Melbourne’s  beauties converged on the Malvern Town Hall yesterday as the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival model castings began for 2010. The casting was open and hundreds of Amazonian creatures lined up for their chance to walk in the official Runways or the Fashion Collections. Some familiar faces handed over weighty portfolios emblazoned with a gamut of agency titles - Giant, Vivien’s, Chadwick’s, Ford, Cameron’s – along with a few newbies passing on meagre comp cards.

Festival Director Karen Webster did the media rounds as the judging line-up was ruthlessly professional. Webster explained that they are looking for a balance. They “don’t want models who look like wire hangers” yet the “clothes have to hang like…” she gestures with elegantly flowing hands over the body. If it’s more than lip service, I don’t envy them the tricky task. The festival also hires professionals who are trained to look out for models with protruding bottom ribs and shoulder blades. Personally I think we are fairly lucky in Australia, as waif models are not the norm as they are in Europe and the US. Nor do I think we should push to compete with that aspect of the industry in the slightest. I do think we should elevate the level of innovation and originality in our designers so it becomes irrelevant and Australians claim more of the international stage through sheer talent.

It was lovely to hear that Laura Anderson, the Chair of LMFF, still maintains that wide eyed enthusiasm for the festival and fashion in general that many newcomers posses. She expounds that fashion is “about how you present yourself…it sends a message about who you are”.

Stonnington’s Mayor Tim Smith also surveyed the casting. He was fresh from making a stand in parliament that morning,  fighting imminent clearway extensions in his region, a change that many of Stonnington’s fashion retailers are opposing. With a more positive afternoon ahead of him Smith seemed to lament his “very conservative dress” among  the fashion pack but reaffirmed his electorates close ties with LMFF as major shopping hub outside of the CBD.

38 days to go…

 

Fab photography by Brent Thyssen