Vale John Hemmes

Left :  John & Merivale Hemmes at the opening of the Mr Chow Restaurant
Sad news today that one of Sydney's legendary fashion figures John Hemmes has died at age 83. John and his wife Merivale once were the King & Queen of modern fashion in Australia.
Today their  son Justin Hemmes rules over a nightclub empire with some of Australia's most fantastic night spots from the Establishment to the Beresford Hotel in Surry Hills.
Whispers has a life long history with the Hemmes. At the tender age of 18 we were hired to run a shop owned by their fierce (but friendly) business rival David Sheinberg whose father owned Sydney's Imperial Arcade and a string of fashion stores that were in competition with The House of Merivale, over seen by Merivale Hemmes and which presented Aussies with the very latest overseas fashion. John was always asking us to join his firm and although we declined, we have remained friendly with the family for decades,

John Hemmes was born in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia- his parents were Dutch and he was imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp as a teen before arriving in Australia with little money. Over the next 30 years he and wife Merivale built up a fashion empire. Today son Justin has continued this entrepreneurial spirit with an enviable restaurant and nightclub empire that employs around 5000 people in premises designed by his sister Bettina.

Dreamtime

Melbourne has  Geoffrey Edeslten and Geelong has it's new clown town mayor 

Darryn ("Yes, I knew the Princess of Wales very well") Lyons (who gives jumping onto a trend ten years after it fizzled out new meaning). He's been featured in a Sydney Morning Herald piece titled The Emperor Of Geelong.
 My sources say the piece was heavily legalled and it would seem so as the article by Susan Chenery has less of the usual bite we can expert from the experience interviewer.
Still it gives us some insight into the label dropping (they should sue) , name dropping fantasy that now governs the lives of Victoria's second largest city. Probably the most pertinent sentence comes from Lyon's own lips in respect of Geelong's current troubles with collapsing businesses : "I am certainly not the saviour and I haven't got the magic wand".
# Is that a tasteful Charles Billich work of art on his wall ? I think we should be told.
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Kylie Minogue did a surprise concert last night at the Beresford Hotel in Surry Hills after she spent all day tweeting that should be there.

Only In Oz # 1

A new series : sights rarely seen elsewhere but common place in this strange land: at the Beresford Hotel where assorted folk gathered including some Diggers from the morning's Anzac Day march to gamble on Two-Up, the one day of the year it is legal to play.

Ita Bows Out

At the beginning of August when the Shuttle brought it's readers the exclusive story that publishing identity Ita Buttrose was considering a run for Sydney Lord Mayor, the mainstream media thumbed it's nose at the tale.

Ita Buttrose

"A fantasy "proclaimed one (who should know better considering the amount of scoops we have fed them) but sure enough, three weeks later the 2 Saturday broadsheets presented their "exclusive" stories on Ita's Town hall ambitions.

Buttrose had been approached by a well known businessman who represented many others who wished to break independent MP and Lord Mayor Clover Moore's stranglehold on inner Sydney politics. They had done the research and their polling reckoned Ita was a shoo-in for the job.

Town crier Graham Keating & Clover Moore sydneyindymedia.com.au

On the weekend Ms Buttrose announced that she would not be contesting the election, probably after a long hard think about the grind of the job with it's many brickbats and few bouquets as she was sure to win.

Which leaves the dog-collar wearing mayor Clover Moore a cinch to be re-elected. Although Moore has stumbled of late over the largely unused bike lanes and unsuccessful attempts to curb nightclub drinking hours, she is sure to romp home with no credible challenger on the horizon.

Meanwhile powerful shock jock Alan Jones continues his weekly brickbats directed at Moore but they are expected to have little affect with a largely North Shore and Southern Shire audience, none of whom vote in the mayoral elections.

This weekend a group of Oxford Street businessmen will be drowning their sorrows at Justin Hemmes' Beresford Hotel having seen their dreams of propelling Buttrose into office, crash and burn.