Running With The Fash Pack...Australian Fashion Week 2010

You know when you spy someone for the first time and think to yourself "Wow! She's gorgeous but I bet she is a really lovely person too?" Well, Sara is one of those girls. She is stunning and such a nice girl. I got to know Sara during Australian Fashion Week (she had flown down from Brisbane for it) and we managed to share lots of giggles and even had a celebrity "moment" with one of my most favourite entertainers ever, Mr Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna). If anyone ever asks me who would be on my fantasy dinner party list, Barry is one of the first people I name.

Anyway, so I ended up taking a photo of Barry and Sara together and we had a little chat to him. We were both so excited afterwards, Sara called her mum and I called my husband!

Sara's blog is Harper and Harley.

Running With The Fash Pack...Australian Fashion Week 2010

Hippy-luxe. Love the camel/caramel shirt.

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Hannah-Rose, captured, twice.

Hannah has a lovely blog called Capture the Castle. She writes beautifully (she is a media student), gathers together gorgeous photographs and while she utterly adores fashion, you can tell she is interested in things other than just clothes (which I think is completely essential). I got to spend some time with Hannah and her friends during Australian Fashion Week where they entertained me with their thoughts on Gossip Girl (or was it The Hills?), the desirability of a PS1 bag, the fabulousness of all things Dion Lee, where to shop in Sydney now (Lands End- apparently the sales are awesome) and taught me how to survive fashion week in Sydney (lots of sangria and wine at Cruise Bar, apparently!).

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

On and Off the Runway.
At Arnsdorf:

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Lindy Klim, Balinese princess and wife of Australian Olympic swimming champion Michael Klim, in a tiny leather dress and giant Prada bag. Lindy is the creator of baby skincare range, Milk Baby which has super cute products for babies and toddlers such as snotty grotty and stinky winky room sprays, and sleepy bubs massage oil. Two of my friends have just had bubs (one of them, twins!) and I suspect that a bottle (or perhaps a bucket load) of sleepy bubs would come in rather handy :)

Melbourne Street Style...A little bit Scanlan&Theodore

Scanlan&Theodore dress on Chapel Street, Melbourne.

The Girl Behind The Label: Maaike Mekking

Pretty, whimsical, edgy, feminine, modern but classic, simple but kind of complicated,....it is hard to define Dutch designer Maaike Mekking's A/W 10 Witch-Craft-Wo-Man-Ship collection. A jersey fleece biker sweater with corduroy detailing (which Maaike is wearing in these photos with vintage Levi's), classic jeans, a charcoal felt peacoat and a classic caramel leather cropped tee contrast with exaggerated jodhpur trousers and overalls, a nude mesh maxi dress and tribal tattoo print full-length body suit. Maaike invited me to her London studio back in late April, just before I was leaving for Australia (yes, I have been extremely tardy in getting this post up) to have a peek at her collection, and take some photographs.

Maaike was born in the Netherlands and attended the Fashion Institute Arnhem before moving to London and completing a MA in womenswear at the Royal College of London. She had contemplated a career as an artist (painting) but realised she loved the three dimensional aspect that fashion design allows. On graduation, Maaike worked for Alberta Ferretti, Giles and Alexander McQueen before starting her own label which is now in its third season. Maaike's inspiration comes from vintage books (I loved the traditional Dutch costume book she had open on her desk in the bottom collage), photographs, music (she dj's with her boyfriend and has an impressive collection of vinyls at her studio) and London itself.

We took some photographs in Maaike's studio in East London (with her incredibly cute pup in attendance), and then made our way to the roof to take some more shots. Which was fab.....but unfortunately I have an incredible fear of heights (and especially any kind of heights involving ladders) and, rather mortifyingly, I kind of got stuck on top of the roof! The lovely Maaike eventually coaxed me down (admittedly after I had asked whether she thought the fire brigade might come and rescue me!) and I went home, body and camera intact, to a lovely, soothing aperitif :)

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Gorgeous Australian model and photographer, Zanita, whose beautiful blog (she mixes model test shoots with self-portraits and style snippets) you can check out here. Just after Australian Fashion Week, Zanita was off to L.A. to shoot an American Apparel campaign! I spied her ad on Bel from LoveMore's blog. Look out for it!
Zanita was wearing all American Apparel in these photos.

Running With The Fash Pack...Australian Fashion Week 2010

This girl was super lovely-she gifted me a spare ticket to one of the shows!

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Famous magazine's Junior Fashion Editor, Patrice, 3.1 Phillip Lim top.

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

I asked if she wouldn't mind taking her thongs off for this shot (below). She very sweetly agreed :)
On the Runway at Arnsdorf (below)

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Model Juliana Forge, who was on the cover of June/July issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine (Australia).

Running With The Fash Pack...Australian Fashion Week 2010

Checks on Lucy (above) and Christine Centenera (below). Lucy, who has a beautiful, beautiful blog called Lucy Laucht is from the UK but has been living in Brisbane, Australia. And soon she is off to New York! Lucy's dress is from Modcloth, and her shoes are Sportsgirl.

Is that a Christopher Kane skirt Christine is wearing?

Bondi Beach Street Style...Ksubi cut-offs

She was wearing her brother's old Ksubi jeans she had cut-off.
Love how her pup has its little eyes squeezed shut against the sun!

I ♥ Sydney

Some of my pics from Sydney (The Opera House, above).

At Bondi Beach (below). Almost everyone I photographed on the beach was from overseas! The girl with the pink bikini bottoms and surfboard was from the U.S. (I think she said she had been surfing for just over a year); the girl with the tropical print bikini was from France; Bondi Icebergs pool; Charlie and Jason. Charlie ( in the yellow shorts) is from Martha's Vineyard in the U.S. and is studying for a semester at the UNSW. You can check out his blog about surfing and studying here; the girl in the denim shorts was from Brazil (I think); Balmoral Beach; Breakfast at The Bather's Pavilion (Balmoral Beach).

Bondi Beach:

p.s you can click on the collages to make them bigger.

p.p.s I don't know what is happening to my lining up- all my posts are going shouty-crackers! Argh.

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Another one of my favourite girls from Australian Fashion Week- she had such a great, cool vibe (almost a little Gwyneth Paltrow?). I have some more photos of her from outside the Arnsdorf show (she was working for M&P PR agency) which I will show you next week.



p.s. For any Londoners out there, hasn't the weather been just fab the last couple of days?! We just got back from an early dinner at Barrafina tapas in Soho and when we walked out with our full tummies, the streets were just packed with people enjoying drinks in the early evening light. Gorgeous.

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Adore the pale pistachio green top (I am still dreaming of the gelato in Florence!) and her necklace.

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Running With The Fash Pack....Australian Fashion Week 2010

Apart from her rather cute Nana Mouskouri-esque Chanel glasses, I am loving the mix of colours, prints and proportions here (do you see her flash of toned tummy under her cropped top?). And her Gucci bamboo handle bag (from SS 2010) is pretty cute as well :)