Because the night - LMFF 2011

Alex Perry's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 presentation was not the only glamour event at last week's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Although unlike Perry's show, it provided no reveal of any brand new season's offerings, the L'Oréal Paris Runway 5 show on Friday night, presented by Harpers Bazaar Australia, was nevertheless a wonderful showcase of highend PM-wear from some of Australia's most acclaimed designers: Collette Dinnigan, Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, Jayson Brunsdon, Dion Lee, Scanlan & Theodore and Willow. Here are a few shots below. Click (here) to see frockwriter's backstage portfolio shot during the show.

Florence and the Willow publicity machine

She's no Lady Gaga, but upwardly mobile 23 year-old Brit Florence Welch is definitely becoming a style stakes contender after the roaring success of Florence and The Machine's Lungs, one of the best-selling albums of 2009 - and to date, 2010. Handy then for Australia's Kit Willow that Welch has apparently become such a fan of the brand. For Welch's just-wrapped Australian tour, she chose five dresses from the new Eclipse collection from Willow's showroom, wearing two on her two appearances on Seven's Sunrise breakfast show and this 'Art of Shadow' laser-cut Lycra dress, above, at Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Saturday night. Obviously the garments were gifted - which would be music to the ears of her record company which, the singer reports, recently had to put the brakes on her spending.

both images: willow

It's not the first time Welch has worn the brand according to Willow's HQ, which will presumably be waiting with baited breath to see what she turns up in on September 12, when she performs at the 2010 MTV Music Video Awards in Los Angeles. And there may be several opportunities to outfit her at the event: Welch is not only performing, but nominated in four categories, so chances are she would probably have at least one change of clothes. She changed twice at the 2010 Brit Awards in February.

At almost 6' tall, the redhead does cut a striking, if bohemian, figure - with a demonstrated penchant for Victorian-look lace dresses. Case in point this beautiful nude tulle dress, below, worn for another Enmore Theatre performance last week (see the rest of the portfolio of beautiful shots of this gig by Sydney photographer Daniel Boud) . This time the dress is not by Willow. Thanks to anyone who may be able to ID.

daniel boud

Emma Balfour shoots Willow... and Céline?

Here is a sneak peek at Australian modelling veteran Emma Balfour in Willow’s Resort 2010/2011 collection. The lookbook was shot yesterday by Max Doyle at designer Kit Willow’s Sydney headquarters and it was styled by Melanie Huynh. A stylist at Paris Vogue for five years and a former assistant to editor Carine Roitfeld, the now freelance Huynh flew out from her Paris base on Friday specifically for this job. It’s not the first time that Kit Willow and Huynh have worked together. Huynh styled Willow's 'Eclipse' Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show in New York in February (she also styled Joseph Altuzarra’s FW1011 show). Willow's Resort collection, entitled 'Bachelor Girl', will begin dropping into stores here in September and overseas, from October. Balfour was once a very big modelling name, who emerged in London in the early 1990s as part of the so-called “waif” brigade, that was spearheaded by Kate Moss. Balfour only recently returned to the business and frockwriter hears that she could be in for a major career boost - courtesy one very high profile French luxury brand.


Since Balfour’s return to the runways in September 2008 during New York's Spring/Summer 2009 shows, walking for headliners Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang, the Sydney-based mother of two has been quietly building a portfolio of editorial work in this market.

Balfour has also appeared in several Rosemount Australian Fashion Week shows, including last year's Friedrich Gray and camilla + marc and last month's Ksubi show.

According to our well-placed sources, Balfour has just shot the Céline Fall/Winter 2010/2011 campaign. The campaign is said to include at least one other model.

Of course nothing is concrete in the modelling biz until it’s in print. But with new creative director Phoebe Philo, ex Chloé, helping reinvent Céline as of the world's hottest fashion brands, even booking the job is a fantastic get for Balfour.

In September 2008, coincidentally the month of Balfour's return to New York's runways, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and other members of the original 1990s supermodel pack began resurfacing in major fashion advertising campaigns.

Ad campaign shots are of course slightly less risky for advertisers, because well, they can be controlled and airbrushed - unlike most runway images.

Although Céline did not use any models aged 40+ on its Fall/Winter 2010/2011 runway earlier this year, however, several other brands did, deploying a handful of runway veterans, including Elle Macpherson, Kristen McMenamy and Stella Tennant.

So, interesting times indeed.