We won't be seeing any of this at the David Jones Autumn/Winter 2011 runway showcase on February 8 presumably. But here is current season David Jones face and former youth ambassador for the upmarket Australian department store chain, like you have never seen her before. Recalling the modern horror cinematic genre - and perhaps some of the horrors experienced by her ancestors at the hands of European settlers - in the Bound More Than a Madman Is story from the upcoming edition of Karen magazine, the indigenous Australian model is blindfolded and bound to various pieces of furniture. These include a coffee table and an antique wood-and-wicker chair that looks like a sinister film prop from a Victorian lunatic asylum. Shot by Cara Stricker and styled by Bex Sheers, the story is accompanied by a short film (below). Here are a couple of images. Head to Pedestrian to see the remainder. Given that Harris returned from London Fashion Week earlier than expected last year because, according to industry buzz, she was a little intimidated by the big, bad world of international fashion, looks like she's over her shyness. A Terry Richardson shoot surely can't be too far away.
Australian sportswear brand Marcs might have cool new Australian model Julia Nobis as its current advertising face, but when the company was looking for talent to embody its new ‘ICONS’ campaign, it opted for non professional models. Not that they’re exactly ordinary mortals (top to bottom): actors Sophie Lowe and Krew Boylan, Dank Street Depot chef Jared Ingersoll, meditation guru Gary Gorrow (brother of Ksubi co-founder George Gorrow), artist Tanya Linney and snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin - who became Australia’s first snowboard champion on Tuesday after winning the snowboard cross world championship in La Molina, Spain. Shot by Stephen Ward, the campaign showcases six Marcs classics that have been in the Sydney brand’s repertoire since it was founded in 1979 by the late Mark Keighery: mens’ and womens’ V-neck T-shirts and button-down shirts, a mens’ round-neck T and a womens’ shirtwaister. Oz ski blogger Lorraine Lock had a preview of Pullin yesterday on Snow Blind, but here is a first look at the complete campaign and a video.
Tom Ford isn’t the only American luxury brand going gung ho in the leadup to this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles. Following the unveiling of a supersite billboard of Ford together with Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, comes a 20 second television commercial produced by Calvin Klein to run during the Globes broadcast on NBC. No this is not Calvin Klein's first tvc. Founder Calvin Klein made an impact with a series of highly provocative television spots in the 1980s and 1990s starring, among others, Brooke Shields and Kate Moss in the company's jeans, underwear and fragrances (here is a backgrounder). But this tvc, the company claims, represents the first time it has ever produced a branded tv campaign advertising Calvin Klein's designer collections (with accessories and homewares also getting a lookin). Starring world number 1 Lara Stone and Tyson Ballou, the commercial was shot on location in La Jolla, California and directed by Fabien Baron. Here is a first look.
Well Tom Ford certainly got off to a cracking start in 2011, uploading images of his new eyewear campaign which co-stars Abbey Lee Kershaw. Evidently Ford is another client who didn’t mind Kershaw’s new platinum blonde do – even apparently adding hair extensions. Now (viaHomotography) comes a video of that top-secret debut Tom Ford womenswear show which was presented to a tightly-edited throng of just 100 at New York Fashion Week in September, with highly restricted camera access. Ford has spent a lot of time talking down the new digital news domain, telling US Vogue, "I do not understand everyone's need to see everything online the day after the show". Now that it’s crunch time for Ford's collection to hit stores, frockwriter has little doubt he is thrilled that social media is spreading the buzz.
The Ivy bar and restaurant complex isn't the only initiative that's helping put a pulse into Sydney's CBD. The A$1.2billion Sydney Westfield development already has the city buzzing and it's not due for completion until 2012. Both anchor tenants, Australia's biggest David Jones and Myer flagships, have increased their trading hours by an hour each day. And as anyone wandering through the 130 specialty boutiques and restaurants that opened in Stage One in October can attest, it's pretty busy in there. There is a lot yet to open in the first half of 2011, including Australia's first Zara and new luxury players, including Bottega Veneta, Christian Louboutin and Miu Miu. Adding to the existing level five "food precinct" that has already opened - aka The Sydney Room - will be a by all accounts spectacular open air rooftop terrace on level seven called the Sky Bar. This is not a traditional box mall, but an amalgam of three existing retail arcades. It's a little complicated to navigate at first and some are complaining it is also a little dark, but the striking architecture marks this development apart from other Westfields. It was outsourced to Melbourne's John Wardle Architects for the exteriors and for the interiors, to Tokyo's Wonderwall, whose clients include Colette, A Bathing Ape and Uniqlo. Curious to see what the whole development will look like in 2012? Check this cool 3D animation below, for a virtual tour.
As the countdown continues to the May 20 2011 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, in which Australian model-turned-actor Gemma Ward is due to appear as a mermaid (its trailer, due for release on December 17, may well including a fleeting glimpse of same), turns out Ward’s model-turned-writer/publisher sister Sophie Ward has made a movie of her own. Or rather, a haunting “video poem” called My Dirtied Soles, that she has written and narrated and which is directed by New York-based German photographer/filmmaker Sebastian Mader. Sophie Ward is a talented writer, whose first novel, The Beginning of an Inexplicable Journey is downloadable as an e-book from her website). And as she demonstrates with this project (below), she also has a great voice - just like her sister.
screen caps 'my dirtied soles'
According to the release:
“Poetry as an art form has lived in many mediums, from the spoken to the written word. Now it moves to a new dimensions. My Dirtied Soles is a video poem born out of a vision for contributing the potency of poetic messages to human beings….. My Dirtied Soles is the first in a cycle of expressions on the journey of life itself -- on our basic needs, fears, and yearnings which speak of what it is to be a human today. Sophie and Sebastian are now working on Act II of the cycle, to be released early 2011”.
Excited by Stella McCartney for Target Australia mark II? Try Lanvin for H&M. Here's the capsule collection video starring Hannelore Knuts, Jane Schmitt, Tati Cotliar and Natasha Poly, just launched online. The collection, which consists of 30 pieces and 15 accessories for women and 25 pieces and 10 accessories for men, will launch in 200 countries later this month: reportedly November 20th in Canada, for some reason and then November 23rd in the rest of the world.
On Sunday, frockwriter posted a new video shot by Ryan McGinley that stars Abbey Lee Kershaw and advertises a South Korean fashion brand called Lewitt. In the vid, which was uploaded by a South Korean YouTube member, Kershaw climbs a building, pauses while contemplating jumping and then hurls herself into the void - with slomos of various outfit changes. It seemed like a bizarre concept for promoting fashion to young women in a country that boasts the world’s highest female suicide rate. And an even more questionable choice, given that seven models - including high profile South Korean Daul Kim – have committed suicide over the past two years. Four of them by jumping. The post divided opinion. Some slammed the video. Others slammed frockwriter, dismissing it as a non story. The latter might want to take up their beef with the plethora of other outlets that have since picked the story up. Those who linked back to FW include Perez Hilton, Pedestrian, Fashion Copious, Germany's Les Mads and Dutch news site nu.nl. UPDATE 09/08: In spite of the fact that Lewitt removed Kershaw's image from its website last week, with McGinley also having the video pulled from YouTube, the video is now online on the lewitt.kr website, complete with stills. Still no response, however, from either McGinley or Lewitt.
Three days later, we have finally managed to make contact with Lewitt's Seoul-based managing director Dai Hyun Kim and await his response.
Still no word, however, from ALK’s Sydney or New York agents or McGinley himself, who won’t answer our questions but nevertheless appears to have had the video shut down on YouTube:
Even McGinley’s still of Kershaw on Lewitt’s website has been removed.
On Sunday, Lewitt's site looked like this:
Today, it looks like this:
So what is going on here? Was this not a bone fide job?
Yes it was, according to Kershaw, who was in town yesterday for the David Jones show (backstage shots below) and who appears to be adopting the Big Brother defense: the problem’s in the editing.
Here is the transcript of a very short iv I managed to grab backstage, after being invited by DJs into the VIP model room specifically to do the interview with Kershaw, which she consented to (but no video permitted).
You in fact used to do the David Jones show, didn’t you? Abbey Lee Kershaw: I was youth ambassador back in 2005. I think it may have been the last time I did it.
What was it like doing this show again? It was great. It was nice to be back home and to support a great Australian brand who appreciates you. When I come and work here, they look after us and they’re kind. I’m very happy to support a brand like that.
You’ve obviously been away for several years now, walking the world’s runways. What was it like coming back to the Australian runway? I was more nervous than I expected to be. The expectations [of] coming back and having people around you watching the show who you worked with years ago when you were just a young model. So there’s a sense of expectation to perform. Hopefully I did alright.
What’s coming up next? How long are you in Australia for? Two weeks and then I go to Hawaii for a week and then back to New York. And then the [Spring/Summer 2011] shows in September.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show? Yeah if I’m free, yeah.
Anything else big coming up? Not that I know if. We don’t really find stuff out until very short...
I just wanted to ask about this Korean video you’ve done, Lewitt. What is it exactly? It’s an Asian label and it was based around the story of Alice in Wonderland.
So what, she’s supposed to be falling down the rabbit hole? Ah...I don’t...I mean...however you...we were shooting all day. There were different scenes all day. So his, ah, edit of it..I haven’t even seen it to be honest. I haven’t seen it yet. I think it just came out.
Some might be concerned that it looks like you’re trying to jump off the building. Yeah of course people are concerned about things like that. People are always going to perceive..
South Korea has the highest female suicide rate in the world and there have also been a lot of model suicides, with many of them jumping. Do you not understand why it might concern people? I understand. I haven’t seen the video.
But wouldn’t you have had the right to see it before it was finished? [Starts to move away] I’m done here. I’m done. Thank you.
backstage at david jones, sydney august 3rd
As it emerges, this is not the first time that McGinley has persuaded a model to jump out of a building for a fashion shoot.
“It sure is swell that not only did McGinley continue on with this story in the wake of Ruslana Korshunova's suicide, but that Pop actually ran this. Goddamn insensitive and uncouth”.
backstage at david jones, sydney, august 3rd
Kershaw seems to have a knack for courting controversy.
Two months later, reportedly depressed by the recent death of his mother, sadly McQueen too took his own life.
***Any readers in need of support and information about suicide prevention should contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or youthbeyondblue.com***
Frockwriter can't help thinking this is the kind of PR that David Jones doesn’t need but hey, don’t shoot us. Abbey Lee Kershaw, one of the retailer's high profile ringins who is due to fill in for newlywed Miranda Kerr at Tuesday’s fashion showcase, has arrived in town looking like a rock star, with a genuine rockstar in tow - her boyfriend, Our Mountain frontman Matthew Hutchinson. Coinciding with Kershaw’s arrival comes news of a short film made by American photographer Ryan McGinley for a South Korean fashion brand. The film depicts Kershaw fleeing some unidentified adversary by climbing to the top of a building and jumping off – several times, to show the fall in slomo in various outfits. Frockwriter is waiting to hear back from Kershaw’s agents and McGinley. In the interim, it’s worth noting that South Korea has the highest female suicide rate in the OECD. The country’s most high profile modelling export, Daul Kim, committed suicide eight months ago (although not by jumping), part of an alarming new trend of model suicides – most of them by jumping. (UPDATE 02/08: Twenty-four hours later, the only party we had managed to reach was Chic Management in Sydney, which reported it has "no information". UPDATE 04/08: Abbey Lee Kershaw reveals the inspiration for the video was Alice in Wonderland).
In the absence of any further information, this is what we found out about the video.
It was uploaded three days ago by a South Korean YouTube member called WM0114. The only information provided is the Lewitt brand name at the end of the video.
A quick net search produced the lewitt.kr South Korean domain name and the still of Kershaw, above, from the same campaign.
The domain was registered by Michaa, apparently another Korean fashion brand. The latter's current face is high profile Canadian model Coco Rocha, so obviously the company has a big budget.
Lewitt, one might assume, is a Michaa sub brand.
The jumper is a common enough cinematic theme.
Central to the storyline of Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster Inception, for example, is a scene in which Marion Cotillard's character throws herself off a building - in a bid to wake herself up from a dream. Ellen Page's character does the same thing in another scene. One of them isn't dreaming however and winds up dead.
South Korea has a rich history of horror - like neighbour Japan, home to The Ring, The Grudge and the Dark Water film franchises. In December, while interviewing Kershaw for Today Tonight, we did attempt to ask her about Daul Kim and the model suicide trend, but she immediately passed on the question, saying she didn't want to talk about the subject.
No idea whether or not Kim was a personal friend of Kershaw's. But if so, or if she knew any of the other (numerous) models to have recently jumped to their deaths, such as Ruslana Korshunova or Tom Nicon, it's kind of hard to imagine her going anywhere near this video.
The McGinley/Lewitt film follows the recent release of City Limits, a short - and highly stylised and satirical - spoof starring Australian model Tanja Gacic, that was directed by Kris Moyes for Sydney fashion brand Romance Was Born.
Here is McGinley's film and a few screen caps.
***Any readers in need of support and information about suicide prevention should contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or youthbeyondblue.com***
One of the highlights of RAFW Day 1 was the Camilla show. Sydney-based actress-turned-designer Camilla Franks specialises in kaftans with beautiful prints. There are only so many occasions you can wear a kaftan however - at least in this part of the world, no surprise that Franks has a big Middle East business - and her resortwear shows, while usually very colourful, have never really stood out from the Fashion Week pack. Yesterday was different. Partially-inspired by James Cameron's 2009 3D blockbuster Avatar - and with the styling assistance of Michelle Jank - Franks' extraordinarily beautiful prints exploded on the runway, in a series of dresses, shorts, kimonos and swimwear. Click here to see frockwriter’s Posterous photo gallery of the collection. And here is a post-show chat I had with Franks. Apologies for the delay in posting these. Hope to be a bit better organised today.
By all accounts Wednesday night's launch of the Richie Rich label A*Muse at New York Fashion Week did not go down without a hitch, with guests complaining of having to wait an hour and a half for the show to start. Rich's muse Pamela Anderson was late - reportedly because she wanted Rich to personally pick her up from her hotel. Frockwriter has no difficulty whatsoever in picturing the pandemonium, having personally witnessed the line's global launch at New Zealand Fashion Week in September. And what a treat that was. Due to work commitments which commenced the minute we landed back in Sydney, our account of that show remained in draft form, including several videos. So voilà.
For anyone wondering why on earth A*Muse was unveiled in New Zealand, as far as frockwriter could ascertain, there were two reasons. Well three, if you count rumours organisers paid Anderson five figures to do so.
Brian Long, the label’s LA-based publicist, is a longtime friend of the New Zealand event, having attended for several years. Anderson also reports that her Malibu neighbours hail from Auckland's Waiheke Island and she had always wanted to visit (which she managed to do on the second day of her two-day visit).
Given that ANZFW is an annual winter event, the line's bikinis and board shorts were ludicrously out of context. But in spite of kvetching that the Anderson circus was a blight on NZ's fashion credibility, it should be noted that the event doesn't normally wind up on Perez Hilton's radar, which it did this time around thanks to Anderson's involvement. Also, Richie Rich is a veteran of New York Fashion Week, where his ultra trashy Heatherette shows were among the event's biggest drawcards.
Anderson reportedly arrived in Auckland on the morning of Thursday 24th September.
At 4pm that afternoon, a press conference was staged for the NZ media at the ANZFW venue: the old America's Cup sheds down on Viaduct Harbour.
I attempted to live stream the whole thing however later discovered that the wifi connection had died halfway through. Here it is for anyone who is interested, all 12 minutes of it. And yes, Anderson did the entire presser dressed in a pink scarf.
The show was due to be staged at 5pm the following day.
At 4pm that afternoon, I was backstage at Anderson’s venue, waiting for the collection to be wheeled in. It was the hottest ticket of the week, at least in hype terms, and it involved an international celebrity. Anticipating a certain level of backstage angst, my strategy was to get there early.
The minute the collection was brought in and the covers were unwrapped I managed to grab a couple of BlackBerry shots of two pairs of novelty mens swim briefs, one decorated with a pair of fluoro pink scissors and the other, with a skull. I TwitPic’d the pair with the scissors:
As dressers began to pile in and stand by their racks, with production assistants flapping around, you could feel the angst crank up a notch. One producer walked past and called out, to noone in particular: “Get your game faces on”.
At one point, the canvas awning at one end of the backstage area was peeled back to reveal a small white Winnebago parked immediately adjacent to the tent: Anderson’s personal backstage trailer. Straining over the shoulder of one security guy and Anderson's US manager, I managed to take another, albeit dark, BB shot of Anderson checking her bouffant do in the trailer's mirror. Not a peep out of anyone.
The manager then called out, in a loud voice and standing right next to me: “I want all media out. No exceptions”.
The minders did not appear to twig that I was media. Having survived previous backstage media purges on the big show circuit, I figured there was a chance I might survive this one.
I should point out that while security personnel were almost invisible at the event all week, save only for a front rego desk accreditation check, this show was crawling with them. According to ANZFW, Anderson paid for them. They had a job to do: protect their celebrity client. From what, it wasn’t entirely clear. Hordes of paparazzi? They appeared nonexistent. Mobs of fans? Couldn't see any of those either outside the venue or the Westin Hotel, where most attendees were staying.
I also had a job to do: continue documenting the event, notably from backstage. And there were several reasons why I felt welcome there.
Firstly, I had been invited to the event as a guest of the organisers.
Secondly, I had been accorded full backstage access for each day of the week (to shoot this photodiary).
Thirdly, I had canvassed my concerns about access to this specific show with the organisers that morning – and had been assured by the event's head PR that there would be no problem. Noone communicated anything about any backstage exclusives that had been organised. Sadly the head PR was not backstage. Nor were any of the organisers who, it should be noted, had employed everyone in the room bar Anderson's entourage and security.
Pamela Anderson’s backstage area had however by this stage seceded from Air New Zealand Fashion Week and become a celebrity sovereign state policed by security goons.
After eventually being dobbed in by an ANZFW production assistant (who claimed she was Australian - or had lived in Australia, from memory there was some Australian connection), a large, intimidating bouncer shuffled over to issue a threat to evict.
I did a double take, contemplating the absurdity of the prospect of being physically removed from an event that I had been flown over to cover, before calmly walking to the exit - his hands on me for the duration.
Outside the tent, I found myself standing next to the terribly amusing TVNZ Breakfast host Paul Henry. He too had been booted out. I flicked on the Qik and recorded the following which, once again, failed to fire live.
I wound up watching the show seated next to Henry, who thoughtfully provided the following post-show analysis at the end of the final walkthrough (you can't see his face because there were no lights):
Venturing backstage after the show had wrapped to get a closer look at the clothes, with the Anderson entourage - and indeed the collection - nowhere to be seen, I managed to be evicted a second time by a separate security goon.
Shortly afterwards I made my way to the Westin, where a number of media reps had been invited to have a drink with Anderson and Rich.
Once again, no photos were allowed. We were each given three minutes with Anderson. I was somewhat dumbfounded to learn that I would be able to record the interview as a video. Within seconds of flicking the on switch however, Richie Rich leaned over to put his hand over the camera lens:
Somehow I managed to record a second take. It is difficult to hear because there were so many people in the room and the light quality is poor, but there you have it:
I’m still not sure why such a fuss was made of the photography. Celebrities far bigger than Anderson are a dime a dozen at New York Fashion Week and while security is often tight at NY shows, it is extremely discreet.
Then I read in the NZ Herald that Anderson had flown straight to Brunei to attend a party thrown by Prince Azim. The penny dropped: that’s whose jet she hitched a ride on.
If you are wondering just how incongruous the flesh-flashing former Baywatch star would prove in the conservative Muslim state, where modest dress is the norm for women, it’s worth remembering that Prince Azim's profile as a decadent party-throwing playboy appears to be rivalling that of his uncle Prince Jefri, who once had a yacht called Tits.
Frockwriter mentioned that Tiah Eckhardt was awaiting the birth of a baby with partner Patrick Delaney. Well Oz director Alex Goddard just flicked us over this little video he shot for CLUBFEET’s new 'Count Your Lovers' single starring Eckhardt - and apparently just three weeks after the birth of her adorable baby girl Finley Victoria, who arrived in October. Sources say Eckhardt is also to be a face of Berlei, so it looks as if she’s not giving up on modelling at all.
