He’s the world’s first androgynous model and a sensation on the ramp. And his latest outing in a show in Spain has taken the fashion world by storm. 20-year-old Andrej Pejic showcased bridal couture for Rosa Clara the recent Barcelona Bridal Week. He wore a flowy white gown with a simple ribbon tied at the waist, and his blonde hair was swept into a chic chignon. The 6ft 1in model, who walks the ramp as both male and female, has turned into an icon for the LGBT community and for fashion itself!
Sunil Menon, fashion choreographer and activist for the LGBT community, has worked extensively with transgender models and applauds what Andre has achieved. He says, “It’s remarkable. He has pushed the envelope on gender stereotypes; how we perceive what is male and what is female and the fact that he can bridge both – he can easily switch from one to the other. As a model, he has to carry off clothes and he has the kind of body that is ideal for both male and female garments. That is his success. I also think the fashion industry was willing to take that chance but you find this only in Europe. Europe has always challenged the stereotypes of what a model should look like.”

Fashion is all about drama and it gives people something to talk about is what designer Chaitanya Rao feels. Having showcased his collections at numerous fashion weeks across India and worked with some of the top Indian models, he says that an androgynous model can be used keeping in mind the designer’s vision and the backing of the sponsor too. He adds, “Andre does make a pretty woman and he’s pushing the boundary, which also gets people talking. So such a move does help get branding and publicity. In fact, the brand gets visibility and additional value.” But he has his reservations as to whether the fashion scene here would be open to such a move though he personally has no problem in using someone like Andre.

Ask Sunil if we will ever find an Andre Pejic in India and he replies, “I have been working with transgender models but when it comes to using them in a fashion show, the clients here will balk.”
From being a clotheshorse for women’s clothes and to bridalwear today, some believe Andre has set the trend for global fashion and paved the way for models that don’t fall under the traditional stereotype. But others opine otherwise. Model Acquin Pais, who has walked the European runways, believes that it’s all about what makes you stand out on the runway and what you can manage to carry off. “The fact that he can showcase both men and women’s clothes is Andre’s USP. But I don’t think a lot of people can carry this off. I think it’s a one-off thing, I don’t think this will become a trend.”

The Fashion Whip: Why Hillary Clinton’s Faux Pas Is Awesome.

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed up in Bangladesh last week sans makeup or a freshly blown-out ‘do, the predictable backlash from snarky news outlets said she looked “tired and withdrawn,” to quote Fox News.
But, then, the story turned. As the so-called faux pas went viral, all sorts of people lined up in support of the incredibly hard-working secretary of state’s right not to look 100 percent made up all the time. Women spoke out to defend Clinton and other female political figures, who are expected to labor at demanding jobs and still look great in a 24-hour news cycle. In that unscripted moment, Clinton had conveyed that she had much more important things on her mind than eye liner.
When asked about the “au naturel” appearance during a later interview with CNN, Clinton herself said, “You know, at some point, [hair and makeup are] just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention.”
With that, Clinton transformed a critique into an asset.
The same, however, cannot be said for Ann Romney’s viral fashion faux pas only a week before Clinton’s.
In what is now widely referred to as the bird shirt incident, Romney appeared on CBS wearing a Reed Krakoff silk T-shirt with a large bird print. While the over-the-top shirt was a very odd fashion choice at any price, the $990 price tag made it seem all the more ridiculous.
Unlike Clinton’s genuine, personal decision to forgo foundation in the roasting hot Bangladeshi climate, Romney’s look was carefully scripted, as evidenced by her flawless hair and makeup. The top was worn for an interview designed to highlight the relaxed, fun side of Romney’s husband, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Ann Romney’s outfit was intended to highlight how spontaneous and unstuffy she is.
Instead, it served as an illustration of the perils of over-managing an image. The outré shirt drew so much attention that reporters immediately singled out the designer and the astronomical price tag. With that, Romney’s image management backfired. Within hours, the shirt became the story. Instead of illuminating how much fun the Romneys are, it draw unwanted attention to their wealth — a campaign sticking point that’s already big and getting bigger.
Unlike Clinton’s faux pas, which seemed to endear her to millions of women as a fellow hard-working professional, Romney’s mistake served to alienate her from average women — at least those who don’t have $990 to spend on a t-shirt.
In an image-obsessed political culture, the lesson is that smart voters can spot authenticity in their leaders and will reward it — Clinton’s stock has never been higher. Romney, meanwhile, caused one more headache for a campaign that’s desperate to downplay her husband’s money.
So when is a fashion faux pas not a faux pas? When your personal style reveals something about you that’s genuine.

Fashion brands are putting statement-making eyewear front and center as a stylish accessory.
Judging from the plethora of eye-catching eyewear that’s been getting face time over the last few years – be it on the European runways or in the adjoining office cubicle – it’s clear that glasses have gone from nerd necessity to chic accessory.
It’s a shift reflected in the current trends – retro, vintage-inspired frames, chunky tortoise shells and geometric shapes that attract rather than deflect attention.
The trend is reinforced by the list of fashion-focused brands with a presence in the eyewear arena. These include high-end European luxury labels as well as American contemporary brands Brooks Brothers, Tory Burch, Tiffany & Co. and Sperry Top-Sider.
While it might seem logical to blame the deteriorating eyesight of the aging baby boomer population or the ever-increasing computer- and smartphone-induced strain on our collective eyeballs, consumer behavior statistics don’t show a jump in the number of people who need prescriptions.
What they do show, however, is an increase in the number of people who wear glasses without prescription lenses – presumably to look cool.
The Vision Council of America reported in a study that of the American adults who don’t wear prescription eyewear, 19.2percent said they have worn eyeglasses without a prescription just to be fashionable. That’s an increase of nearly 4percent from December 2008 to February 2011.
Some in the eyewear industry point to Hollywood celebrity and fashion runways to explain the trend.
“Maybe they’re seeing more celebrities” wearing glasses, said Larry Leight, co-founder and creative director of boutique brand Oliver Peoples. “And there are more … fashion magazines and runway shows where designers are accessorizing their shows with ophthalmic glasses – the kind that aren’t sunglasses – with either clear lenses or only slightly tinted colored lenses.”
Milena Cavicchioli is vice president of marketing for Luxottica Group, the Milan-based eyewear company that owns Ray-Ban, Oakley and Oliver Peoples, among others, and which also makes eyewear and sunglasses under license for 20 fashion labels. Cavicchioli points to the recent Hollywood award show season as evidence.
“Think of Meryl Streep on Oscar night,” Cavicchioli said. “She was wearing beautiful frames. And she’s not the only one. When people are looking at (celebrities) to see what the latest trends are, them wearing frames is a huge support and endorsement.”
The trend isn’t just a fashion statement, but an economical one, too, said David Rose, vice president of design and manufacturing at Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Salt Optics.
“A few years back, before the economy took a hit, people would spend a lot more money on their bags and their shoes,” Rose said. “But now eyewear is an accessible way to have a quality accessory.”
Rose also said that switching out the spectacles provides a quick and easy way to create a whole new vibe.
“It’s like getting a haircut – going from (having) long hair to buzzing your head – it really changes your overall look.”
Gai Gherardi, co-owner and co-designer of the independent L.A. Eyeworks brand, said the attraction to glasses came on the heels of the mass-market embrace of rimless, disappear-on-the-face frames that had their heyday in the early 2000s.
Then Sarah Palin stepped into the spotlight as presidential hopeful John McCain’s running mate with her distinctive Kawasaki 704 eyeglass frames. “(She) went around wearing those, and everyone wanted that look,” Gherardi said.
Today, the throwback look – dominated by classic shapes and tortoise-shell patterns – reigns supreme, while the addition of bright pops of color and unusual shapes make fashion-forward eyewear more eye-catching and image-defining than ever.
“Retro-inspired design and classic shapes continue to influence the market,” Cavicchioli said. “But the cat-eye style that has been popular for the last couple of years is on the decline, and we’re moving into more geometric shapes. Things are also getting a bit smaller – we were getting a little bit oversized – so you’ll see a return to smaller sizes.”

Stamps to feature fashion designers.

Some of the country’s best known fashion designers and examples of their work are featured on a set of new stamps which go on sale tomorrow.
The 10 first class stamps include work by designers including Zandra Rhodes, Ossie Clark and Paul Smith.
The images were shot by fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo and include Tommy Nutter’s suit for Beatle Ringo Starr and Vivienne Westwood’s 1993 Harlequin dress.
Philip Parker, Royal Mail stamps spokesman, said: “Britain is famous around the world for the creative vision of its fashion designers, from the glamour and sophistication of Norman Hartnell, the punk influence of Vivienne Westwood, through to the world-class designs of Alexander McQueen.
“British fashion has grown to become a major national industry. It employs about a million people and contributes directly some £21 billion to the UK economy. So it is an honour to be able to pay homage to some of the designers who made the industry what it is today.”
Claire Wilcox, senior fashion curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), said: “The V&A has the national collection of fashion in the UK and remains a source of inspiration to many fashion designers. Britain’s contribution to fashion has never been stronger. We were delighted to advise on the Royal Mail series of stamps to celebrate many of our most influential designers.”

Moscow show recalls fashion behind the Iron Curtain.

A sweeping new Moscow fashion exhibit illustrates the evolution of Soviet couture behind the Iron Curtain from the post World War One era to Perestroika.
“Fashion behind the Iron Curtain” at the 16th-century Tsaritsyno estate on Moscow’s outskirts spans seven decades of female coquetry, describing how Soviet women made do with silk night gowns for theatre, acquired designer items and scrounged for fabric to satisfy a hunger for style in spite of shortages.
The retrospective offers glimpses of the sophisticated, Western-inspired dress of the Communist-era elite.
Elegant crepe-de-Chine dresses, furs, evening gloves, hats and designer heels worn by famous ballerinas, actresses and other personalities draw an arc through history displaying over 1,000 looks from 1920s to 1990s.
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev’s daughter Galina shocked her peers with a risqué floral mini dress, while ballerina Galina Ulanova wore Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo pumps, inaccessible to most at the height of the Cold War.
Visitors have flocked to the exhibit open through mid-June to see other looks, such as the sexy red strapless dress that earned Soviet actress Klara Luchko the nickname the “Red Bomb” at the 1962 Cannes film festival.
Fashion is a rare window into history that speaks to the modern-day, style-conscious public, exhibit curator Irina Korotkikh said.
“The main purpose is to show to the young and those who lived under the USSR that fashion did exist,” she told Reuters.
“Soviet women were elegant in spite of the economic and political situation,” she said.
Faced with scarcity under the planned Soviet economy, Korotkikh said many women queued – sometimes overnight – for prized bits of fabric and patterns to sew their own dresses.
“I love the fashion of those years because there were no puffy down jackets, there were beautiful dresses,” said museum visitor Yelena Yeliseyeva, 60, a retired aeronautical engineer.
“Fashion existed in the Soviet Union and it was very beautiful,” she said.
Relatively new to local museums, fashion exhibits have rapidly become popular with the public. Visitors came in record numbers to see Christian Dior dresses at the Pushkin museum and designs by revolutionary French couturier Paul Poiret at the Kremlin Museums last year.

Fashion Label Paul Smith Plans Shanghai Megastore in China Entry.

Paul Smith Ltd., the British fashion label worn by celebrities David Beckham, George Clooney and Jude Law, is planning a flagship store in Shanghai to enter mainland China as the clothing market surges.
The brand will set up a 5,000 square-foot (465 square- meter) location in Shanghai in December, and add 24 shops in China over the next five years, said Balbina Wong, chief executive officer for ImagineX Group, the designer label’s Greater China distributor, in an interview on May 11.
Known for slim-fitting suits and bold colors, Paul Smith will take on earlier entrants such as Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS), Burberry Group PLC (BRBY) and high-end menswear retailer Trinity Ltd. (891) which acquired Gieves & Hawkes in April. China’s clothing market will more than triple to 1.3 trillion yuan ($206 billion) by 2020 from 400 billion yuan in 2010 as rising incomes fuel demand, Boston Consulting Group Inc. said in a July report.
“This is the right time to join the race,” said Wong. “Chinese consumers are becoming more sophisticated and brand- conscious. China’s overall GDP may slow, but the middle-class is growing.”
ImagineX is a brand management and distribution company that represents about 20 international brands in Asia, according to its website. Closely held Paul Smith has locations that include London, Paris, Hong Kong and New York.
Chinese urban disposable income rose 14 percent to about 21,810 yuan in 2011.
That is pulling global fashion brands into the world’s second-largest economy.
Prada SpA raised about HK$19.2 billion ($2.5 billion), including an overallotment, in a Hong Kong share sale in June to fuel expansion in China. Florence, Italy-based Salvatore Ferragamo SpA plans to enter as many as eight new cities over the next three to five years in China.

Inaugural Digital Fashion Week – The World’s First Live Streaming Only Fashion Week To Be Hosted In Singapore

Gone is the era of front row guests at the traditional fashion weeks. This time, we’re going digital. For the first time in fashion history, a fashion week will be live streamed solely online, and consumers can shop their favorite looks off the runway in real time and have them delivered in a matter of weeks – way before they hit the stores.
A high-profile showcase of celebrated designers from every major city, DFW gives designers the ability to reach out to consumers worldwide and global audiences absolute access into the world of fashion.
Labeled by CNN Go as ‘The Next Big Names in Singapore Fashion’, DFW is organized by the creative minds of STORM Creative Events Agency. As the pioneer of fashion show live streaming in Singapore in May 2011, it garnered a record high of 500,000 viewers from 90 countries within a week.
This October will see DFW’s debut edition, Digital Fashion Week Singapore exclusively available for viewing at site. The twice-yearly event boasts an exciting designer lineup of Singapore’s biggest names presenting their Spring/Summer 2013 collections, with a special appearance by an international guest designer marking the inaugural event in a debut runway show.
Besides live coverage of DFW front row and backstage buzz, interviews with designers and artistes and fringe events, DFW incorporates new features such as live runway commentaries by key fashion figures, pre-show performances by internationally renowned artistes and a one-stop mobile application to provide users with instant fashion show live streaming, videos, runway photos, designers information and e-commerce shopping – giving the global audiences a dynamic fashion week experience like never before.
Digital Fashion Week consists of three main elements:
Front Row Access:
Live backstage action of hair and makeup.
Live interviews with models, designers, hair and makeup artists.
Live pre-show performances by renowned artistes.
Live runway shows with special appearances by top models . Live runway commentary by key fashion figures.
Live post-show party coverage.
Real-Time Shopping:
Consumers can buy their favorite designs off the runway instantly and have them delivered within a matter of weeks.
Power to Influence:
Consumers will have the unique opportunity to provide the designers with instant feedback. The pre-orders made for every collection will provide designers with insights into market trends.

Mr. Keyis Ng, co-founder of DFW states, “Until now, no digital platform as powerful as DFW has
existed for designers to reach out to people worldwide. We aim to harness technology and
creativity to promote home-grown designers in each city to the global audiences by capitalizing on the hype generated from the fashion shows. The buzz created will then be directly converted into sales and sync the fashion communication cycle with its retail cycle.”
In conjunction with Digital Fashion Week Singapore, a virtual B2B platform, DFW Digital Showroom will also be launched. Press, buyers and retailers from all over the world can enjoy
exclusive access to intimate collection presentations by the DFW designers through lookbook
images and pre-recorded videos made available immediately after every fashion show. DFW will be the ultimate digital fashion gateway in connecting designers to the world.
“Singapore has grown to be Asia’s most network-ready country with one of the highest mobile
penetrations in the world. The age of Digital Fashion is here; it is the perfect timing for the fashion
industry to embrace the future of technology, first-hand in Singapore.” co-founder of DFW, Ms.Charina Widjaja said.
Besides its official launch as a twice-yearly event in Singapore, DFW will also proceed to other major cities around the world.
Show schedule, designer and performance lineup, additional updates will be announced in August 2012.
About Digital Fashion Week Private Limited
Digital Fashion Week Pte Ltd was founded in 2012 by the creative minds behind STORM Creative Events Agency. STORM is widely recognized for pushing boundaries by combining technology with lifestyle and was named by ELLE Singapore as ‘The Name to Watch’ within the first year of its launch. STORM has also been featured several times in leading publications namely Marketing Magazine UK, CIO Asia, Springwise.com, TrendHunter.com, The Straits Times, The New Paper, Lian He Zao Bao and many more. The team at STORM has worked with many established fashion houses ranging from high-end designer labels to mass market brands.

With a star-studded client list that includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Roberts and Michelle Pfeiffer, Trelise Cooper is an internationally known fashion designer.
Starting out with a boutique store in Auckland, New Zealand, during the mid-1980s, Cooper’s ascent onto the fashion stage — and the front covers of Vogue and Marie Claire — is made more remarkable by the fact that she never received any formal training as either a designer or seamstress.
Instead, Cooper relied on her self-confessed “obsession” for detail, as well as a natural eye for fashion. “I was born a fashion designer” she says, and soon after she set up shop, her clothes acquired a reputation for their bold use of pattern and intricate stitching.
Cooper took up the “Fusion Journey” challenge to travel from New Zealand to New Delhi, India’s capital. Although it’s a city she had been to on business many times before, she says that she’d never allowed herself the time to study its traditional dress in earnest.
There she was tasked with creating a new fashion line that would combine her own sophisticated modern style with the vibrant, brightly colored traditions of Indian dress-making.
In her own words, Cooper retraces the footsteps of her Fusion Journey.

Trelise Cooper: I absolutely adore the historical aspect of clothing. My ranges are full of influences from 19th-century French, English, even American vintage styles. So it’s no surprise I have always enjoyed combing through flea markets in small towns and finding rare antique gems to steal some inspiration.I’m also obsessed with detail, so when I find a Victorian gown or a 50s bridal slip that I like, then it’s important for me to be able to emulate the exact stitching, embroidery or beading used at the time. In the West, unfortunately, most of our expert hand-stitching traditions have been lost — the skills have not been passed on and the seamstress geniuses from the couture houses of Europe have not been replaced.

That is why I’m often traveling to India. It’s one of the very best places in the world to find that expertise still thriving. From one village to the next you find whole families, generations, that have their own specialties of stitch work.

Honestly, I can give them any old historical piece that I’ve found and they will either take it away and recreate it almost perfectly, or they’ll say “hmmm … I don’t know this stitching, but I know a place nearby that does.” It’s a fashion designer’s dream!

So in one sense, I’ve been fusing my clothes with Indian influences for a while. However, I think this was the first time I’ve traveled to India with a conscious intention to create a fusion of styles: their own traditional dress with my more modern, western creations.

I just love the color and the vibrancy that is India. New Delhi is exciting and chaotic and noisy and dusty and smoky and hot. Everything is so full of intense color and I realized that, on a subconscious level at least, I’ve been influenced by Indian style … In fact, when it comes to bold use of colors and the use of these rich, deep dyes, how can anyone deny the huge influence of India on fashion around the world?

Walking through the streets, you see color combinations that you’d never imagine would work. I recall a beautiful woman wearing a sari in bright, radiant pink mixed with a lime green print. I mean, lime and pink! It sounds garish, but on her, with the quality of the dye and the way the colors had been combined it looked absolutely stunning.
We made our way to a shop that I can only describe as a treasure trove of fabrics and other goodies. This was the place to find all the accessories, textiles, ribbons, bows, buttons, and beads that I could take back to my studio in Auckland to use as inspiration for the final creations.
There were ideas there, old and new, that I’d never thought about. Already I could envisage opportunities to use all sorts of different laces and braids, detailed examples of hand stitching, with some other antique dresses we’d picked up from a local supplier.
Much as I love them personally, I don’t sell things like saris — and I never would — it’s not a style that would appeal to the tastes of my particular customers. However, what I took back to New Zealand, was their techniques, their intense celebratory colors, their detailed embellishments, their expert use of beads and sequins.
I worked on the new line for many months, and these are the elements I hope I managed to incorporate into them. I think they’ve added an opulence, a romance. But I’ll only know I have finished the creative process when someone comes in and says that, no matter what, they have to have it.
The garment takes them on a journey, and so my journey with the garment has finished.

Fashion News: Jessica Simpson to design line for Destination Maternity.

Jessica Simpson is designing a line for Destination Maternity, which seems fitting because hers was one of the most watched celebrity pregnancies of the year (culminating in the birth of daughter Maxwell earlier this month). The line is scheduled to launch in the fall.
Rosie Pope, host of Bravo’s “Pregnant in Heels,” gave birth to a daughter on Mother’s Day — and this being modern times, she tweeted through labor. When the going got rough, her husband took over the tweeting so fans didn’t have to miss a thing.
In L.A., beleaguered pregnant women are seeking help from baby planners who can help set up nurseries, figure out which stroller will best meet a family’s needs and otherwise offer advice and comfort.
Lunch and a shopping spree with Paris and Nicky Hilton is among the prizes that are to be up for bid as part of the “Race to Erase M.S. Gala,” scheduled for May 18 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Ray-Ban celebrates its 75th anniversary this year with a new collection and an advertising campaign that nods to its past.
“Fashion Star” had only modest ratings in its freshman season, but NBC plans to bring the show back for a second season.
Last week, a tagger named Kidult painted the word “art” across the front of Marc Jacobs’ store in SoHo. Jacobs responded by slapping a photo of the graffitied store on what he is calling “Art by Art Jacobs” T-shirts and putting them up for sale for $689 each.

Rayudu, Pollard fashion sensational win for Mumbai Indians.

An unbeaten 122-run sixth-wicket partnership in 65 balls between Ambati Rayudu (81) and Kieron Pollard (52) helped Mumbai Indians beat hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here late Monday night.
Chasing a target of 172 in a delayed match due to rain earlier, Mumbai managed 173 for five with two balls to spare and avenged their defeat by Royal Challengers back home by nine wickets.
The unlikely win kept Mumbai Indians’ hopes for a berth in play-offs alive with 18 points from 14 matches. They are tied on 18 points with table toppers Delhi Daredevils, who have played a match less, but the GMR-owned franchise stayed ahead on the basis of better run rate.
Though Mumbai too had a disastrous start like the hosts, losing the top three batsmen – including maestro Sachin Tendulkar for duck, Herschelle Gibbs (2) and in-form Rohit Sharma (5) for just 19 runs in the first four overs of the power play. But Man-of-the-Match Rayudu and Pollard snatched the game away with a steady innings in middle orders and hammered a weak bowling attack in slog overs.
Rayudu took time to settle after walking into the middle in eighth over and finished off the game with a four to remain 81 not out from 54 balls, including four sixes and six fours. The tall Pollard joined the party after his West Indian team mate Dwayne Smith left for six in ninth over for a cameo knock of 52 in 31 balls that included three huge sixes and five fours.
With the dramatic victory, Mumbai Indian maintained their all-win record against Royal Challangers in Bangalore.
For Royal Challangers, seamers Zaheer Khan, Vinay Kumar and Harshal Patel and offie Muthaiah Muralitharan shared one wicket each, while Herschelle Gibbs was run out by Saurabh Tiwary from a long throw by K.P. Apanna.
Earlier, Royal Challengers managed to reach 171 for six wickets in 20 overs, thanks to a rearguard assault by in-form Mayank Agarwal, who accelerated the score in the last two overs, hitting 35 runs in nine balls, including 24 in the last over of Munaf Patel, and remained 64 not out in 30 balls, with four sixes and six fours.
Put to bat first, the home team had a disastrous start losing their explosive batter Chris Gayle in the third over for a paltry six runs of eight balls, followed by a tragic run-out of stand-in skipper Virat Kohli same over for three when he skidded on the pitch and could not return to the bowling crease as striker Dilshan Tillakartne did not step out.
Though as other opener Dilshan remained at the crease on one side till 17th over for 47 in 50 balls with one six and four fours, Agarwal and Zaheer Khan (14) put up 36-run partnership for seventh wicket, even as Tiwary (21) and AB de Villiers (14) contributed valuable runs.
With seven wins and six defeats from 14 games, Royal Challengers remains at fifth position behind Chennai Super Kings.
As two-time runners-up, if Royal Challangers have to sneak into play-offs this time, it has to win the remaining two away games back-to-back against Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils later this week.

Dita Von Teese discusses dating history.

Dita Von Teese has joked that her love life has included a “cast of characters”.
The burlesque star was famously married to Marilyn Manson, but the pair split in 2006 after just a year of matrimony.
Dita has been linked to actor Peter Sarsgaard and is now said to be dating French aristocrat Louis-Marie de Castelbajac.
The raven-haired beauty has laughed off rumours about her colourful love life.
“Definitely if you look at my dating history!” she quipped during an interview with the UK edition of OK! magazine.
“A cast of characters! I like men with a sense of humour, that’s vital. I like men that are good at what they do! I like men that are well dressed. I don’t look for men who match my style. I like my men and my friends to have their distinctive sense of style.
“I respect that more than anyone who’s trying to dress for me.”
Dita also discussed her upcoming birthday. The star turns 40 in September and has vowed not to make a big deal of it.
“I don’t usually like birthdays because I think it’s a little bit embarrassing to celebrate oneself. I always feel a little bit funny: ‘Hey, let’s have a party about me!’” she joked.
“I do so many events where it feels like my birthday all the time – I get gifts, I have champagne, I have fun. But the 40th birthday party is big, isn’t it?”

Perfect dates: Meet the singletons who will only date redheads and rich men in the search for Mr or Mrs Right.

Dating online used to Dating online used to be a fairly simple affair as long as you followed a set of three important golden rules.

Step one: post a picture of yourself looking tantalisingly fun (with your ex photoshopped out). Step two: write a profile that omits the fact you haven’t had sex for four years. And finally, sit back and wait for the responses, which you will file under “axe murderer”, “subs’ bench” or “yummy”.

But there’s way more to it now. Because in a world where everyone’s too busy and skint to waste time and money on dud dates, those on the lookout for online love are far more choosy. In fact, they know EXACTLY what they want.

If you love welly-wearing men, fanciable farmers are waiting for dates on Muddymatches.co.uk. If you swoon over swots, Brainiacdating.com, is for you. And if you’re after a geek, a goth, a golfer, a veggie or a vampire (yes, really) there is a niche dating site out there.

Liisu Brown, 20, knows precisely what kind of man she is after and what she is interested in is what’s in his pockets.
She is a member of WhatsYourPrice.com, where men bid money to pay for a date. The site says “everyone has a price” and urges financially stable singles to “put your money where your mouth is and bid on a chance to fall in love”.
So far bartender Liisu has dated two men and bagged £300.
She says: “My friend told me about this site. She dated a man for two months and he bought her a car.” How romantic.
But isn’t this pay-as-you-date set-up a bit mercenary? “It beats going on lousy dates because if a guy is willing to put that much money into winning a date at least they’re really keen,” reasons Liisu. “The first guy I met gave me £200 at the end of the first lunch date. I spent that on shoes. The second guy I met gave me £100. I spent that on a bag.
“I don’t have much time off, but at least dating this way I get something out of it. £200 for a lunch is more than I’d earn in a whole shift, but I was giving away my spare time because I took a while to get ready. And I spent money on clothes beforehand.”
Finding a date on the basis of finances or age is pretty specific, but dating according to hair colour is seriously choosy.
Redhead-world.net is a social network site and dating service which links redheads from all over the world.
Thanks to the site, Aaron Walker, 21, from Reading, found his fellow ginger lover in Columbus, Ohio. Now he and Titian-haired Kira Brock, 20, are engaged and plan to marry in nine months time.
Aaron, a backstage technician, says: “I feel a bit of an affiliation with other redheads so was in an online group conversation before it became clear that Kira and I were more than just friends.
“I thought she was out of my league. She gets a lot of male attention because of her hair colour, whereas I had the opposite from women because of mine.
“It’s an unusual way to meet but people who know us say we’re perfect for each other and will have cute ginger babies.”
Dating sites don’t get more niche than Lovestruck.com, where singles can choose dates based on a postcode or tube station. The only location-based dating site in the UK, it matches busy city singles so they can meet on their lunch or tea breaks. It worked for Emily Inglis, 24, a digital copywriter who had spent far more time tied to her desk than playing the field.

Emily says: “One Monday on the Northern Line, I met eyes with a guy opposite. By Thursday night we were on a date.

“We didn’t swap numbers, fit in a PDA or even talk on that tube journey. I got off two stops later and we continued with our days, until he was handed a flyer by a Lovestruck rep outside the tube stop.

“He decided to give it a try, and upon searching the numerous women he came across me. Once again.

“On the Wednesday I received a message through Lovestruck: ‘Were you on the Northern Line on Monday morning?’

“And the rest is history. Quite literally – after a brief affair we went our separate ways; just as we did that Monday morning.

“But for the past five months I’ve had a boyfriend who I met through Lovestruck. He works just over the road from me and we’re really happy. Sometimes Mr Right is right under your nose.”

However, sometimes Mr Right is someone else’s husband. Louella Lombardi, 43, has been a member of site, the UK’s largest dating site for married people, for the past four years.
Married with two teenage children, she has had affairs with six married men and hopes to notch up more.
Louella, a psychologist from Leicester says: “I have been married to a much older man for 18 years. I made the classic mistake of marrying a friend. Five years ago on our wedding anniversary I stood in the garden naked and asked him if he’d rather have me or a bacon sandwich. He said the bacon sandwich.
“I’ve already asked for a divorce. So I’m on the site looking for attention, affection and of course I want sex. But most of all I want some fun.”
Isn’t it a recipe for guaranteed heartache? “But married men make so much more effort on a date,” says Louella. “And their marriages are often better after meeting me. The men might go home and do the same thing in bed as we did and their wives love it.
“On the other hand it was awful when I was confronted by a wife. My lover didn’t delete my text and she called me. I denied everything. I don’t want to hurt another woman, but there must be something wrong with their relationship. But if you fall in love with them you are a fool. And Illicit Encounters is not the site for you if you will feel guilty afterwards, which I never do.”

Sophie Malatynski, 23, a student from West Glamorgan, South Wales, admits she’s attracted to a potential date’s looks first of all. But not just any old looks.
She says: “The more alternative the better, give me implants, split tongues, cat whiskers and faces full of metal.”
Two years ago, Sophie joined SavageHearts.co.uk, an alternative dating site.
She says: “Living in a small area with only a few alternative people, dates can be hard to find. I have dreadlocks and piercings and hope to find other like minded people and hope to find other like-minded people.
“But even so, every new online conversation still starts with a cheesy icebreaker.”
For some, it’s not what they say it’s how they say it. Sam Woodward joined Iloveyouraccent.com because she knew her cut-glass vowels were a turn-on for many men. Unfortunately she fell for one who preferred Scottish accents.
Sam, 36, lives in Surrey but pretended she was from Stirling. She says: “I started chatting to a gorgeous man from California but he was looking for someone with a Scottish accent.
“I said I was originally from Scotland and we got on so well he asked for a Skype call. I had a couple of glasses of wine and every day for the next three weeks I had a Skype call with him in a fake accent, rolling my rs and saying ‘wee’ a lot.
“I was thrilled when he came over, but my cover was blown when my boss rang and I answered my mobile in front of him.
“He’s since got together with a cockney girl from Bethnal Green. I could have impersonated that better! I’ve met two other men on the site so maybe it was a good thing. What if we’d fallen in love and I’d have had to do a Scottish accent all my life?”

Bravo turns cameras on dating experts in “Miss Advised”

U.S. net Bravo is to begin airing a reality series about the dating lives on dating experts called Miss Advised on June 18.
Produced by RelativityREAL and actress Ashley Tisdale’s Blondie Girl Productions, the series follows dating columnist Julia Allison in Los Angeles, The Rules author Amy Laurent in New York City, and Sex with Emily radio show host and sex expert Emily Morse in San Francisco, as they navigate the dating world and find their personal desires and ideals butting up against their professional advice.

Executive producers on the series are Tisdale, Jessica Rhoades, Tom Forman, Michaline Babich and Brad Bishop.

The Vintage Years: you’ve got it – but should you flaunt it?

One thought is still rattling around my head after last week’s blog and the avalanche of comment that followed: what constitutes “sexy” when the flush of youth gives way to the hot flush? I can tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t Carol Vorderman at the National Television Awards last week. I can see that on paper a fitted and flared pale pink gown would seem the perfect thing and, my goodness, it certainly fitted. There was just a bit too much Carol. Well, quite a lot too much actually. Credit where it’s due, Ms Vorderman is indeed in terrific nick and that dress required confidence but what it really said, and none too subtly, was “this is me at the Last Chance Saloon”. Here’s another example: a friend, casting a critical Italian eye over two middle-aged women at a bar, tipped his chin in their direction and said witheringly, “See that? Vecchia gloria…” Old glory. Ouch. What he meant was the dresses were a little too short and too tight, the décolleté a little too deep and the maquillage a little too heavy. They were trying a just a bit too hard. On such fine distinctions opinions are formed.

What I’m saying is that, whether or not you’re in the market for a relationship, that feeling of being comfortable in your skin, of feeling attractive and sexy, is a great feeling to have. But… just because you’ve still got good legs, or a great rack, you don’t have to put it out there. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, or at least not all at once. It’s tricky. I used to laugh when my 80-year-old nan tapped her forehead and said, “In here I’m still 18″, but now I think I know what she meant. I have to stop and consider a little more than I once did in case too much of my 18-year-old free-spirited inner hippy slips out for a turn in the spotlight. “Too much” is the key to this slippery subject. I remember being very struck by what Helen Mirren was wearing on Jonathan Ross’s BBC show a couple of years ago. It was a simple skirt suit but under the jacket (no shirt) was just a glimpse of frothily fabulous lingerie. No sartorial grandstanding just a casual nod to femininity, almost an afterthought. That couple of inches of lace hit the male guests like a gust of catnip and the flirt factor rose proportionately. It was fascinating to watch.

So it’s not all bad news. There might be an upper age limit on how much you can tastefully get away with, if not a legally enforceable one, but there is no age limit on sex appeal itself. I had much more fun and was much happier covered from neck to ankle in poison green velvet than I did sweating in black latex at an Austin Powers fancy dress party. A draped silk top that slipped “accidentally” from one shoulder was window-dressing in a wickedly entertaining evening last year, and silk on the skin feels glorious. I believe that feeling comfortable and not trussed up like a roasting bird is fundamental. You are what has sex appeal and not what you’re wrapped in – that’s just a prop.

A very dear, and very elderly, friend summed it up well. He was an artist, born and raised in the Bronx and had womanised his way across postwar Europe. He once said to me, “Tiger, for a woman, the art of dressing is so that a man will look at her and want to undress her. Not that the table is already laid. There must be mystery, honey.” And so we knocked back another vodka shot and I couldn’t help but agree with him. On the “mystery” part at least.

New Zealand’s Next Top Model Winner in Dubai

There’s a whole lot of fashion on the cards this weekend at The Dubai Mall and you’ve got to get in on it!

On Friday, 3 February, don’t miss Dubai Fashion’s Longest Catwalk where 100 models will walk the ramp in the latest Spring/Summer collections. Hot new faces on the global modeling circuit including Claire Collins, Jena Hall, Emily Cattemole, Karla Devine, Sarah Lorimer and Bridgette Thomas, the current winner of New Zealand’s Next Top Model will be there.

Plus, top international DJ Bip Ling, who’s flying in from the UK especially for the event, will spin the decks from 4pm to 6pm!

There’s more! You also get to witness a world-record breaking attempt with the Biggest Cosmetic Makeover on Saturday, 4 February from 7pm onwards at the Star Atrium, The Dubai Mall.

It’s going to be an amazing and stylish weekend – we’ll see you there!

Parkas should be worn with red nails. Or similar

Henceforth to be known as the Rashida-Jones-at-Sundance style rule. Jones wore a big parka with a furry collar in the snow, but rather than giving in entirely to the practicality of her look she had painted her nails red. The message was: “I’m relaxed enough about my look to adapt to the weather but I’m still totally fabulous.” The take-home lesson – wear last year’s padded jacket but pimp it with a spring look you couldn’t resist in Zara. Think peplums with parkas.

Printed trousers are the spring trend to buy now

A cursory flick through any glossy trend supplement will tell you that pants are going fancy over the new few months. Stella McCartney showed paisley PJ-style trousers and London hot shot Mary Katrantzou showed brilliantly crazy yet modern floral printed ones. The trend will likely begin as an alpha fashion follower’s look but quickly morph into a more democratic style (leather leggings went from off-duty supermodel to tempting surprisingly rapidly). Get there early with printed trousers and wear a plain jumper and a tailored coat to calm them down. Thus you look like you know what’s next, yet you’re warm now.

Embrace ‘the pile-up’

Scarf update: if you make a loop with your scarf and pull the ends through you are on a fashion hiding to nothing. “The pile-up” is the way to do scarves in 2012. Trend forensics might wish to know that the trend initially came from menswear where Louis Vuitton designer Kim Jones showed whopping great scarves that had more looped height than length. Stylish women are at it too if the Paris Vogue set at the couture shows is anything to go by. Take a scarf as broad as a blanket and pile it high. Failing that, wear two.

Leather gloves add oomph

You may have bought a coat late last year with some sort of contrast leather detailing. Be it on the sleeves or the collar. If you didn’t, then don’t bother trying to fish one out from the dregs of the sales. They were kind of flash-in-the-pan and Kerry Katona (much as I’m fascinated by her for lots of other non-sartorial reasons) has started wearing one. But leather gloves, on the other hand, make a tailored wool coat look extra sharp. Plus they’re warm, which makes them worth choosing over their woolly cousins.

Sunglasses in winter? Do it

Wearing sunglasses in winter is the single fastest route to being character-assassinated by just about every person you walk past. “Does she think she’s in Courchevel?” “Does she think she’s Sarah Jessica Parker on the school run?” “Is she an Italian tourist?” “Tool.” I’ll leave the rest of the insults to you. But damn! they looked good on Kate Bosworth at Sundance. And really, there’s far more in life to worry about than what people think of a small accessory you’ve chosen to jazz up your look. Plus, they’re no sillier in the snow than earmuffs, when you reason it through.

Going out at night

Because sometimes you have to. If you’re off out wearing a pencil skirt and a blouse, don’t be a hero and try to wear some sort of evening jacket. The modern woman’s approach is to go for a giant padded jacket or North Face windproof and wear it with some whopping earrings and a clutch bag. It’s called embracing contrast. Remember: there are no style prizes for looking shivery.

The new rules of winter fashion

Looking good when it’s freezing is a niche wardrobe art. It shouldn’t be, because it’s very cold very often. But judging by the background chatter this week – on Twitter and on public transport – few of us are sure about what to wear when the temperature drops. And when it drops at this time of year – when the sales are all but over and the shops are stocking up with spring pastels and the like – it’s even trickier. We’ve seen the stars grappling with this problem at the Sundance film festival this year and there have been a few subtle shifts on the wardrobe gauge too. Did you know that wellies are now a bit wincey? Exactly. You’re going to need our guide.

Headscarves are the new trilbies

Not the most useful directive if you are the sort of woman who always feels like a plum in a hat. But after exhaustive research (looking at lots of pictures of ineffably chic women leaving the couture shows in Paris last week) I’ve concluded that an impromptu headscarf, fashioned from a large scarf or pashmina, makes for a rather fashion-forward look. Plus it’s a bit Queen’s jubilee too, which is really rather on-trend this year.

Wellies are a goner

In style terms at least. To recap: the past decade saw the rehabilitation of the wellington boot. The welly went through a fashion narrative that included Kate Moss, Glastonbury, Cath Kidston, Hunter, Jordan and Jimmy Choo. But the story has finally ended with a whimper. No one cares about wellies now. Snow boots have replaced them. They’re just lovely with a skinny jeans and a tailored coat. As for Uggs, they’re were holding steady as an acceptable basic, but this week they have had a boost. A school in Pennsylvania banned them because school kids were hiding contraband phones inside them, which sort of makes them the new hoodie.

Fashion show to support hospice

School children in Andover will be strutting their stuff at a fashion show to raise vital funds for seriously ill youngsters.

Pupils will be modelling clothes from local stores during the show at Anton Infant School to raise funds for Naomi House Children’s Hospice.

Jas Fashions in Salisbury has provided the models from both infant and junior schools with cut-price famous-name brands from the high street for the February 24 show.

The evening will be raising funds for the Hampshire-based hospice, which provides support to children and young adults with life-limiting illnesses.

Gifts, cosmetics, and accessorise from several local stores will also be available to purchase during the night.

Those attending will receive a welcome drink and could also win prizes in the raffle.

Tickets for the evening starting at 6.30pm are available from the Anton Infant School office or the Naomi House fundraising office, priced at £5 for adults, £2.50 for children aged between 5 and 14, and free for under fives.

Parents with children between the ages of five and 12 who want to take part in the show can contact Pam Bacon at Naomi House on 01962 843513.

The writings of famous American radical and leftist community organiser Saul Alinsky are not the first things that come to mind when thinking about the plight of models working in the New York fashion industry.

Model Sara Ziff is aiming to change that.

Model Sara Ziff, a New Yorker who has walked catwalks for Prada and Calvin Klein, will next week launch a workers’ rights organisation aiming to improve the lot of a section of the American workforce usually more associated with glamour than poor working conditions: the modelling industry.

Model Sara Ziff, 29, gives lie to the prejudice that models are just pretty faces. She has studied at Columbia University in New York, where she specialised in political science and came across Alinsky and other heroes of the American anti-poverty and workers rights’ movements. “I think that Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals made a very big impression on me,” she said. “There is a sense that fashion is frivolous and a lot of people don’t understand models wanting to organise for for better labour conditions. They probably see the profession as a privilege,” she added.

So here comes Ziff’s brainchild: the Model Alliance. It will start its membership drive from its launch date of February 6, aiming to sign as many as 1,500 models working in the New York industry.

Its aims are simple. They are to protect working models from exploitation, especially from sexual abuse, and to improve the lot of its members in terms of pay and working conditions. It has drawn up a “Models’ Bill of Rights”.

Model Alliance is even in talks with several groups about a scheme to help models get decent healthcare coverage, reflecting an all too common concern of American workers, whether building cars in Detroit or picking tomatoes in Florida.

Ziff, however, is adamant that the Model Alliance is not a fully-fledged model’s labour union. Perhaps that is wise given the widespread hostility in America’s corporate world to labour organisations. “We are not a union. We are a non-profit group working with the industry trying to establish basic rights,” Ziff said.

Indeed, the picture Ziff paints of the average life of a working model is a long way from the glamourous life that many people would imagine. Instead it is a job of long hours with often little pay. In fact some models are expected to work for free and others are paid in clothes, not cash. They are hampered by being usually treated as “independent contractors”, which gives them few workers’ rights, and it goes without saying that many are very young and vulnerable to exploitation.

The net annual income for a model is just $27,000 a year. “People are blinded by the glamour of the industry. People are not aware of the age of some of the people. Some of them are very young, working without chaperones, and sometimes working for free,” Ziff said.

A particular problem in the modelling industry is sexual abuse. “Sexual assault – I would not say it is common – but it exists,” said Ziff.

Ziff has exposed it already via a documentary she made in 2009 called Picture Me. The film revealed seedy goings on in the world of high fashion, including sexual advances by photographers and other senior industry figures, often on very young girls.

On the Model Alliance’s website models are encouraged to talk about their problems with the industry via personal testimonies: an innovation that Ziff puts down to her understanding of Alinsky. “He emphasised the importance of storytelling and how it is a very kinetic activity. So we use first person experiences. We are giving models a voice,” she said.

One model, Dana Drori, describes being 15 years old and feeling uncomfortable as a much older male photographer asked her to take off her clothes. Other problems have nothing to do with sex. Another model, Jessica Clark, worries that she has been “complicit in the commodification of myself” through the use of her non-white ethnicity as a selling point for work.

“Throughout my career, my agents and I have used my ambiguous ethnic heritage to our advantage and profit,” she wrote.

Ziff says the response she is getting from senior figures in the industry has been supportive. In part, this is because Model Alliance is seeking a deliberately non-confrontational path and also because, at least when it comes to the issue of guarding against sexual abuse, it is hard to be against it.

It has won support from big names, such as Diane von Furstenberg, who heads the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It is also working closely with the Actors’ Equity Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists to set up an grievance reporting system whereby models can relate problems of abuse and exploitation. Both Equity and the Guild are members of the AFL-CIO, America’s largest federation of trade unions, giving Model Alliance a link to the broader American labour movement.

Ziff is thinking big too. If Model Alliance works in New York and helps improve the lot of its members she wants to take the organisation nationwide. “In a perfect world, that’s what would happen” she said.

Yet despite Ziff’s best efforts, there is still something different about a workers’ rights movement organising itself in the fashion industry of the Big Apple. When Ziff kicks off its membership drive next week it won’t be with a march through the streets. Or a bake sale or pancake cook-off to raise much-needed funds. Instead it will be with an evening cocktail soiree at Manhattan’s swish and trendy Standard Hotel.

Bangalore fashion week: Who is Bozena Carter?

Name: Bozena Carter
From: Leeds, UK
Label: Bo Carter
About: Bozena Carter’s move to fashion designing is an interesting trajectory of events. Bo, as she is popularly known, always loved designing clothes on very willing models — her dolls. A call for entries by the Leeds Fashion Week in 2010 had her husband egging her to volunteer for it and the rest, as we’d like to say, was the beginning of a fairy tale. All set to showcase her collection at the sixth Blenders Pride Bangalore Fashion Week, here’s the designer in a Q & A with After Hrs

First off, how did participating in BFW come about?
I nearly came to showcase in BFW last year, but my visa didn’t get issued in time, so I never made it. I always wanted to come to the city, so I was really happy when the BFW team invited me again.

Q: As a self-taught designer who didn’t know tailoring when you started, how have you evolved since the first fashion show?
A: I am learning every day. We have got a saying in UK, “Every day is a school day” and I keep learning. I make things wrong, then I have to correct it and next time I make it right. I love playing with fabrics and it’s fun. Sometimes not knowing how to make everything seems to work for me.

Q: What is the collection you will be presenting at the Bangalore Fashion Week?
A: I’ve called it a fusion collection and it is very much inspired by this trip to India. It’s full of colours and my favourite PVC and for the rest, you’ve got to wait and see it.

Q: What does the Bozena Carter label stand for?
A: I value ethics and I am against animal cruelty. I never use leather or fur, instead I love plastic-looking garments. I love colours and unusual fabrics and I hope the Bo Carter label is unique and different.

Q: Your official website mentions your previous stint as an accountant. So, does the logical accountant in you rear its head when you are creating a collection?
A: I let my creativity go wild when I make my garments, but yeah, I am a logical person who loves numbers too; I still work as an accountant.

Q: You are an ideal example to show that one needn’t necessarily go to a design school to become a fashion designer. That said, do you miss having a technical education in the field?
A: I do and I don’t. I know that if I have all the knowledge I would be able to make clothes faster; however, I think I may then lose my full creative side. Not knowing how to make stuff brings new ways of making stuff and I do like that bit. I love doing things ‘wrong’ to prove they can be done that way.

Q: Though you are a late entrant in the field, you sure are making a name for yourself. What would you owe it to?
A: Believing in dreams and my dearest husband! He is the strongest believer in me and the greatest support I could ever ask for.

Q: Do you believe that international exposure helps a designer’s perspective? Do you keep yourself updated with international events? And where have you showcased your collections till date?
A: Yeah, absolutely. I love international shows so much. I love travelling and I learn from each trip and show new things and I meet so many lovely, inspired people. Showing my collection around the world widens my audience and I love that aspect.

Esther Anderson gets cosy with top Cat Joel Selwood

FORMER Home and Away babe Esther Anderson could be making a play to become football’s hottest new WAG.

The stunning brunette has been seen cosying up to new Cats captain Joel Selwood after spending Christmas in Geelong, her home town.

It is believed Anderson, 32, met Selwood, 23, at a Geelong president’s lunch in June.

The pair was spied canoodling at last month’s Pier to Pub swim in Lorne and the blossoming romance has set tongues wagging.

In this week’s edition of TV Week, Anderson, admitted there was a man on the scene.

“Yeah, there might be someone I like, but it’s early days,” she said. “I’m not saying anything.”

The former Dancing with the Stars contestant split from actor Conrad Coleby in 2010.

An avid Cats fan, Anderson has listed Selwood, Paul Chapman and Jimmy Bartel among her favourite players.

Triple premiership star Selwood has only been seen at awards nights with his mother, his football star brothers, friends or teammates.

Anderson has moved to Los Angeles for the pilot season and her agent said she could be there indefinitely, potentially cooling her romance with Selwood.

Anderson broke down when she found out her Summer Bay character, police officer Charlie Buckton, was going to be killed off in the show last month.

Model hopefuls strut their stuff at Myer casting call

GLOWING skin and natural beauties were the order of the day at today’s Myer model casting.

A smattering of Jen Hawkins, Jess Hart and some Chris Smith hopefuls were on hand at the Myer womenswear department today for the autumn/winter 2012 collection parade casting.

Myer will launch its new season range on March 1 in Melbourne at the Mural Hall, with Jen Hawkins and Jess Hart walking alongside some of the fresh faces.

Up-and-coming model Jess Gold was asked by the judges to attend the casting after causing a stir in New York on Helmut Lang and Rebecca Taylor’s fashion week runways.

“Watch this space and watch this face,” Myer spokesperson Jackie Sutton said of the new talent.

As for Gold, she takes it all in her stride. At just 19, the willowy Melbourne beauty says her only problem is squeezing into the sample size shoes.

“My shoe size is a bit of a problem, I’m a 41-42,” she said.

The model has her sights set on walking alongside Hawkins and Hart, and hopes one day to be the face of a Calvin Klein campaign.

Myer stylist and blogger Romy Frydman was part of a panel of judges perusing the girls as they walked, and said she was looking for healthy girls who were not too thin.

“We are looking for natural beauty, girls that walk well, that are healthy and not too thin. We want glowing girls,” she said.

Face of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week 2011 Sophie Van Den Akker was one of the first in line for today’s casting, hoping to walk in both Myer and David Jones shows.

“It’s always nerve racking,” she said.

Van Den Akker offered this advice to other models – if you don’t get the walk right the first time, forget it.

“You have only got one chance, you have to get it right the first time, your personality needs to shine through,” she said.