Tales from the front row
POSTED 06.08.2010 @ 12:45
Regular
SHOP readers will know that I’m not one to get my knickers tied in a knot over a fashion show. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy them on the whole; I love looking at the clothes, and I definitely get a kick out of seeing the very first glimpse of the pieces that I know will be filling our pages over the months to come. But I’m not one of those modelophiles who knows all the girls and can name their walks, I find the front row antics more amusing than thrilling, and I can’t imagine going to a show unless I had to be there for work… it’s just not entertainment for me. But, lordy, I was entertained at the
Myer parade last night.
It all started with Jerry Hall. She sashayed – it’s the only word to describe how she moves – past me near the oyster bar and I nearly choked on a crab sandwich… I was totally star-struck (so maybe I am a bit of a modelophile, but only for vintage). A 24-year-old guy friend standing near me was baffled by my obsession with this striking older woman.
“Who’s that?” he asked.
“Jerry. Hall.” I replied, incredulously.
Blank stare.
“Eighties supermodel?!”
Nothing.
“Was married to Mick Jagger?!”
Vague interest.
“Georgia May Jagger’s mum?”
His eyes lit up. (He’s a modeliser from way back, but he likes the freshies.)
I kept one eye on Jerry throughout the entire show. It was easy because she was sitting directly across from me, so I could clock her through the gaps between models. She looked sexy, brash, bucketloads of fun, and just a little bit intimidating, just how you’d imagine. Her expression alternated between bored and mildy bemused, switched to mildly unimpressed when Ruby Rose’s frayed denim minis came out for Milk & Honey (she’s from Texas, after all, she’s already seen her fair share of ragged denim), but perked up at Toni Maticevski’s gorgeous gowns. She showed the most excitement, however, at a row of hunky, budgie smuggler-wearing male models (including Dannii Minogue’s baby-papa Kris Smith). Once a good-time girl, always a good-time girl, I guess…
But don’t be fooled into thinking that Jerry was the only thing keeping my fashion show interest up… There were also gold-painted models, hundreds of looks, so much catwalk choreography it felt a bit like an above-water synchronised swimming exhibition (with better outfits and minus the nose plugs), J Hawk, and the beautiful Jessica Hart, who looked the opposite to her usual streety-cool self in a big blow-dry, Barbie-pink lips and crazy amounts of lashes. But it worked. (How do you feel about Jessica, by the way? Would you like to see her on our cover? And have I mentioned that our new executive fashion editor’s name is Jesse Hart and how it can make things quite awkward when you’re caught gushing about one’s “crazy rig” and the team think you’re talking about the other’s?)
Oh, and then there were the clothes – lots and lots of gorgeous things to wear that are (and this is where the department store parades will win out over Fashion Week for me every time) actually available
to buy now. Welcome to the new season. Happy shopping.
Posted by: Justine, editor