Hashtag MBFWA

With Sydney in a fashion frenzy thanks to MBFWA, my Instagram has exploded with pics of some truly impressive Australian talent. The belle of the ball by far, however, is Romance Was Born.

The label was officially launched by designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales in 2005, who have a reputation for transforming “fashion into a glimmering chimerical paradise full of wonderment.”

Their spring/summer 2013 collection, “Mushroom Magic”, lived up to the hype, taking a trip (double entendre intended) down the rabbit hole with an Alice In Wonderland meets Yellow Submarine meets Marvin the Martian inspired show, including an amazing fantasy land set by artist Pip and Pop.

“The clothes – which inspired awe and joy – are a wholly unique expression of two artists unbound by the kind of rules designated by sales managers and trend forecasters. This is freedom in fashion; fearless and fucking fantastic,” said Pedestrian TV (see more incredible images of the collection here). I could not agree more.

For more Insta-coverage of #mbfwa, follow these grammers –

@theiconicau @pedestriantv @vickiexoxo @piperlane @greenwithenvyboutique @christinaroys @fashiongrill @isolatedheroes @_emmamoy_ @fashionfondue @thetrendspotter @caitlinlomax @gigglegiggle @mllenadine

Haters Gon’ Hate

The Great & Powerful Gatsby

In an explosion of pop-cultural awesomeness, the new trailer for the hotly anticipated film The Great Gatsby is here, and it features music from none other than Beyoncé x André 3000, Lana Del Ray and Florence and The Machine. And  this is after I found out that Jay-Z, and ‘our Baz’, have teamed up to produce the soundtrack.

Apparently the two were introduced by Leo DiCaprio, who’s playing the great Gatsby, and who also starred in Baz’s 1996 masterpiece, Romeo + Juliet. It looks as if the same traditional-meets-contemporary spin will be used on the Gatsby soundtrack, with Baz saying “Fitzgerald was a pioneer, famed and controversial for using the then-new and explosive sound called jazz in his novels and short stories – not just as decoration, but to actively tell story using the immediacy of pop culture. He coined the phrase ‘the Jazz Age,'”

All I can imagine right now is Jay, Leo and Baz hanging out talking about making sweet music. “As soon as I spoke with Baz and Leonardo, I knew this was the right project…It’s ripe for experimentation and ready to be interpreted with a modern twist. This film’s vision and direction has all the makings of an epic experience.” Hot.

Related articles

• New Trailer for THE GREAT GATSBY Highlights the Film’s Eclectic Soundtrack (collider.com)
• Jay-Z To Executive Produce “The Great Gatsby” Soundtrack (hot937.cbslocal.com)
• Beyoncé to cover Amy Winehouse on ‘Great Gatsby’ soundtrack (digitalspy.co.uk)

Paper Round

The only available newspaper at the coffee shop this morning was The Daily Telegraph, and these are the stories that caught my eye.

Not to be deterred by the fall-out after publishing front page images likening Stephen Conroy to Stalin and other despots over media reform, The Daily Telegraph has included a satire piece titled, “Is Wayne waging class war? You Decide.”

Under an image of the hammer & sickle, their new star reporter Information Officer 1, has taken comments from the Treasurer and excerpts from Marx and Engels’ 1848 Communist Manifesto and asked the reader to decide whether it’s fair to accuse the Federal Government of stirring up divisions in society with class war rhetoric.

Read the full article here and let me know what you decide.

The latest Australian magazine to be given the axe by publishing company Bauer Media is Madison, who have announced they will be ceasing publication after their June 2013 issue.

Earlier in the year, Bauer Media CEO Matt Stanton confirmed they were scrapping their weekly Australian edition of Grazia. While only launching five years ago, it has never been as successful as its overseas counterparts.

A sad day all round for Australian fashion media. However, rest assured there will be a swarm of bloggers converging on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week ready to take photos of Anna dello Russo and each other when it starts next week. This short doco did the rounds on the internet a few weeks ago, but I think it’s worth posting again for those of you who haven’t seen it.

Tristan Barker has admitted to assaulting reporter David Eccleston.

Today Tonight labelled him “the world’s nastiest man” in an exposé on his involvement in cyber-bulling.

However, Today Tonight was left red-faced when it emerged a ‘victim’ they interviewed during the story was, in fact, a member of Barker’s online trolling community, Facebeef. The bogus victim, Jasmine Vanmidde, and Nebz (another member of Facebeef) later posted a Youtube video revealing their ruse. Watch it here –

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week sees designers abandon Logies

Kat Stewart looking sassy in J’Aton at the 2012 Logies (image: Nicole Cleary source: Herald Sun)

Thanks to the new Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week schedule, Australian TV stars have been abandoned by their usual Logies designers as they prepare for their various shows. Particularly shocking is the news that red carpet favourite Alex Perry has not designed a single dress, with his spokesman Josh Flinn explaining Perry had to turn down several celebrities due to incredibly bad timing.

Usually held in May, the fashion week shows will instead begin on April 8, and will kick-off with Camilla & Marc, Sydney design siblings who are celebrating their 10 year anniversary. Other favourites include We Are Handsome, Bec & Bridge, Talulah and Vanishing Elephant, who will show throughout the week.

The lack of available designers willing to make custom gowns may be a blessing for new talent, as stylist Natalie Crighton commented, “it makes us go out and find other designers and make new relationships.” Crighton will be dressing Carrie Bickmore, who is nominated for a gold Logie, in Steven Khalil, while Rebecca Judd will wear J’Aton and Asher Keddie will be in Dion Lee.

Subscribe to Dazed. and Like on Facebook for more Logies & Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week news and coverage.

Related articles

• Dress Me: MBFWA (what2wearwhen.wordpress.com)
• Style down under goes over the top (theglobeandmail.com)
• Camilla and Marc A/W ’13 look book (fashionising.com)

Ellen/Disney announces Finding Nemo sequel

In breaking news, it has been announced that a sequel to the wildly successful 2003 (seriously, it came out 10 years ago), animated film Finding Nemo will be released in November 2015. Ellen revealed the news on her show, and said that she‘s not mad it took this long to confirm. “I know the people at Pixar were busy creating Toy Story 16, but the time they took was worth it.”

Ellen will be reprising her role as Dory, the lovable yet forgetful blue tang fish, however Alexander Gould, who played Nemo, has commented that he is devastated that he will not be returning as his voice is now too deep. Duh.

The sequel will be called Finding Dory, and will clearly be about Dory getting lost somewhere in the ocean. See what Ellen had to say on her show –

Related articles

• Finding Nemo sequel gets Finding Dory title (metro.co.uk)
• “Finding Dory,” Sequel To “Finding Nemo,” Is Actually Happening (buzzfeed.com)