The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010 screened in the US on Tuesday night. Predictably, it did not take long to wind up on YouTube. Here is the entire show, below, which frockwriter noted last month did not include a single Australian model for the first time in four years. Several Australians were, however, involved in the show. For the sixth consecutive year, Sydney jeweller Jenny Mercian created some spectacular showpieces, including this fringed corset, above. And New York-based Sydney expat casting director and show producer Kannon Rajah can be seen in numerous shots sending the models out onto the runway. 

Victoria's Secret gives Australian models the cold shoulder

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

Since Miranda Kerr first touched down in the multimillion dollar extravaganza that is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2006, there has been a steady trickle of Australian faces onto its runway. In 2008, Kerr was joined by Abbey Lee Kershaw and Sarah Stephens. Last year, the Aussie VS triumvirate was comprised of Kerr, Kershaw and Elyse Taylor. No surprise that at seven months pregnant, Kerr is out of action at this year’s event. But what is perhaps surprising is that there are no other Australian models in this year’s show – the first taping of which has just occurred in New York, with another show imminent. Not even Kershaw, who is ranked by models.com as the world number five and who some believed was locked in. Frockwriter can confirm that Kershaw did not do the show. Her Sydney and New York agencies have been unusually quiet on matters VS in the leadup to this year's event - and given that all the Australians in the show to date have been from their stable, that's understandable. All Chic Management would say this morning was that Kershaw was "very busy" with other matters.

According to our casting sources, Elyse Taylor, Jessica Hart and newcomer Rosemary Smith all made it through to the final casting call.

But that still leaves a slew of other Australians working on the show, notably in show production and casting, Kannon Rajah and of course jeweller Jenny Mercian, who has worked on the show for the past six years - and who designs under the brand name Manik Mercian.

Mercian took with her to New York four spectacular new Swarovski crystal “showstoppers” worth approximately A$100,000 each that were created for this year's show, in addition to a selection of other jewellery, including pieces from her Sahani ready-to-wear line. 

Three of her showpieces are pictured here in images 1 to 5 from the top of this page, including the black crystal-encrusted skirt, one-shouldered shrug and gladiatrix-like cuff pictured on Candice Swanepoel, (top, with two different views, below). “I have honed in my patternmaking skills learnt at uni, one look I’ve completely sewn and solded - it involves fabrics and jewels” Mercian told me two weeks ago.  

Kerr is not the only contracted Victoria's Secret Angel on maternity leave – so is Doutzen Kroes. 

The show starred the other remaining Angels, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Chanel Iman, Lily Aldridge, Rose Huntington-Whitely, Swanepoel and Erin Heatherton. Joining them was a cast of headliners who included Lily Donaldson, Magdalena Frackowiak, Anja Rubik, Liu Wen and Karolina Kurkova. The models shared the runway with performers Katy Perry and Akon.

And yes of course, the models - and even Perry - wore the show's signature OTT outfits, including various sets of angel wings, all styled by Charlotte Stockdale – who also has Australian connections, being the wife of Australian industrial designer Marc Newson. 

The show will be broadcast on CBS on November 30.

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

manik mercian for victoria's secret/getty via daylife

all images: getty via daylife

Did the then "almost unemployed" Lara Stone neglect to stitch up a nude Greg Lotus photoshoot in 2008?

celebrity69  via fashionising

Last week frockwriter revealed that the spectacular onyx and crystal corset and cuff worn by Lara Stone in the June edition of Playboy France were originally designed by Australian jeweller Jenny Mercian for the 2008 Victoria's Secret show. We also noted that some mystery surrounded the origin of the photos. Although some images had already been widely circulated online in late 2009, with only the website of photographer Greg Lotus cited as a source, it appeared to be the first time the shots had made it to print. Now comes news that Stone is is taking legal action against both Playboy France and Lotus, in order to "protect" her "reputation", claiming the publication of the shots was unauthorised and that she would never have posed for Playboy. Given the volume of nude work that Stone has pumped into the public domain in recent years, the claim that her reputation has been sullied by a nude Playboy spread seems a little frivolous. The far bigger issues, surely, are did Stone not have the right to consultation before the photos were sold to Playboy and is she entitled to remuneration?  

One clue to the timing of the photoshoot is Stone’s strapped ankle, which some have made light of, assuming it may have been a styling accessory (along with the wheelchair which appears in some shots).

If frockwriter is not mistaken, the images were taken some time after the 2008 Victoria’s Secret show, on November 15 2008, when the corset was worn by Selita Ebanks -  and the publication of several other photos of Stone with her ankled strapped shortly afterwards, reportedly after falling off a pair of killer Rodarte heels (possibly these) at a W photoshoot.

Just a reminder that although Stone is now ranked as the world number one editorial/advertising/runway model by models.com, in late 2008 it was a different matter.

Pivotal to Stone’s meteoric rise in 2009 was the publication, in February last year, of a virtual Lara Stone issue of Paris Vogue. With the cover line, “Et Vogue Créa Lara” ("And Vogue Created Lara" - a play on Roger Vadim’s 1956 classic, And God Created Woman, starring Brigitte Bardot).

When asked why she decided to dedicate 100 pages of editorial to the Dutch model, Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld told Hintmag.com in late 2008:

“Lara had almost stopped working so I decided I wanted to make her a star”.

She might well have been in the 2008 VS show, but is it possible that the then much less high profile Stone did an edgy magazine submission with a mate, thinking it might help boost her profile - and either she, or her agent/s, neglected to formalise the terms of the arrangement with Lotus? 

With Stone now at the very the top of the industry, commanding top dollar via lucrative advertising deals - such as a triple exclusive with Calvin Klein - quite obviously her image is far more valuable in 2010 than it was in 2008. Lotus was probably paid handsomely for the shots - although a lot less, presumably, than Playboy would have had to pay Stone to pose for them.

According to leading IP specialist Stephen Stern, from Melbourne's Corrs Chambers Westgarth, the go-to IP rep for LVMH and many luxury brands in Australia, provided that Lotus was working independently at the time the photographs were taken – and was not employed by another company – then the copyright most likely belongs to him.

“Unless there was a contract of some form – even oral – restricting the use of the photographs, the photographer could use them as he sees fit” Stern told frockwriter.

“But there is no one international law on ownership of copyright. It depends in which country the photos were taken - or where you want to stop the publication. Some countries do have rights of publicity (ie of public figures) that exist independently of copyright law. Everything depends on what was agreed or could reasonably be implied in the agreement between Lara Stone and the photographer. And lastly, any damages that she could claim, if there are in fact numerous nude photos of her in circulation, if the (Playboy) photos were obscene then there may be reputational issues. If they are simply like other naked photos of her, then her loss might well be what she could charge to have those photos published”.

Jenny Mercian dresses Lara Stone for French Playboy

celebrity69 via fashionising

Jenny Mercian has made a career out of bejewelling bombshells. Since she first set foot on the fashion stage in May 2005, displaying her spectacular crystal body jewellery at a trade show stand at Australian Fashion Week, the Sydney-based jeweller has been a principal supplier to five Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows, outfitting the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Alessandra Ambrosio in increasingly elaborate showpieces (and on Friday, winning the Catwalk Jewels of the Year Award at the UK Jewellery Awards for her runway efforts). Well now Mercian can add Lara Stone to that list. In the June/July issue of Playboy France, the world number one wears Mercian’s dramatic onyx/crystal corset and cuff – and not much else (NSFW). Here is a clearer image of the cuff, below, although it must be said, it’s not one of Stone’s better shots.

celebrity69 via fashionising

The story, entitled “Lara Stone is my drug”, was shot by Greg Lotus last year, although it’s unclear if the images have previously been published in print.

Numerous websites picked the images up last December, including Fashion Gone Rogue, with only the Greg Lotus website cited as a source. In any event, Playboy includes several other apparently unseen images from the same series.

The pieces were originally made for the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and were worn by Selita Ebanks:

zimbio

Lara Stone was in that VS show, but did not wear any of Mercian’s jewellery. 

The jewellery worn by Stone in Playboy came via the London headquarters of Mercian's sponsor Swarovski, which holds some of her jewellery and loans it out for various shoots. 

And it obviously gets around - because here are the same pieces in the background of Mercian's Sydney studio in this Today Tonight story which ran in December. 

"I got it FedExed in and out for the TT story as it's my favourite piece" she told frockwriter.

Mercian's jewellery isn't the only Australian connection to Playboy France. 

Australian model Tiah Eckhardt who, coincidentally, has just replaced Stone as the face of French lingerie brand Eres, appeared in Playboy France in December 2008. 

Casting clout: Kannon Rajah carves up the show circuit, from Karl to Ksubi

Frockwriter has mentioned Sydney expat Kannon Rajah on several previous occasions. During 2008’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – on which he has worked in casting and show production since 2006 – and last year’s VS show, which we profiled in a tv story on Today Tonight. We caught up with the casting dynamo yesterday down in Bondi. Rajah, who now lives in New York with his Australian wife and son, returned to work on Ksubi’s show which closed RAFW. It was a bit of a homecoming for Rajah who started his career working for the then Mercedes Australian Fashion Week from 2001-2005, initially as a runner and eventually designer relations director and show producer. Victoria’s Secret isn’t Rajah’s only coup – in February he became the casting director for Italian luxurygoods maker Fendi, the latest in an expanding roster of personal clients, which also includes Gareth Pugh, Pedro Lourenco and Willow.


Yes that’s right, Rajah is now Karl Lagerfeld’s right-hand man – at least when it comes to the casting of the Fendi show, on which Lagerfeld works as creative director (here's Rajah, above, in an in-house video). Rajah would no doubt love to get his hands on Lagerfeld's other shows: Karl Lagerfeld and the luxury motherlode, Chanel.

That’s after five years working for some of the fashion world’s biggest show production companies. Here is a list of the companies and shows with which Rajah has worked since leaving Sydney:

With KCD:
Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton

With Bureau Betak:
Christian Dior, Victoria's Secret

With Villa Eugenie:
Lanvin, Chanel, Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel, Hermès, Hugo Boss

With OBO:
Victoria's Secret, Fashion Rocks

With Without:
Burberry, Gucci, Prada

With John Pfeiffer:
Victoria's Secret, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Lacoste, Halston, Akris, Hussein Chalayan

Of course had things worked out differently, Rajah might have been working these days with elite athletes.

Instead, he dropped out of physiotherapy and Sports Science studies at Sydney University to join Australian Fashion Week - and now finds himself working with elite performers of a different kind.

Of all the models of RAFW, Rajah says he has his eye on seven new names: Chic Management’s Juliana Forge, Viviens’ Eliza Humble and Dempsey Stewart, Work Agency's Jessica McColl, Chadwicks' Victoria Lee and Priscillas’ Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Zippora Seven.

The latter two models are both petite compared with the regular runway amazons. But then, Kate Moss was 170cm and that didn’t stop her.

“Even though they [Northwood-Blyth and Seven] might not have the typical height of a runway model, they more than compensate for it with their stunning features and body proportions” Rajah told frockwriter. “Also, they are great characters with great personalities”.






(top to bottom: eliza humble/RTW 1 SS1011; bambi northwood blyth/michael lo sordo SS1011; juliana forge/dion lee SS1011; zippora seven/stolen girlfriends club AW10 and dempsey stewart/manning cartell SS1011 via isaaclikes)

Here is a feature that US modelling authority models.com ran on Rajah in February, featuring 82 of his own Polaroids of his top model picks for the FW1011 season (including Australians Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Myf Shepherd - which is curious, given that Shepherd took the season off).

Here are a couple of frockwriter’s Posterous shots from backstage at Ksubi which went up on Twitter in real-time (each of which has been viewed over 1000 times).





Here is frockwriter's Posterous photo gallery of Ksubi backstage and the show.

And here is a mini wrap of the event that I wrote for News Ltd’s The Punch opinion site, which includes the Ksubi show.

Juliana forges ahead

Frockwriter mentioned that Chic Management’s new star Juliana Forge walked in 21 shows at her first Rosemount Australian Fashion Week earlier this month. We were sworn to secrecy over Forge’s recent Ralph Lauren Rugby campaign, because, well, sometimes models shoot and are paid for campaigns, only to wind up on the cutting room floor. But in the case of the 18 year-old Victorian, that's not the case, because here she is in the Ralph Lauren campaign. And now here is a sneak peek at two Max Doyle images from Forge's upcoming Seafolly Limited Edition campaign – that’s the new high-end line from the 35 year-old Australian swimwear brand. It’s a pretty great get for a new model, especially considering the established names who have previously been cast: Alyssa Sutherland for the inaugural Seafolly Limited Edition campaign, with everyone from Miranda Kerr to Catherine McNeil and Jessica Hart modelling for Seafolly proper.

Add to this a multigirl Harpers Bazaar Australia cover, together with campaigns for Just Jeans and Red Earth, and Forge appears to be well en route. If not to be the next Miranda Kerr, as Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported yesterday, then at least certainly Australia's latest rising Australian modelling star.

Some of the information in the SH story is inaccurate, at least according to Chic Management, which reports that there was interest in Forge from German Vogue at one point, which however came to nought. There is no second Ralph Lauren Rugby campaign. And Forge does not leave for New York this week.

According to Chic, Forge is heading to New York in June, where there may well be a go-see with Victoria's Secret, as reported.

Chic Management and its New York affiliate Next do of course have a knack for getting their models into the VS show, so let's wait and see.

Lingerie was however apparently far from Forge's mind in 2008, when she was a Melbourne schoolgirl modelling part-time and repped by Melbourne's Camerons agency. In August that year she told The Age's Janice Breen Burns:

"I have a say in what jobs I do too - like, I won't do underwear. And I wouldn't be pressured into being really skinny".

At the time Forge also reportedly described catalogue gigs as "cheesy". But that doesn't appear to have precluded her recently doing what looks very much like an online lingerie catalogue gig for Bloomingdales.



both images: max doyle for seafolly, courtesy seafolly

Prada's curve ball: Fall/Winter 2010/2011 video

Frockwriter talked about the unusual casting this morning. Here is Prada’s video of the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show if you haven't seen it already, or missed the live stream. And on closer inspection, with all the full-skirted dresses, A-line skirts and Princess line coats – the wardrobe staples of many fuller-figured women (you only have to check the best-selling merchandise of antipodian brands Easton Pearson and Trelise Cooper, which cater specifically to the mature customer) - the brand’s casting strategy makes a whole lot of sense.

Not that there is anything remotely middle aged about the Victoria’s Secret Angels.

But their hyper “sexy” figures, which have placed them at the top of the modelling industry by way of earnings, as distinct to high fashion cachet, make them a little closer to regular women, with breasts and bottoms. As distinct from the androgynous, barely pubescent teenagers who have dominated the runways for the past decade.

Indeed, Dutch bombshell Doutzen Kroes, one of Prada's Victoria's Secret Angels, is one of several high profile models who have dominated fashion coverage over the past fortnight - over the fact they have been excluded from the runways due to issues of weight. On the eve of New York Fashion Week, at a CFDA body image initiative, Kroes told reporters that she rarely does shows because, although she might have done so when she was "11 or 12", she doesn't fit the current runway sample size.

Also on the eve of New York Fashion Week, the well documented weight struggles of Australia's own Gemma Ward were the focus of a 2500 word feature in The New York Post. And Canadian Coco Rocha was on the record with The New York Times saying:

“I’m not in demand for the shows anymore”

Although she was quoted directly in the NYT, on her blog, Rocha later claimed the story was a beatup. Only further confusing matters by admitting:

"in another parallel universe I'm considered "fat"

Presumably, that parallel universe is fashion.

Backstage, Prada talked about going back to the brand’s heritage (there’s that word again). The sexy secretary vibe and Sixties homewares graphics certainly did that.

The braided beehives seemed inspired by both Mad Men (although Miuccia Prda reportedly claims she's never watched it) and the stylish Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko (a connection previously noted by Bryanboy after Prada’s FW0809 collection).

But it also reminded frockwriter of Prada’s SS08 show, which we clocked in person.

Much was made at the time about the casting of full-bosomed Lara Stone, who also hails from the Netherlands, with many outlets heralding a return of curves to the runway.

Stone seemed somewhat larger two years ago than she is now. To wit, we distinctly recall overhearing backstage model gossip about the first casting she attended in Milan that season. “Jaws dropped” we were told, when Stone entered the room, such was her relative bulk compared to the other ectomorphs.

It is well worth noting that, two years down the track, Stone has just graduated to world number #1 on models.com.

Prada bumps an all skinny cast to include Victoria's Secret Angels - and four Australians

prada fw1011/getty

Yesterday there were whispers that the Prada cast in Milan might “shake the earth with surprise”. Frockwriter wondered if that might mean Miuccia Prada was planning to include plus sized Crystal Renn? Not quite, but fascinating casting nonetheless and it involves a hell of a lot of Australians. Yes the fashion world was gobsmacked by Balenciaga’s inclusion of Miranda Kerr in its Spring/Summer 2010 show in Paris last September. Well just as frockwriter hinted Kerr might make an appearance in Milan, she has just walked in Prada, alongside two other Victoria's Secret Angels, Doutzen Kroes and Allessandra Ambrosio, not to mention Kerr's compatriots and Chic stablemates Catherine McNeil and Abbey Lee Kershaw. And not forgetting Australia’s hottest new modelling star, Priscilla's Julia Nobis, who, as we reported, scored a Calvin Klein exclusive in New York last week and powered along at London Fashion Week this week, walking for a handful of top shows, including Burberry, Richard Nicoll and Topshop Unique - opening the latter two (and just dubbed a breakout star of the season by New York Magazine). Here is Prada's complete cast list.

None of the Victoria's Secret contract Angels are "plus sized", so let's just put things in perspective here. They are all thinner than "average" women. But they are more voluptuous than your "average" high fashion models, which is why they are in high demand for lingerie and swimwear work.

Catherine McNeil however, interestingly, has not done runway shows for several seasons - because, it has been claimed, she gained weight.

This is not a victory for plus sized models. But it is nonetheless a very interesting move in an area of fashion that is known for its draconian weight regulations and one that is no doubt about to be discussed at length.

Jewel citizenship: Jenny Mercian rocks Victoria's Secret

Here is another of the (numerous) posts that I have not had a chance to put up since going back to fulltime work in October. Given that yesterday was Australia Day here, this one seemed more than appropriate: another Today Tonight story which aired in late November, immediately after the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was taped in New York. Modelwatchers will obviously be more than familiar with the Australian girls in the VS show, from Miranda Kerr to Abbey Lee Kershaw and this year, Elyse Taylor. Frockwriter has also previously mentioned Sydney expat casting director/show producer Kannon Rajah, who has worked on the show for several years. One name with which you may not be familiar is Jenny Mercian, a Sydney jeweller who has worked on the show for the past five years.

I wrote about Jenny when she first showed up at Australian Fashion Week 2005, on the occasion of her first VS show and elsewhere. So this was a good opportunity to do the tv version (which I produced).

Hit up the player (above) to see the TT story.

Here are also some images from Jenny's more accessible new diffusion line Sahani - and the complete Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, in case you missed it when it aired on December 3.

Four Australian Victoria's Secret Angels?

elyse taylor/sonny vandevelde

Could Sydney super agency Chic Management be en route to supplying four Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show models this year? That’s what frockwriter is wondering, following the news that Elyse Taylor has been been cast in the 2009 show, which tapes in New York on Thursday. Victoria’s Secret Angel Miranda Kerr is of course a given and Abbey Lee Kershaw is also a strong possiblity, given her appearance in the show last year and her recent VS ad work with Behati Prinsloo. Sarah Stephens may even make a second appearance after, we hear, receiving a special request to attend the castings. If all four Chic-ettes turn up on the runway, that would surpass the agency’s VS model hat trick last year. (Updated: Stephens was not cast. Only three Australians walked in the show).

Taylor is on a roll at the moment - and not before time. The face of August’s Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival, she is the November covergirl of Vogue Australia. Taylor left Australia to try her luck in the US in 2005, at the same time as her once close mate Miranda Kerr. Although Taylor has worked steadily in the interim, a high profile has so far eluded her. It will be interesting to see the two former best friends strut their stuff together on the one mega catwalk.

Amusingly, Taylor’s dad Ross is a senior executive at Australian intimate apparel giant Pacific Brands, which operates labels including Bonds, Berlei, Playtex and Hestia in this market.