[frockwriter]

21/12/2024

From the epic redemption arc of John Galliano to the neverending game of creative director musical chairs and the dramatic implosion - and subsequent rescue - of , we'll be talking about some of the biggest fashion news stories of 2024 tomorrow at 8.45am AEDT on Weekend Breakfast.

27/07/2024

Still reeling from the Opening Ceremony. So many magical moments in the city where I was first onboarded into the media and into which I myself in fact first arrived as it happens... on a boat (an 11m yacht, via Southhampton). Such extraordinary storytelling from .jolly and team. A French farce on a spectacularly ambitious scale that just kept on delivering unforgettable moment-after-unforgettable moment, from singing La Marseillaise on the roof of the Grand Palais, to channelling Piaf on the Eiffel Tower, both in truly beautiful gowns. While other sequences platformed new gen fashion names like , unmistakable on the pole dancers and section, and 's Joan of Arc homage on the Gendarmerie Nationale's Floriane Issert, to carry the Olympic flag to the Trocadero. Not to mention 's magnificent 'flying' cauldron and 's literal headbanger performance at the Conciergerie with backing vocals by so many Marie Antoinettes. Of all the brilliant French creativity and savoir-faire on display, one still gives me frissons: the metal horse galloping down the Seine. A little digging has unearthed that its name is Zeus, it was a collaboration between Nantes' and Quiberon-based boat-builder and it took a year to develop. And sailing Zeus for his 6km journey down the Seine on a (clearly motorised) 14m trimaran or double outrigger was not Issert, but co-founder . From October Zeus will be on display in all his glory at La Maison .

08/07/2024

Caught the Sydney Theatre Company's spellbinding, fourth-wall smashing 'cine-theatre' production of Dracula on Saturday. 110 minutes, no interval, during which Zahra Newman delivers a virtuoso performance channelling all 23 characters, flanked by a team of black-clad live Steadicam and fixed camera operators feeding footage onto flying LED screens. I did not see the first two chapters of outgoing artistic director Kip Williams' gothic trilogy (The Picture of Dorian Graty and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). However, going by an in-depth review of one of the earlier productions that I read on CX Digital Network, they use a UK-based software platform called Disguise (that's deployed by, among many others, U2). Scathingly brilliant sleight of hand stagecraft, which sees live Newman interacting with her pre-recorded performances of all the other characters - and addressing the audience for the duration. The standing ovation went forever. SO well-deserved.

11/06/2024

Twice a year I MC the fashion business seminars program at Australia's largest apparel sourcing exhibition, the Global Sourcing Expo, at the Sydney (June) and Melbourne (November) Convention Centres. Its speaker lineup just keeps getting stronger and stronger each season. The next Sydney iteration is coming up this week (June 12, 13, 14) and there's a pretty incredible group of speakers to talk about a wide range of topics, but always with a major focus on sustainability. We are doing deep dives into Seamless, the Australian Fashion Council-led National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme and First Nations fashion, with a great panel discussing the world-first Indigenous Fashion Projects x David Jones Pathways program. IMG's Natalie Xenita will be talking about the evolution of APAC's biggest fashion event Australian Fashion Week. There is also a very special panel on the pressing issue of the Living Wage. Our panel of experts will discuss why over 90 percent of the apparel industry still cannot pay this to their workers. See the link below for this week's full program and journos, feel free to hit me up if you would like to attend to cover.

Global Sourcing Seminars 2024 Learn from industry experts at the concurrent Global Sourcing Seminar Series that equips

02/03/2024

The life and legacy of .apfel - and how she ushered in greater age diversity in fashion, which was never seen more acutely than on the runways of the Fall 2024 season. Plus the young Australians charging ahead both in front of the camera this season - and behind the scenes. We'll be discussing this and more tomorrow on Weekend Breakfast at 07:45 AEDT