THE AUSTRALIAN, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011 www.theaustralian.com.au
Prada’s biggest sale to public
THE CLICK CLIQUE
DAMIEN WOOLNOUGH BUZZ
LUXURY Italian fashion house Prada continues to focus on Asia as it moves closer to being listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Prada has received regulatory approval for a public offering of a 20 per cent stake in the company. The family-owned business, which includes Miu Miu and Church’s, is reportedly hoping to raise $US2 billion from the sale. The listing is expected to take place on June 23 and follows a series of critically acclaimed collections by designer Miuccia Prada for Prada. The former communist is credited with revitalising the Milanese business founded by her grandfather in 1913. Asia has become an important focus for the company, with one-third of its stores based in the region. Construction is under way on Australian flagship stores for Prada and Miu Miu at the recently refurbished Westfield Sydney.
Model turned photographer Candice Lake is taking it to the street DAMIEN WOOLNOUGH FASHION EDITOR
THE urge to change careers struck Candice Lake while modelling for photographer Georges Antoni. At the time she was standing in puddles of water, surrounded by electrical wires for lighting. ‘‘I asked Georges if I could assist him on the next day’s shoot,’’ Lake says. ‘‘At that moment it seemed like a good time to make a life change.’’ Modelling had been an unexpected career path for the Brisbane girl who was plucked from law classes at 19 and given the opportunity to appear at Australian Fashion Week. The following week Lake phoned her parents to tell them she had just crashed her car, was quitting law school and moving to Milan. ‘‘My parents didn’t exactly love the idea of modelling,’’ she says. ‘‘That call didn’t help matters. You can tell that I was 19 going on 15.’’ The sheltered girl quickly grew up and between assignments for Chanel, Ralph Lauren and Versace discovered a love of fashion and photography. ‘‘I remember working with Steven Meisel,’’ 29-year-old Lake says of the Vogue Italy photographer, a favourite of Madonna. ‘‘I was looking at him and thinking that I wanted to be him.’’ At the time Lake wasn’t ready to make the move to the other side of the lens. ‘‘Modelling was something that I loved and it was very hard to walk away from it,’’ she says. ‘‘Financially it was incredibly rewarding and it gave me the chance to see the world in an interesting way. It beat going on a Contiki tour and I was never the backpacking kind of girl.’’ The fear of turning 30 and wondering ‘‘what if?’’, as well as those electrical cables, finally prompted her to work as an assistant to photographers and complete three years of studying art in Sydney. ‘‘At first I would travel to New York to keep up the modelling but eventually I had to stop,’’ Lake says. ‘‘My agents thought I was crazy.’’ With the freedom to pursue her passion, Lake made a couple of interesting detours. There was a time she worked as a personal stylist in New York and in sales and marketing in London for Rue du Mail by Martine Sitbon. An encounter with the British Vogue team set her on the path to her present role. ‘‘I was there for Rue du Mail and I mentioned to them that I was keen to do some photographs and we came up with the idea of me going to New York and taking some portraits, documentarystyle, at the shows,’’ she says. ‘‘Suddenly everything came together. My love of photography, my experience with fashion and the
voyeurism I had studied at school. Here was a way of taking fantasy and bringing it into reality.’’ With her blog Style Magnolia, and contributions to British Vogue’s website, Lake has found herself as one of a core group of influential street-style photographers. Lurking outside readyto-wear and haute couture shows, these well-dressed paparazzi catalogue the personal style of the movers and shakers of the fashion industry as they go about their business in the latest Dior, Chanel and Lanvin, with a smattering of vintage clothing. ‘‘There are about 15 of us all together,’’ she says. ‘‘We’re this little pack that end up spending months of the year together. We’re at all of the same shows but we have our own approach. We’re all after something different.’’ They’re also a powerful force in fashion. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Scott Schumann and his blog The Sartorialist, street photographers now secure A-list invitations as well as lucrative advertising deals. What started out as a rebellious response to traditional media has become an essential part of the publicity machine for emerging designers and big labels. The photographers that truly mattered at Australian Fashion Week this month were not the ones at the end of the front row but those seated beside the magazine editors. Tommy Ton, who produces Jak & Jil, Street Peeper’s Phil Oh, Style Bubble’s Susie Lau and Lake were enlisted by IMG Fashion, fashion week’s organiser, to capture the mood in and outside the venues. ‘‘These photographers talk to the people at street level,’’ says Graeme Lewsey, chief executive of L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, formerly a senior executive with IMG Fashion. ‘‘They influence other sectors of the industry by showing what consumers are interested in wearing. Including them in the mix amplifies the event for designers and retailers.’’ This year retailer Sportsgirl engaged Lau to guest blog on its website. Sportsgirl chief executive Elle Roseby says fashion bloggers have a degree of independence and credibility that sets them apart from traditional media and communicates in a direct way with their young customers. ‘‘Their intimate relationship with their readers sets them apart,’’ Roseby says. ‘‘It is these bespoke conversations, rather than mass communications, that are so credible and so very personal for our girl. ‘‘What was great about our relationship with Susie was the sound third-party endorsement she gave to the Australian retail market, the way she compared
Australian retail to retail in the United Kingdom and how her followers responded to this endorsement. The knock-on effect of this conversation, identifying Australia as a fashion destination, is invaluable.’’ For Lake, the professional benefits have been commissions to do portraits for magazines, such as Vogue Australia, but she stresses that she is not pursuing streetstyle photography for money or fame, despite appearing regularly on her fellow fashion bloggers’ sites. Lake still works for Rue du Mail and is interested in the anthropological side of her role behind the camera. ‘‘I see the street-style phenomenon as similar to what is happening in the world of television entertainment,’’ Lake says. ‘‘Audiences are transitioning from the concept of fantasy to a strange sort of reality. It’s a world where models are famous and fashion editors are stars. We are mirroring what is happening on reality television. Beyond that I am interested in capturing different fashion subcultures, whether I’m shooting in Perth or Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles.’’ Returning to Australia from her London home, Lake says that her native country rates well in the style stakes. ‘‘Australia seems to have an inferiority complex when it comes to its sense of style,’’ she says. ‘‘People are really cool here. The only drawback is that a lot of the way people dress seems to be based on wealth because there’s not as much access to the highstreet stores in this country, although Zara might change that. ‘‘I was sitting with Tommy Ton and Phil Oh at the end of fashion week and they told me not to tell anyone back home about how cool it was here. They want to keep it a secret.’’ The internet is not a natural home for secrets and Lake, Ton, Oh and Lau’s work has already been uploaded to the world. While Lake is proud of Australian style, she fears that street-style blogs may have an adverse effect. ‘‘With some blogs there’s a risk of street fashion becoming homogenous. Everything is beginning to look the same. When that finally happens, it will be hard to keep going with this as a profession that interests me.’’ Until then Lake will continue her anthropological studies in the world’s fashion capitals and she won’t be going back to modelling. ‘‘Well, I’m too old now,’’ Lake says. ‘‘Photographing for the internet has opened up a new world for me and I won’t be wondering ‘what if?’ when I turn 30 this year.’’
DAMIEN WOOLNOUGH
Choo changes owners again UPSCALE shoe-maker Jimmy Choo is being sold to German luxury-goods company Labelux GmbH, the latest deal in a flurry of luxury-goods acquisitions as the industry rebounds from the economic crisis. Labelux, a small holding company that already owns Swiss shoe brand Bally, said on Sunday it was buying the stiletto label from TowerBrook Capital. Financial details weren’t disclosed, but earlier reports suggested Jimmy Choo was valued at $US650 million to $US895m. Labelux also owns the Derek Lam fashion house and British jeweller Solange Azagury-Partridge. ‘‘Jimmy Choo is an outstanding brand with enormous growth potential and the ability to deliver material growth synergies across our group,’’ Labelux chief executive Reinhard Mieck says. Jimmy Choo’s sale marks a rare high point for private equity in the fickle fashion business. The brand that found fame on the feet of Sex and the City characters has changed hands three times in seven years, providing its private-equity owners with big profits each time.
AFP
Jimmy Choo’s Tamara Mellon with Usher
Candice Lake, main image; Lake has found herself as one of a core group of influential street-style photographers MAIN PICTURE: VANESSA JACKMAN
For a gallery of Candice Lake’s photos, go to www.theaustralian. com.au/fashion.
A treat in store at the Milan end of Melbourne CARLI PHILIPS
THE upper-crust icing on the cake of Melbourne’s ladies-wholunch crowd just got a whole lot richer with the opening of Milanese designer Luisa Beccaria’s first Australian store in South Yarra. The boutique exclusively stocks Beccaria’s permanent, seasonal and bridal collections in their entirety, thanks to distributor Penelope Holt, who met the designer at the Milan ready-towear shows with the help of family contacts. ‘‘Luisa’s attention to detail is not found anywhere else here,’’ Holt says. ‘‘Everything is handmade in top quality material that you cannot produce in China, so what you pay for is exactly what you get. Melbourne women aren’t stupid. I’ve had pieces of hers for eight years that are still in mint condition.’’ Renowned for her frothy frock confections in a fusion of sugary chiffons, macaroon hues, lace and
A model wears Luisa Beccaria
FASHION 17
floral prints with floor-grazing sophistication, Beccaria’s gowns are a firm fixture on the red carpet, despite her refusal to advertise or pay celebrities to wear her clothes. ‘‘We’re very spoiled,’’ Beccaria says. ‘‘We’ve dressed them all.’’ In Beccaria’s world ‘‘all’’ is Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Madonna, Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway, and Sandra Bullock. Since the beginning of her career more than 20 years ago, Beccaria has enlisted ‘‘real women’’ in addition to professional models. Professional ballet dancers, clients and her daughter’s friends graced the spring-summer 2011 catwalk for Beccaria last September. ‘‘They are the ones [who] really wear the pieces so they have a natural flair,’’ she says in a strong Italian accent. ‘‘And during fittings they give advice about style and length. ‘‘It’s very interesting because there’s a sort of participation from all your fans that are involved. It’s completely different from someone that just gets paid to come for
a quarter of an hour to do a show.’’ Beccaria launched her eponymous label when she was 20, partly out of necessity, as she was too thin to find suitable clothes. She opened her first shop in 1984 on Milan’s via Madonnina, followed by a childrenswear store three years later. In 1991 she moved to larger premises nearby which remain the site of her Italian flagship store. Although she was offered Karl Lagerfeld’s former position as creative director of Chloe in 1996, Beccaria politely declined in favour of pursuing her autonomous vision. ‘‘It retained the heavy details and fabrics of couture, but the spirit and dynamism of pret a porter,’’ she says of her namesake ready-to-wear line. Even today, Beccaria remains fiercely independent, running her business alongside eldest daughter, Lucilla Bonaccorsi, 27. Never driven by trends, she has always shown at non-traditional
venues such as art galleries, libraries and private residences. The designer describes her aesthetic as a combination of prim and provocative. ‘‘There’s a poetic, eccentric sort of touch, but at the same time it’s seductive. It’s romantic yet men like women when they wear our dresses. It’s not too sweet but there’s always a very feminine touch.’’ Although Beccaria admits to shopping with her daughters for ‘‘quick, easy pieces’’ at the high street, she is concerned, like many luxury labels, that the big chains will ‘‘kill us all with their amazing price points’’. ‘‘But we are totally about something else,’’ she concludes. ‘‘It’s the same spirit because it’s very fresh, young and makes you feel good. But ours is a totally different type of quality. ‘‘My pieces are not just fashion. They are about style, a complicated cut, fabrics that are incredible, that are couture. ‘‘They are not like the fabrics
you find in Zara and H&M, although they can be mixed with something from there, which I quite like the idea of.’’ Reviewing Beccaria’s autumnwinter 2011 parade on Style.com in February, editor Nicole Phelps speculated Beccaria’s increased number of casual pieces was because of her expansion into the Australian market. ‘‘That explains the emphasis on daywear separates and walletfriendly knits,’’ Phelps said. ‘‘Women cannot live on cocktail dresses and gowns alone, no matter where they call home.’’ So with a new store bearing her name, surely it’s an excuse for one of Italy’s chicest patricians to throw one of her famous estate parties? ‘‘Can you believe I haven’t seen the store yet?’’ she cries. A second store in Sydney’s Woollahra is planned for the beginning of next year. ‘‘I’m dying to come. I have so many friends in Australia and I love being in the elements so I’m sure I would love your country very much.’’
Other private-equity acquisitions in high-end fashion haven’t been as successful. Permira, which bought Valentino fashion group for $US3.8bn four years ago, has renegotiated its debt and struggled to find the right designer to lead the group. Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 by Choo, a cobbler who made shoes for Princess Diana, and British Vogue staff member Tamara Mellon. Jimmy Choo first fell into the hands of private equity in 2001, the year Choo exited the business. TowerBrook Capital bought 83 per cent in February 2007 for $275m. Mellon, who retains a 17 per cent stake, will continue as chief creative officer. Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell was an early Choo fan, helping it grab market share in a category dominated by Manolo Blahnik. More recently, Choo, the first footwear brand to have a suite at the Academy Awards, has created more affordable collections for H&M and Ugg boots and added handbag and eyewear lines. Private-equity buyers have been wary of the high-end fashion business because snagging a hit designer capable of producing a must-have collection is such a challenge. Yet fashion labels such as Jil Sander and Tommy Hilfiger have found new owners in recent years after a stint under private equity. The economic downturn hammered luxurygoods brands as consumers scrimped and conspicuous consumption went out of fashion. But spending in the US and Europe has recovered, and Asia is fuelling the industry’s growth.Luxury-goods leader LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in March made its biggest acquisition, spending $5.7bn for Italian jeweller Bulgari . Labelux plans to increase the brand’s presence in China, as well as in men’s shoes and handbags. The company says its shoe brand had sales of $US229m last year and is growing rapidly. CHRISTINA PASSARIELLO AND MICHAEL HADDON THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Oprah entices Lauren IN the world of fashion, recluse Ralph Lauren, 71, is a rarity, preferring to let his advertising campaigns sell the American lifestyle brand. Television talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, however, has managed to secure his first TV interview in 20 years. Winfrey was given a tour of Lauren’s Colorado ranch and spoke to the designer about his $US10bn empire for one of the final episodes in her long-running show Oprah. The former Ralph Lifshitz confessed to naming his company Polo because of its aspirational overtones. ‘‘I couldn’t call [the company] Basketball. I like sports. I felt that Polo represented, sort of, an international sport. It was a little more sophisticated.’’ At present Lauren is focusing on designing a wedding dress for his daughter Dylan, who is set to marry hedge fund manager Paul Arrouet next month. ‘‘When you do something for your family or your daughter, I mean it’s the only daughter I have — beautiful girl,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to just give her something that she’d really treasure and give her something that would be really amazing. I want her to feel fantastic.’’ D. W.