Archive for the ‘ LMFF ’ Category
Forever New launch
Last night, the LMFF team were lucky enough to be treated to a sneak peek of the new Forever New Spring Collection at the Ripponlea Ballroom in Melbourne. With a very special performance by Delta Goodrem, the crowd enjoyed an intimate evening of champagne, canapes and a flurry or florals to welcome in the warmer weather.
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison
MELBOURNE IN WINTER
LMFF has been keeping us busy and our inquisitive hearts have warmed with lots of wonderful Melbourne experiences over the last month. From the theatre, to galleries and all in between check out how we’ve been spending our days exploring our gorgeous city – we really have lost ourselves in the experience!
The LMFF team has been busy:
- Visiting Australian Made: 100 years of fashion on at the Ian Potter Centre visit the NGV for more information. It’s on until January 23, 2011 and it’s free so there’s no excuse for not experiencing a bit of Aussie history.
- Attending a special preview at Her Majesty’s Theatre for what’s been described as the world’s most magical musical Mary Poppins, thanks to our friends at Sofitel Melbourne On Collins. Buy your tickets now to not only see the show but visit a piece of historic Melbourne architecture. Visit here.
- Falling in love with the Spring Collection of Forever New which included an ethereal performance by Delta Goodrem in the surrounds of the Ripponlea Ballroom. The wonderful romance and nostalgia amid the moonlight garden party was breathtaking.
- Taking up the rare (and free of charge – now that’s rare too!) opportunity to discover the hidden wealth of architectural, engineering and historic buildings nestled around the city as part of the initiative Melbourne Open House . Read more
- Visiing Design Made Trade , part of the State of Design Festival to explore the diverse and inspiring offering from Australia’s leading furniture, fashion and industry design brands and makers.
- Tasting some of the Melbourne International Film Festival feast of cinematic delicacies from over 50 countries.
- Attending the Melbourne Theatre Companies Dead Man’s Cell Phone – the Australian premier took place here in Melbourne.
- Celebrating fashion, art and music at the launch of Melbourne Central’s Two Blocks event which had a huge line up of DJs, runway shows and live art installations. Read more
STATE OF DESIGN FESTIVAL
Alice Euphemia, Look.Shop.Shop
LMFF has been inspired by State of Design’s program and in particular Look.Stop.Shop. The initiative was a design-led walk through Melbourne’s City Centre. A selected group of retailers created special window displays and in-store installations exploring sustainable design.
Look.Stop.Shop included a broad field of traders from department stores to tiny boutiques, vertical retailers, designer-owned and operated spaces and pop-up shops for fashion, books, furniture, flowers and objects. We love this due to the fact that it demonstrates the unity and creativity of the fashion industry while encouraging the public to explore our wonderful city and retail destinations.
The installations were located on street-level stores so we could explore the retail landscape any hour of the day. Funny thing is we’re guessing that many people didn’t even realise that they were participating in the program! That’s what has captured our imagination and the very best of Melbourne’s creative scene – the fact that you don’t even know that you’re participating in art!
One of LMFF’s favourite retailers Alice Euphemia took this even further. Alice Euphemia introduced it very own band of expert ‘Fashion Doctors’ to help transform your old treasures. Alice Euphemia’s Look.Stop.Shop window display was based on tips and treats from the past – celebrating vintage finds and old-fashioned advice. During the State of Design Festival, Alice created a list of essential hot tips for looking after your favourite clothes. This was a gift for people on the LOOK.STOP.SHOP trail was released at the Fashion Doctors ‘clinic’ on Saturday July 24. The Fashion Doctors were clever, avant-garde crafty and deft with needle and thread! Their advice transformed our “I like it but it’s just not right” pieces into a beloved favorites. We just think its genius and if the piece still isn’t right Alice provided a collection site so that the items could be donated. Brilliant!
Pollon, Look.Stop.Shop
Alphaville, Look.Stop.Shop
Melbourne – open for inspection
What: Melbourne Open House
When: 23 & 24 July, 2010
Where: All around our fair city
The Wrap:
On a crisp Melbourne Sunday there’s nothing better than heading out with metcard in hand, iPod in back pocket, no fixed schedule and a sense of curiosity. The Melbourne Open House program provided just such a Sunday plan, and being an activity that people have raved about over the last two years of its existence, I jotted down the directions to my first stop and started out.
Melbourne Open House takes place annually and offers the public the chance to discover the city’s built environment. The whole program is free and the buildings whose doors were thrown open included offices, civic buildings, garden rooftops, churches, shopping arcades, places of recreation, philanthropy, culture, worship and industry and span the historic, the modern, the environmentally friendly…a lot to cover in just two days!
I went for a sticky beak inspired by my love of architecture, interior design, an insatiable desire to see into spaces whose doors are usually closed and the perennial eager hope of every event professional – to stumble upon hidden venues to give a home to new event ideas. All these I saw, but I was even more fascinated by the unexpected discoveries inside each door – the industry of so many people towards a multitude of ambitions and how the spaces in which their toils are housed can genuinely shape what they do and can achieve. It was a fairly potent lesson in the power of design.
I wished I had spent the whole weekend exploring the Melbourne Open House program, but even one day spent paying full attention to the city in which I live and work, both its buildings and its people, showed me just how much more notice I should pay every day.
For more information visit: www.moh.org.au
Author: Yolanda Finch, Creative & Production Advisor
Melbourne Central’s Two Blocks Festival
LMFF’s Partnership Executive Anna Riordan and Creative & Production Advisor, Yolanda Finch, attended the launch of Melbourne Central’s ‘Two Blocks’ Festival last night, before Melbourne Central is transformed into a hub of creativity with unique art exhibitions, live paintings, a pop-up fashion event, parties and music performances. The Rushcutter boys, Nick Bracks, Phillip Boon and Rhys Ulrich were also in attendance as they will be taking part in the festivities which span the streets and laneways of Melbourne over the next two weeks.
Log onto the Melbourne Central website (www.melbournecentral.com.au) to download the list of activities taking place as part of the Melbourne Central Two Blocks Festival but the LMFF team will definitely be heading back today to watch the Freerunning Demonstrations by Trace Elements.
Nick Bracks and Rhys Ulrich
Rushcutter boys Brett Wolfenden, Vincent Danielle and Jaime Robbie Reyne with Viktoria Laux
Body Talk
This week, LMFF were lucky enough to catch up with the lovely Dainy Sawatzky of Melbourne brand, BODY. Touching base with Dainy at her High Street offices gave us the chance to take a sneak peek at the Spring/Summer 2010 range for BODY by Dainy Sawatzky and see up close and personal some of the special little touches that Dainy incorporates into the ranges. See below for a preview of what’s to come for BODY in the coming months – a delicate balance of lilac, greys and eye popping chatreuse.
Creator of BODY, Dainy Sawatzky and LMFF Creative & Production Advisor, Yolanda Finch at BODY HQ.
Dainy got us up to speed with all the developments of the BODY brand, including the impending launch of the ‘elements‘ range, incorporating lounge, yoga and casualwear to complement the core of the existing range.
We were also lucky enough to be let in on the back-story of the sweet printed silks in the Spring/Summer range. All of the prints were developed directly from the drawings of Dainy’s four year old daughter, who will certainly treasure these pieces when she’s old enough to really understand!
To find out more about BODY and the new elements range, head to www.body.com.au
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison
LIFEwithBIRD
LMFF are thrilled to hear about (and share with you!) the LIFEwithBIRD end of season clearance sale taking place at both the Brunswick Street and Melbourne’s GPO stores in Melbourne from today! We’ll be swinging by to get our fill of end of season bargains.
Yering Station and Nevenka
LMFF are thrilled that two members of the LMFF family, Festival Partner Yering Station Wines and Melbourne-based designer Rosemary Masic of Nevenka have formed a partnership that is a true fusion of wonderful wine and fabulous fashion.
The two companies are a perfect match, with each valuing the qualities of excellence and romance in everything they do. For example, following the planting of Victoria’s first vineyard in 1838 at Yering Station, Swiss immigrant, Paul de Castella planted an avenue of 330 Elms along the original driveway to welcome his new bride. Today the mature and majestic Elms, now heritage listed, give visitors a timeless reminder of romance, lingering love and heritage.
We had the pleasure of swinging by the new Nevenka retail space yesterday at 12 Howey Place, Melbourne and got to touch-and-feel the great product in store, where Rosemary Masic (the designer behind the brand) gave us a sneak peek into the Spring/Summer collection that will be arriving in store in the weeks to come. The lookbook for the Gypsetter collection was actually shot on location at Yering Station – see some of our favourite picks below!
For furthe information on either Nevenka or Yering station, please go to http://www.nevenka.com.au/ or http://www.yering.com
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison
Manning Cartell’s ‘Spanish Tales’
There’s nothing to relax and inspire quite like a little getaway to Spain.
If however (like us) you can’t get one of those, Manning Cartell’s new collection ‘SPANISH TALES’ should do quite nicely! Inspired by Spanish Tales of romance, Manning Cartell Spring 2010 integrates draping, tucking and folding across a beautiful range of sheer loose knits, French lace, boned silk mini dresses and underwear as outerwear.
The LMFF team will be making their way down to the Melbourne’s GPO Manning Cartell store (below) to take a peek at the range in the flesh and perhaps take home our own little piece of Spanish romance…
Manning Cartell ‘Spanish Tales’ will be available from all Manning Cartell boutique’s (The Strand Arcade, Paddington and Melbourne’s GPO) as well as select stockists nationwide from July 2010.
Standout pieces that we’ve got our eyes on include…
The languid buds skirt, a lovely little number that captures a lovely balance of feminine and noir.
The Road Not Taken dress has a moody graphic that’s just what we need to get on board with the season’s ever present trend for print.
The Green Ray tunic has also caught our eye – a great print and a perfect way to flash just enough flesh (while keeping it G rated).
For more information, go to www.manningcartell.com
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison
the sass & bide lust list
We just got our hands on the sass & bide lookbook for the coming season, and all we can say is ‘yes, please’. Entitled ‘Tomorrow the Great’ and showcased at London Fashion Week (March 2010), these high drama pieces are strong and clean with vivid prints and heavenly, chunky detailing.
The Got that Beat pant (below) got our hearts thumping – those stripes!!
The Instructions Harness (below) is all the protection a modern-day warrior could need.
The First Time clutch (below) could do some serious damage – just don’t hold it in your cocktail drinking hand!
So much to love available in stores from now through to September. Get some sass & bide love (or lust) in your life – Happy shopping!
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison
Accessories round-up
Here at LMFF we like to take care of all your fashion needs, so we have (very considerately) edited the Spring/Simmer 2010/11 MIMCO accessory collection into an tight little list of the absolute must haves for every occassion. Read on to be tempted….
The sensible purchase:
The Stand Off Wallet (in ‘pancake’ $229.00 AUD). Lovely clean lines, buttery soft leather and chunky chunky hardware. Love it!
The ‘You’ll use it every day so it’s absolutely amazing value’ purchase
You’ll want to carry the Tatoo Bubble Hobo (in ‘black’ $499.00 AUD) with you every day. The plaited straps, tassel closure and a lovely textured panels will add depth to even the simplest of outfits.
The ‘I must have it because I want it’ purchase:
The Baroque Shootie in black suede ($349 AUD) will take you from dinner to dancing and everywhere in between. One part sensible (comfy plaftorm, ankle strap, sturdy heel) to ten parts fun, this chic shootie is one of our favourites.
The minimal effort, maximum effect purchase:
And the winner is……..anyone who gets their hands on this amazing neckpiece. The Kaleidescope choker ($229 AUD) is the piece that will make any outfit ‘pop’! Working just as well over a grey marle t-shirt as it will over a fitted black dress, this choker is a real standout. Chunky layers of bold colour and just a hint of sparkle are exactly what we need to give our wardrobes a lift.
If you would like to investigate all things Mimco, head to www.mimco.com.au
Author: Britt Singleton, Designer & Creative Liaison