Vale Carla

Born in 1942 in the small Italian village of Lovero, Aussie fashion design supremo Carla Zampatti has passed away after succumbing to injuries from a fall at the Opera in the Botanical Gardens just days ago. Zampatti's decades of timeless, elegant fashion has been much loved over the years from well heeled female corporate executives to visiting celebrities who swore a Zampatti designed outfit was the peak of elegance.

Pictured: Bianca Spender, Carla Zampatti and John Bush

Whispers often encountered Carla at Sydney and Melbourne soirees whether it was the launch of a new small design shop, a charity event, fashion parade or an Art Gallery grand dinner for the late Opera star Luccianno Pavrotti (Zampatti was always at the head table). We'd often see her tootling around Sydney's Eaatern Surburbs in her classic green Rolls Royce Corniche.

Launching her first fashion collection in 1965, success followed success and she opened her first boutique in Surry Hills in 1972. Her fashions have a variety of fans from Princess Mary of Denmark to popster Danii Minouge. Numerous Aussie celebs have featured her designs at some stage including Nicole Kidman. Legendary actress Angela Lansbury once went on shopping spree at Zampatti's Double Bay boutique and Ros Packer is a regular.

Carla's designs are now featured in department store around the country and the world. In 2004 she was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic along with Australian honours and in 2005 Carla was featured on a stamp, the ultimate in recognition . Zampatti leaves behind three children, designer Bianca Spender, son Alex Schuman, and Allegra Spender who managers the Zampatti design business. She married politcian John Spender in 1975 and they amicably divorced in 2010.

Simon Says

Nicholas Huxley, Simon Lock & Patty Huntington

When fashion entrepreneur Simon Lock launched the first Mercedes Benz Australian Fashion Week twenty years ago there were only 4 rival events around the world : New York, Paris, Milan and London. Now there are over 200 similar events and they are all backed by Mercedes due to Lock convincing the German auto firm that fashion was the ideal way to bridge a gap with a new generation who associated the cars with a fuddy duddy older generation.

Simon has now put pen to paper to produce In The front Row, his story in getting the hugely successful fashion event off the ground. Launching his book last night at the Design Residency in Darlinghurst Lock paid tribute to some of those who were there at the beginning and stuck with him : amongst several : designer Peter Morrisey who quipped "that was the last time I owned my only label", Akira Isogawa - a friend begged Simon to take on newbie Akira whose first show was so successful that the boss of uber smart London boutique Browns elbowed her way down the catwalk afterwards to snap up the entire collection, Carla Zampatti and the famous seating manager John Flower who wielded ultimate power with seating plans before his recent retirement and hence- the title of the book.

Left to Right : Bianca Spender, Carla Zampatti, David Bush Mary Shackman, Akira Isogawa, Kirstie Clements

 Attending the first few years of Sydney's fashion week were unforgettable experiences with the cream of European & American fashion writers, models and identities jetting into town. Things have quietened down over the last few years but they have just about everywhere as the industry changes with the digital age.
In The front Row will be a must read for anyone hoping for a fashion career.

Ground Hog Day !

We are being wicked of course. In the nicest possible way. The media excitedly told us that a new broom was to sweep through the clipboard guest lists and names would be ruthlessly slashed to pave the way for a new generation of society figures to attend this week's David Jones Spring Summer fashion parades.
How pleasing then to arrive and find the usual suspects- Terri Biviano, Anthony Minichiello, Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Richard Wilkins and his permanent date these days, son Christian.
And best of all the champagne remains the same with the party awash with Bolinger.
Below : Jessica Gomez,Gary Bigeni, Carla Zampatti & Marta Dusseldorp, Miranda Otto, Tash Oakley, Rachael Finch

And the fashion...

And the video of the event..

Nicole Kidman is In Style with Jimmy Choo

Our Nic has picked up a few more gongs. She was inducted into In Style Magazine's inaugural Women of Style Hall of Fame Award last night whilst being named as the new 'Face' ( surely feet?) of Jimmy Choo shoes.
A glittering dinner was thrown at the Carriageworks in deepest darkest Redfern and attended by 400 of the countries top ladies including Daniele Spencer, Gillian Armstrong and assorted TV personalities.

Nicole was awarded for her charity works that include raising money for the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick.

Kidman is in Cannes (pictured right) to support her pal Baz Luhrmann for the launch of The Great Gatsby (she's also a Cannes' Film judge) and rumours are she will be in Sydney later this month for the Australian premiere.

Daniele Spencer                   Sarah Jane Clark                  Alice Burdue                               Sarah Birdsill

Kate Ritchie                            Melissa Doyle                                  Carla Zampatti

Stefano Canturi Shines

rare gems....and beautiful baubles

Stefano Canturi has come a fair way in 25 years of designing precious jewellery and now numbers the likes of Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Oprah Winfrey, Melissa George and Madmen star Christina Hendricks amongst his fans and customers. He's even received the ultimate accolade : designing a necklace for Barbie! (the necklace sold at a New York charity auction for over $300,000)

Stefano Canturi, Silvia Colloca & Richard Roxburgh

During the week Stefano hosted a dinner at the social set's fave new restaurant Apollo in Macleay Street, Potts Point with the restaurant kitted out with Stefano's original design sketches for his creations including the amazing diamond necklace worn by Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.

Amongst the guests: designer Carla Zampatti (left) and Moulin Rouge star Richard Roxburgh and his beautiful Italian wife Silvia Colloca.  Roxburgh, a friend of Canturi's from the Moulin Rouge days had another reason to celebrate that night-his hit show Rake  premiered it's second season that night on ABC TV.

Christina Hendricks wears Canturi

       














left : Nicole Kidman wears the Stefano Canturi creation

Wedding Fallout : Julia Gillard Insulted

Hannity

Is it the beginning of a new News Corp attack upon another Labor Prime Minister ?. After they took down Kevin Rudd 2 years ago with their sustained broadcasts at everything that came out of his mouth, the ghastly Fox News channel and Sean Hannity in the USA have insulted Julia Gillard's choice of headwear to the Royal wedding (below). They reckon it looked like a Venus Flytrap !





On the plus side, fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer who can cast a critical eye when necessary gave the PM the thumbs up with her Carla Zampatti outfit, while she was reporting from The Mall for the Seven network.

Who made the PM's flytrap ?. Hoyer speculated that is was either Paddington based Neil Grigg or Woollahra milliner Jane Lambert.

Fashion Brings Out The Big Names

David Jones was first cab off the rank with their Autumn Winter Fashion Launch at the Elizabeth Street store.



Dannii



Just to show there were no hard feelings now that the fashion duo from Sass & Bide, Heidi Middleton and Sarah Jane Clarke have decamped to the Myer chain of stores, a DJ's spokesman happily told any interviewer who would listen that sales of Sass & Bide fashion had been just a tiny, teeny fraction of DJ's income.

Myers must think otherwise having forked over $42M for around 65% of the brand.

Melissa George

Trundling through the grand marble floored store and past a photo station and then in circles around the ground floor and up 7 sets of escalators to DJ's former floor of boutique shopettes were Jane Ferguson , Harry M.Miller, Jan Logan, Grant Pearce, Mark Patrick, Lyndey Milan and Skye Leckie amongst the usual suspects who front Sydney and Melbourne's fashion parades.

Dannii Minouge was there and so was actor Melissa George , both looking trim and glam. ( If you have a spare few hours catch up on Melissa in the excellent HBO series In Treatment in which she stars opposite Gabriel Byrne).

Leggy beauties Sarah Murdoch and Megan Gale waltzed by. Alex Perry and Collette Dinnigan sat with Camilla Franks-all had their wares featured in the parade as did George Gross and Harry Who (both with deep suntans). Akira Isogawa. Carla Zampatti and her equally talented daughter Bianca Spender showed their latest and it wouldn't be a fashion show without Alex Perry, Alannah Hill and Josh Goot.

Needless to say, the gallons of Veuve Clicquot were eagerly quaffed.



Supermodels collide !



Sarah Murdoch & Megan Gale





Nicole Trunfio models





Sophie Faulkner in tight leather



no party is complete without Lara Bingle