One Hot Director!

Well as I mentioned in my last blog post I was lucky to be granted access to the not yet completed(a month ago) 'Olsen Hotel' to shoot a story for a yet to be named magazine(you should know the deal with these things now if you're a regular reader) on female 'Hot Directors', and if you are also a regular reader you will realize that I have a close friend who is one of those 'Hot Directors' , the gorgeous Helen Clemens! Helen and I have worked together for years on many different projects and continue to be firm friends as well as creative contemporaries. So when the opportunity came up to shoot this story I made a few calls to the great people at 'The Olsen Hotel', in particular the lovely Emma Beattie to arrange our entrance to the worksite that was 'The Olsen Hotel' at that time, luckily a few suites were completed and we proceeded to create an 'LA feel' in and around this now great hotel!
My publicist/producer Dean Drieberg and myself thought the talented photographer Christian Blanchard would capture Helen in this setting at her best and he graciously accepted the assignment. I wanted the feel of the shoot to evoke a modern, LA style that could be seen on an international level.
Accessorizing Helen for our first shot which I declared could be used when Helen wins her first Oscar, her dress is by Madam Virtue & Co Couture and chain bracelet by House of Baulch
I love this shot, Melbourne looks like LA(lacking the smog tho) and Helen looks super sleek!

The stunning Olsen pool and Christian working his magic, me working hard too!
Talk about 'Hot Directors', Christian Blanchard is one hot photographer at the moment recently being named one of Melbourne's best dressed men and ending up on the cover of M Magazine himself!
Dress by Madam Virtue & Co and boots by Zomp, bracelet at Glitzern
The gorgeous Helen Clemens! Helen is probably best known as a video clip director, her credits Sneaky Sound System, Josh Pike, Eskimo Joe and Kasey Chambers to name a few. She is also breaking out into feature film and is taking on the corporate world with some exciting new projects coming up for major clients.

Styling/Concept Philip Boon
Photographer Christian Blanchard
Producer Dean Drieberg
Hair and Make up Narelle Hall

Please check out Helen Clemen's wonderful work at www.plazafilms.com.au

The Olsen Hotel Opening

Firstly I have to apologize for this blog being dormant for the last month, my excuse is that it was a mix of losing my phone(most of the images are taken by my iphone!), the madness of L'oreal Melbourne Fashion Week and a multitude of personal issues! ANYWAY I'm back on board and ready to bombard you with a plethora of new and hopefully interesting posts on my life and what I've been up to in the absence!
Last Thursday I was invited to the grand opening of the amazing new 'Olsen Hotel', part of the Art Series Hotel Group, and what a night it was! I had a few weeks earlier been the lucky first person to organise and shoot a fashion story in the hotel before it was completed and opened.( In the next few days I will post this behind the scenes story) At that time I was amazed at how fantastic the hotel was looking and couldn't wait to see it completed, and so last Thursday I saw 'The Olsen Hotel" in all its glory. Now to give you a bit of background, The Olsen is named after one of Australia's living legend artists, John Olsen and his beautiful landscapes are featured throughout the hotel. What made this night more memorable was that the 83 year old John Olsen himself was there to open it! The picture above is the view from the Penthouse, where of course I was quite at home!
The living room of the Penthouse with amazing city skyline view, just need to add Martini!
Penthouse Dining Room
The charming man himself John Olsen in the Penthouse chatting with guests
The Deague Family and John Olsen cutting the ribbon for the official Opening!
PR Darling Susie Robinson of 'PR Darling' and great friend 'man about town' Joshua Koko
The pool at The Olsen Hotel is an architectural marvel, jutting out over Chapel Street South Yarra with glass bottom and sides.
Very Esther Williams! Synchronized swimmers performance in the pool
Art Series Group's chic Beckie Mitchell striking a pose at the after party
Myself and Beckie Mitchell at the after party getting close!


The video above is the inside of the Penthouse including the artist John Olsen

The Olsen Hotel
637 - 641 Chapel Street South Yarra Victoria

'Japanese Couture Master Designers'

My great friend Dean Hewitt is presenting an installation of his archive collection of the great Japanese Designers: Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme De Garcon, Kenzo and many more at his wonderful store Madam Virtue & Co, 5 Crossley Street Melbourne from the 8th March 2010 to 20th March 2010 as part of the LMFF Cultural Program.
Dean and his partner JC Lloyd Southwell D'Anvers have the most amazing collection of couture pieces in their store and I continually find it a fantastic source of inspiration to my work. They understand that fashion at this level verges on art and buy accordingly to reflect their aesthetic.
Over many years and over many continents Dean has collected some of the most creative, influential designer pieces of Japanese clothing and will showcase in this exhibition some designs that have never been available in this country before.
The photographs in this post are by the wonderfully talented Robyn Lea, so beautifully shot and I thought it might be nice to see images on here that are not taken by me with my iphone!
This is the press release for the exhibition
'Japanese design first burst onto the fashion scene to make a lasting impression back in 1982, when some 12 designers showed their collections at the Paris Pret a Porter shows. Today fashion is dominated by such Japanese designers as Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme De Garcons, Tsumori Chisato and Hanae Mori. The refreshing use of inventive shapes and monochrome tones, particularly black, has shocked revitalised and stimulated the fashion world to reach new heights'
This exhibition is a must see for any fashionista, fashion student or lover of all things fashion. I can't recommend it enough, please make time to pop past and enthrall in Dean's very special collection.
'Japanese Couture Master Designers' at Madam Virtue & Co, 5 Crossley Street Melbourne VIC
03 96638669 www.madamvirtue.com.au
8th March 2010 to 20th March 2010
Mon to Thurs 11am to 6pm
Fri 11am to 7pm
Sat 11am to 5pm

Exhibition Piece

Last week I received a phone call from my publicist and producer Dean Drieberg regarding an upcoming fashion shoot for one of the amazing photographers on my agency, Miss Bossy Boots books. Photographer Amelia Soegijono is represented by MBB and Dean in Sydney and asked if I would be interested in working with her on a exhibition piece for this years Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) titled 'Desire'. I jumped at the chance to work with a great photographer like Amelia and to work with someone new, so Amelia flew me to Sydney where we proceeded to make her concept come to life!
Amelia chose Slovakian model Alina @ Chic Management(above) and as you can see yourself she is an incredible beauty!
The outfit Alina is wearing above is a piece of sheer cotton fabric I fashioned into a dress by wrapping and cutting, making a strong shouldered, asymmetrical look.

As the exhibition is to be featured during LMFF the focus I thought needed to be on a high end fashion look and decided to use only one designer, Aurelio Costarella, couturier to the stars like Jennifer Hawkins, Rihanna and Sharon Stone to name a few! I have featured Aurelio in this blog before and continue to love his work, as I do his PR director Paul O Connor for getting these couture pieces to me on time!
Aurelio Costarella gown with background fabric flowing
Slovakian beauty Alina from Chic Management
Some of the couture gowns by wonderful friend Aurelio Costarella

Make up artist Aliza creating our third look on Alina, a demonic, dark moody character.

Diminutive, talented photographer Amelia Soegijono creating magic!
Two versions of the dress, one black, one white giving a good/bad feel to the 'Desire' theme

The above photo may look a little odd but once Amelia works her post production magic and the full picture is released at the exhibition it will all make sense when you see the finished product!

I loved working with Amelia and the team in Sydney and thank Dean Drieberg for making it happen, not to mention his company in a very humid Sydney town! 95 % humidity is something special, its almost water!
The exhibition details to come very soon!

Editorial...

My recent posts have been about parties, weddings and friends so I thought it best that I get back to what I really set this blog up for, my work and giving you a look behind the scenes at what a stylist such as myself does.
Last Friday I was excited to be working again with French photographer Philippe Auger, great friend and great make up artist Narelle Hall and my talented assistant Tara Ramsay. We were shooting an upcoming editorial story for a certain magazine that I will let you know of in the future, as you can understand they want the shots to be seen first while you flick through their glossy pages! Hence sum images are blurry, on purpose!
The location was a empty warehouse in Richmond Victoria and the feel Philippe wanted was of a rundown theatre with a dark, slightly haunted environment.
Our model was Laura Scaife of Camerons Models who recently was runner up of 'New Zealand's Next Top Model' and who wowed all of us on set for her amazing work, unfortunately she is only here in Melbourne for a couple of weeks but I hope she makes it back for Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.
Make up artist Narelle Hall working her magic, changing model Laura's hair from a short platinum blonde style to 30's black bob! Amazing transformation and fantastic make up!
Model Laura Scaife

Photographer Philippe Auger shooting the wonderful Laura!
And again
Me working hard!


Some beautiful pieces of clothing from 'Madam Virtue' and 'Gorman'
I can't wait to see this in print and am so happy with the outcome, Philippe did an amazing job, I have seen the shots that he created and will share them with you when they appear in the magazine.
A great team effort for a great result, big thanks to Philippe, Narelle, Laura and Tara!

Photographer Philippe Auger
Stylist Philip Boon
Make up artist Narelle Hall
Stylist's Assistant Tara Ramsey
Model Laura Scaife @ Camerons

The Wedding of The Von Haus Of Glitzern

A new year, a new decade and the wedding of both! Now far from being a wedding blogger although I have styled so many bridal shoots that I might turn white! I was recently invited to the special day of two creative, talented people who make Melbourne one of the most eclectic, interesting cities to live in! The first a designer herself my friend the gorgeous Caroline Price who now owns and runs (along with business partner Moira Rogers) the unique and amazing store Glitzern, whom I've known for over 10 years and has always been at the forefront of cutting edge design and fashion and her betrothed Hugh Thorn, owner of that fantastic dining experience 'Von Haus' located right next door to Glitzern on Crossley Street Melbourne.
The 'event' took place in the magnificent St Pauls Catherdral Melbourne and was a who's who of Melbourne design and fashion, Lisa Gorman of Gorman, her partner Dean Angelucci, Kara Baker who designed the wedding gown, my date for the day Dean Hewitt of Madam Virtue and many many more 'in the know'!
The bride wore leopard print! Well you don't hear that everyday and you also don't see a bride that looks as stylish as Caroline did set off by a corsage of blood red roses, and of course her handsome husband.
Now of course most married couples hope that the weather will be perfect but the day of this wedding was perfect if you enjoy a day of 40 celsuis! Now most that know me know I hate the extreme heat and this proved a problem of what exactly to wear, hence my dressed down appearance(for me) so it was left to seersucker trousers and cotton scarf, but of course this day is all about the bride!
St Paul's Cathedral
The gorgeous bride Caroline Price and business partner and friend Moira Rogers
Wedding gown designer Kara Baker with Caroline and Moira
Another amazing, unique part of this wedding was the cake, a leopard!!! Such attention to detail! After the service all the guests ventured to the Fitzroy Town Hall where a colour theme of Red, Yellow and Blue greeted us and an entertaining night of dancing and merryment!
Caroline with my date and friend Dean Hewitt of Madam Virtue looking chic always, even if it was 40 celsius outside!
The colour theme extended to baloons outside the Town Hall, where we attached notes of best wishes for Caroline and Hugh that were let loose into the atmosphere and into their life.
The Fitzroy sky coloured by our wishes for the future for Caroline and Hugh, an amazing night for an amazing couple on a night that I will not forget, so much fun with so many great people!

'Glitzern'
1A Crossley Street Melbourne 0396637921
Von Haus
1 Crossley Street Melbourne 0396622756

My Friend Philip

First of all, 'Happy New Year'! I have had a great break over this holiday period and can't wait to get started with this year of 2010! So many new projects to tell you about (in due time) and many more insights into what goes on behind the scenes creating fashion in its many forms!
This time of year sees a lot of my friends return to Australia to visit and share Christmas and New Year with their families and it also allows me to catch up with their exciting careers and life in far flung places! One of my very close (and talented) friends Philip Riches returns most years to see his family from London/Amsterdam and this year again it was great to spend some time with him and hear his many stories of his life as a much sought after fashion photographer working all over the world with a lot of top models, magazines, fashion houses and celebrities!
He recently just shot Yasmin Le Bon, Lara Stone, L'Officiel and Viktor and Rolf to name a few and up until last year was a judge on 'Hollands Next Top Model' for 3 years. He has spent most of the last few years in Amsterdam but last year moved to London to be with his partner.
Philip and I met nearly 12 years ago and worked(and played!) in Australia, Italy and Holland etc for many years, it was always the thing of Big Philip(He's 6ft6!) and Little Philip, photographer and stylist respectively and we certainly had a lot of fun in those early days in Milan and Melbourne shooting some amazing male and female models and enjoying many adventures along the way.
His work continues to inspire me and I feel very lucky to have him in my life even tho we live on opposite sides of the world and only see each other a few times a year, I thought it would be great to share and showcase his amazing talent and for you my blog reader to see his website http://www.philipriches.com/
The images of us both will show you how tall he really is, or maybe how short I am!!! And are taken during a visit to Amsterdam that I took a few years back and a New Years Day party, by the way we both work behind the camera but as you can see both love posing for a pic!
Please check out his work on his website http://www.philipriches.com/