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Georgina Robinson, whose story about fashion bloggers was splashed on page one of smh.com.au on Thursday, IMG had (as of Wednesday) officially accredited 20 bloggers this year. Robinson later revealed on Twitter that the company had knocked back another 30. In the interim, a number of those knocked back have had their accreditations rushed through. On the eve of RAFW, ABC's Art Nation joins the score of mainstream outlets to track the rise of fashion blogging as part of today's fashion-focussed show. I was honoured to be included, alongside Lady Melbourne and Fashion Hayley (with Sonny Vandevelde featured in either this or a separate story. Sonny was filmed during his recent LMFF exhibition).

The program airs at 5.30pm on ABC1 today and it will be repeated at 7pm on ABC2. Hopefully it will also go online.

In the interim, here is the teaser video from the ABC Art Nation site.

Just to further clarify the accreditation issue for bloggers, some appear to have erroneously believed an accreditation was the only entry point to the event.

Incorrect.

An accreditation, while handy, is only a guarantee into the main venue, the trade show, the media centre and the daily group shows that are organised by IMG. The guest lists of all solo collection shows are strictly at the discretion of the designers. Which is exactly how it works overseas. Earlier this week one Sydney publicist mentioned that 50percent of her guest list/s are non delegates.

Publicists appear to be thawing to the idea of bloggers. Which is great news. Because at the end of the day, they must surely realise that although the number of Australian newspapers, magazines and tv outlets covering RAFW has remained fairly static over the years, the number of independent online media outlets has grown exponentially. This coverage is new, additional exposure for all concerned.

Just a few of the great blogs that will be front and centre covering include, once again, Sonnyphotos (your go-to for the best backstage photography), also Imelda (the shoe expert - with an acerbic general fashion eye), Cultures In Between (an achingly cool indie perspective), the upwardly-mobile Sassisam, New Zealand's Aych and Isaaclikes and Sassybella.

There are many, many more, including etailer blogs (such as The Grand Social). I am flat out today and I am so sorry I don't have time to compile an exhaustive list, but please sing out in the comments so people know where to find you.

Best of luck to everyone with their coverage for the coming week.

I will do a post later today to clarify how frockwriter's multi-platform coverage will work this year. I am hoping this will make it easier to follow. Guys, I cannot do everything on Blogger. It's as simple as that.

In the interim, I have also included a Twitter widget to the RHS set to anyone referencing RAFW. If you are not familiar with Twitter, just click on the links highlighted in blue for more info about those people.

Carson Kressley talks Oz fashion, emus and tv conservatives

So Australian Fashion Week SS1011 is launched. Well, kind of. Wednesday's launch of the Frock Stars exhibition at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum served as a defacto kickoff, two weeks ahead of touchdown. Covered it briefly on Twitter. And frockwriter must admit, as we predicted, it was a little awkward. Case in point: amongst the speeches, not a peep from the event's founder Simon Lock, which seemed odd. The official schedule is now online. Frockwriter got pretty close to nailing it - here it is, superimposed over our original draft. Many thanks to all the tipsters who helped fill in the gaps. Celebrity stylist Carson Kressley was one of few celebs at Wednesday's launch. He was in town for a Westfield promotion and we had a quick chat - recorded on the BB using Qik.

The exhibition, which runs until the 29th August, features garments, sketches, photographs, videos and even press clippings (including one of my Sydney Morning Herald stories).

It was nice to see the following quote from Lock blown up at the exhibition's entrance and repeated on the Powerhouse website:

"Fashion week says to the world that Australia is able to compete in the most image-led, sophisticated, cultural market in the world, which is ready-to-wear fashion".

Johnny Weir to be Nine Network's RAFW commentator?

lifeskate.com

For anyone who hasn't been following the Johnny Weir/Nine Network saga during the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics, quick headsup. Eddie McGuire, Nine commentator (and former ceo), who has been anchoring the network's 2010 winter Olympics coverage, became embroiled in controversy over comments delivered during coverage of the male ice skating events last week, in tandem with guest host, Australian comedian Mick Molloy. The duo joked that flamboyantly-dressed male ice skaters - and in particular, ferosh US ice star Johnny Weir - did not leave "anything in the closet", with one competitor's costume described as "a bit of a Brokeback", in reference to Ang Lee's 2005 bromance Brokeback Mountain. In the wake of a backlash - which has included demands for a formal investigation in Australia into McGuire and Molloy's alleged vilification of homosexuals - Nine attempted to make amends by corralling Weir onto its Olympics team as a guest commentator.

After several nights of guest spots calling this week's womens' ice skating finals in Nine's field studio, Weir just presented an 11-minute wrapup of the best and worst fashions of the winter Olympics, together with McGuire and co-host Leila McKinnon.

In thanking Weir, McGuire alluded to possible future collaborations between the network and Weir. Noted McGuire:

"We are going to try to get you down to Australia in the not too distant future. Not only come down and have some fun, maybe with Fashion Weeks and things like that, but we want to see to see you skate, You are a champion and for all the hoohaa that's being going on, sometimes you can forget that you are a fantastic athlete".

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is due to run from May 3-7 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Beyond some high profile blogging invitees that organisers are rumoured to be wooing - the names Tavi Gevinson and Susie Bubble spring to mind - will Johnny Weir ice the rest of the competition out of Sydney's front row?

Abbey Lee Kershaw talks to Today Tonight

Just before Christmas I mentioned that I bumped into Abbey Lee Kershaw on a shoot in Sydney. As I can now reveal, the job was Vogue Australia's March cover shoot and I was there to do an interview with La Kershaw for Today Tonight, the Australian nightly prime time current affairs program to which I recently returned as a producer (after a ten year hiatus). The issue is of course now out and less than an hour ago, our tv exclusive went to air. Here it is.

My New Year's Eve

This is a little off-brief for frockwriter but FYI, this is how I spent New Year's Eve: hooning the streets of Sydney for about seven hours with a camera crew and two paramedics in a NSW Ambulance Service rapid response vehicle, for a story about the service. It was a fascinating experience. I shot the handycam footage in the opener and a few other spots.

Pressing matters

I mention press pickups here and there on Twitter. And if you scroll to the end of any Blogger blog post, after the comments, you can generally see which blogs have picked up stories (although this feature is not 100% reliable). But I thought I'd start corralling media pickups of frockwriter's stories (and interviews). I'm not going to plaster the blog's white space with them, just include a new "press" button on the RHS, for anyone who is remotely interested, linking back to this page. At time of writing [but since updated], apart from a new Canadian news link to a June, 2009 post about Christopher Kane, top of the list is the deluge of coverage of the Abbey Lee Kershaw/Alexander McQueen shoe post from two weeks ago. This story went all over the world. Including, hilariously, one tv news bulletin in Italy - something I only spotted by fluke after trawling Google News and finding this Sky News player, above, embedded in one Italian newspaper mention.

This doesn't count a plethora of other outlets, blogs and forums that picked the story up, kicking off with Fashionologie and Modelinia. Refinery29, Jezebel and Sydney's Daily Telegraph, among others, took it from there.

You've got to love the viral nature of the net. 

Link love: The day our love for J-Woww was exposed as completely unironic, The Gloss, October 20, 2010

Chic in review, T Magazine, The New York Times, October 15, 2010

Celebrity’s not so flash when there’s a price to pay, The Sydney Morning Herald, October 16, 2010

Even cartoon models have drama, Philadelphia Weekly, October 11, 2010

Kate Spade’s Husband Cuts Her Hair While She Sleeps; Lara Stone Wants Gay Sons,
The Cut, New York Magazine, October 11, 2010

Australians: Mind sending us a Stella McCartney for Target care package?, The Frisky, October 5, 2010

Stella McCartney’s business booms, teams up with Target, BlackBook Magazine, October 1, 2010

Book your flights now ladies: Stella McCartney for Target.......Australia, Racked, October 1, 2010

Fashion bloggers, Art Nation, ABC, May 2, 2010

Move over Anna Wintour, there's a new fashion queen, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 28, 2010.

Fashion's new front row, Marie Claire Australia, March 2, 2010

Julia Nobis: Australia's Next Big Thing, Pedestrian.tv, February 25, 2010

McQueen sales soar, show to go on, BlackBook Magazine, February 16, 2010

Abbey Lee on the pressure to be thin, Pedestrian.tv, February 10, 2010

Christopher Kane: Atom Provocateur, The National Post, Canada, January 8, 2010

Modelky protestují proti velmi vysokým podpatkům, Tyden, Czech Republic, January 1, 2010

Sciopero delle top model, si rifiutano di portare tacchi troppo alti e pericolosi, Valdesa.net, Italy, December 29, 2009

Des top-modèles se liguent contre les talons trop hauts, 20 Minutes, France, December 29, 2009

Tacchi troppo alti? Modelle in sciopero, Libero, Italy, December 28, 2009

E le top-model «scioperano» contro i tacchi troppo alti, Corriere della Sera, December 27, 2009

Models revolt over heel hell, The Independent on Sunday, UK, December 27, 2009

Modeller nektet å gå med disse skoene, Dagbladet, Norway, December 24, 2009

Models refused to wear THOSE McQueen shows!, Grazia UK, December 22, 2009

Three Models Cut From Alexander McQueen Show After Refusing To Wear Armadillo Shoes, The Huffington Post, US, December 22, 2009

Models Refused to Walk Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 Show Because the Shoes Terrified Them, New York Magazine/The Cut, US, December 22, 2009

Q&A - Brave New World, Ragtrader, Australia, originally published in print September 25, 2009

Q&A - Blogger Vision , FTape, UK, September 7, 2009

Has Facebook killed blogging? The Age, Australia, June 25, 2009

The 5 best blogs and websites for Australian Fashion Week, PC World, Australia, April 24, 2009

The counterfeiters

In November, Today Tonight looked at the spate of blatant copies in the Australian mid market footwear sector. Last month, I developed a story about actual luxury brand counterfeits. It went to air on Christmas Eve, the fruit of several weeks shooting, first at Penrith market, including hidden camera footage, and then a police raid at Allambie Heights. We tagged along as police descended on one private house that was filled with counterfeit goods, including designer handbags and, alarmingly, fake prestige brand cosmetics. The figures quoted come from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition and also Australian Customs. Luxury counterfeits would definitely appear to be on the rise. According to Customs, the number of seizures was down by two thirds in the 08-09 financial year, but the volume of merchandise seized had doubled on 07-08. Reporter Laura Sparkes voiced the story. Hope to follow it up.

First look at Tahnee Atkinson in Bettina Liano's new Curvy jean on TT

Two weeks ago frockwriter revealed that Bettina Liano was about to launch a more amply-cut jean - notably up to a size 16 - and that she had booked Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 5 winner Tahnee Atkinson to promote it. Pierre Toussaint shot the new campaign on Monday and Today Tonight was there. The story went to air last night. I produced/wrote, Sally Obermeder is the reporter, Ray Munro edited.

Fashion copies - back on the Australian current affairs agenda

As some may already be aware, I am currently working as a producer at a nightly Australian current affairs program called Today Tonight on the Seven Network (which explains my lack of posting of late). It’s a program on which I worked 10 years ago and it’s interesting being back, working on a mix of stories. In terms of fashion stories, it’s been a great opportunity to get some subjects to a much bigger audience than I do on this blog or indeed via the other outlets for which I normally write – try 1.7million per night (including web traffic). On my first day back I broached a couple of story ideas with executive producer Craig McPherson, top of the list being a subject that I have blogged about on several occasions: the fashion industry discriminating against plus-size consumers. Another fashion story aired this week – the rampant plagiarism across Australia's $1.8billion footwear sector.

The genesis for this story idea was a great July post from Australian shoe blogger Matt ‘Imelda’ Jordan. In his post, Jordan discussed a direct copy of a shoe design by London-based Dane Camilla Skovgaard, by Australian mid market shoe manufacturer Tony Bianco.

Most interesting of all: the subsequent tip from Jordan that Tony Bianco had dispatched a series of intimidating legal letters in the hope of obtaining a retraction of some of the claims in the post.

The audacity was breathtaking.

As revealed by Jordan, not only had Tony Bianco done a faithful reproduction of Skovgaard’s signature S8001 sandal – the style which originally made her name – but had even attempted to engineer a fake celebrity endorsement to promote the company's copy.

When launching its “Sexy Roberto” shoe to the Australian fashion press, Tony Bianco sent out US red carpet shots of celebrities Cindy Crawford and Halle Berry in Skovgaard’s originals. There was no mention of Camilla Skovgaard’s name on the mailout.

Tony Bianco’s lawyers seized on several points in Jordan’s post: notably his accusations that Camilla Skovgaard had “unleashed her lawyers” on the company and that Tony Bianco was guilty of “copyright infringement”.

Both were factually incorrect. But the David and Goliath factor made for a great story.

Although Skovgaard did consult lawyers at the time, the only representatives to contact Tony Bianco were from her US PR team.

Having failed to register the design in Australia, moreover, a straight copyright infringement case would have been indefensible.

Due to changes, in 2003, to Australia’s IP legislation, unless a designer has registered each and every design they hope to protect in this market, they are unable to in fact enforce copyright. This is unlike numerous other jurisdictions, for example the EU, where designers have an unregistered design right.

That’s not to say that Skovgaard doesn't have any legal rights here. Sources say that she would probably have little trouble proving “reputation” for the design (make that designs - it later emerged that TB has copied two Camilla Skovgaard shoes this season). The fake celebrity endorsement is a separate matter.

Only problem – she has been told that she's looking at a minumum $50,000 investment to get a case up, with of course no guarantee of success. That's a big ask of a young, independent designer.

All the companies mentioned in the story were of course offered right of reply. Noone took up the offer.

Their respective responses when I called requesting interviews were fascinating. One company even claimed that it had come up with the design in question five years ago.

It is entirely possible that Sportsgirl's Camilla Skovgaard knockoff was even supplied by a manufacturer that was already knocking off her shoe under its own brand, thereby vastly increasing its market. A big return for zero design investment in other words. Sportsgirl declined to identify the supplier of the shoe.

It’s interesting how companies that copy, often seem quite indignant when they're called out on it.

Some $400,000 in court ordered damages has been awarded for design/copyright infringement cases over the past 12 months in cases mounted by Australian companies that have taken advantage of the new Designs Registration Regime and opted to register designs.

The first fashion victory under the new system was Review versus The Discovery Group in March 2008.

Although not working for TT at the time, I was interviewed that month as talent for the program’s story about the Review case. I had the temerity to mention that it wasn’t the first time the company, which owns the Charlie Brown and lili trademarks, had copied others. I provided one example of a devoré velvet poncho with a peacock motif, first shown by New Zealand label Sabatini at New Zealand Fashion Week in September 2004 – and copied six months later by Charlie Brown.

On three previous occasions, I had written about Charlie Brown’s cheaper version of the poncho, which turned up in store the minute the Sabatini poncho appeared on the cover of the Winter 2005 catalogue of Australian department store David Jones and, notably, once word spread that the poncho was walking out the door at DJs.

But Brown had been called out for copying as far back as 1998 - by Marion Hume, then the editor of Vogue Australia.

After I mentioned the Sabatini incident on Today Tonight, Brown also threatened legal action. To date, nought's come of it.

Back in 1995, I wrote a 4,000 word expose on copying in the Australian fashion industry for the now defunct Australian current affairs magazine, The Independent Monthly. It was the year before the launch of Mercedes Australian Fashion Week and the emergence of a new generation of export-focussed designers. Australia was still locked in a culture of so-called "designers" sending international designer samples in to magazines to be photographed (still with the labels attached) while the "designers" were busy manufacturing their copies.

The story kicked off with the infamous anecdote from the Bicentennial Wool Collection at the Sydney Opera House in 1988, for which nine international designers were flown to Sydney, including Sonia Rykiel, Kenzo and the late Gianni Versace and Jean Muir. During rehearsals, Claude Montana had to be physically restrained from clocking Marilyn Said and Barry Taffs - the designers behind the Covers label. Covers had been selected to represent Australia in the show and Montana felt that their collection showed a little too much Montana influence.

Called Fashion Thieves, it was a cover story and it prompted three separate television profiles, including A Current Affair.

That story was the reason I wound up working for A Current Affair for a brief stint in early 1996 - before quickly heading to Today Tonight, where I stayed for three and a half years. I am often being reminded of this story. Several weeks ago Oyster’s Alyx Gorman drew my attention to the fact that it’s even cited in an article in the Journal of Australian Political Science.

Now I’m back in current affairs tv - still talking about copying. Because 21 years after the Bicentennial Wool Collection, many Australian companies are still shamelessly copying international designers.

For sure, copying exists everywhere. As the Tom Gunn girls pointed out in their TT interview, the London high street is notorious for quickly turning around catwalk trends. The "fast fashion" retailers Zara, Mango and H&M have revolutionised the business, turning around catwalk trends - although not necessarily one-for-one copies - at lightning speed.

But Australian copycats enjoy several other unique advantages. This was pointed out in a piece to camera in the original script for the TT story, which wound up being cut when we lost two and a half minutes.

There is also our proximity to the Chinese factories, exacerbated by the fact that we are a season behind the northern hemisphere. This means copies can be on shelves before the originals have even arrived.