Issue 04 - Spring 2012

MANUSCRIPT Mister Mum : A portfolio of dads doing it for themselves. Style Cycle : A comment on fashion's regenerative spirit.

The Man Who Fell To Earth : Z Zegna's futuristic approach to tailoring.

New Order : Local electronic outfit The Presets go all Aussie. Also : Jim Thompson Luca Ionescu Tim Moore Matt Stegh

AUS/NZ $5.00

#SELFIE Jonathan Zawada by Jonathan Zawada

MANUSCRIPT

Issue IV Spring 12 06 Editor’s Letter|08 Contributors 10 Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil Accessories take a turn for the dark in our portfolio of the season’s finest.

Photography Bowen Arico | Styling James Dykes

17 Introducing Luca Ionescu, Tim Moore, Matt Stegh & Jim Thompson Profiles Alex Bellemore & Mitchell Oakley Smith Photography Kylie Coutts, Jordan Graham & Liz Ham

26 A Coat of Many Colours It may be cliché, but if there is a time to wear colour it’s in the spring. Why the hell not?

Photography Kylie Coutts | Styling James Dykes

32 J.Z. A conversation with Australia's greatest export: Perth-born, now Los Angeles-based creative multi-hyphenate, Jonathan Zawada.

Story Mitchell Oakley Smith

36 Adults Only Julian Hamilton and Kimberley Moyes have their sights firmly set on making an international name with a distinctly Australian sound.

Story Jonathan Seidler

38 Planet Z In a world exclusive we present a radical vision of Z Zegna’s spring/summer collection alongside an in-depth look at the menswear house under its new creative director Paul Surridge.

Photography Michele Aboud | Styling Jolyon Mason

48 Gothlete Sportswear meets gothic in our seamless fusion of fashion’s recurring styles.

Photography Liz Ham | Styling Jolyon Mason

60 Babes A heightened take on the booming paparazzi niche that is celebrities and their children.

Photography Jordan Graham | Styling Jolyon Mason

78 Stockists 79 Final Examination

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MANUSCRIPT

From the Editor

The idea for this issue – of generations and regenerations – came about, quite simply, because of its springtime release. The notion of re-birth, of history repeating itself, is a rather straightforward one, but the stories, shoots and profiles that come from an initial idea are never so. It’s not instantly recognisable, for example, that Gothlete [page 48], our fusion of gothic and sportswear styles, is a comment on the continued presence of both trends in every passing generation. On the other hand, our regular profiles of talented Australian men – this issue with two visual artists, a stylist and a fashion designer – feature portraits of them with their children, reinforcing the notion of passing wisdom, of things starting over, of new, yet to be explored, beginnings.

At Z Zegna, the directional fashion line of Italian menswear house Ermenegildo Zegna, newness is the driving force. Indeed, its newly installed creative director Paul Surridge, who recently presented his second collection following his replacement of outgoing Alessandro Sartori, is taking the brand places its customer probably never imagined it going. Tailoring remains prevalent in Mr Surridge’s collection, but for perhaps the first time it serves as a platform upon which to tell the story inherent. I’m very excited to present this very collection exclusively in this issue – flown directly to Australia following the show in Milan in late June – where it’s been reimagined by photographer Michele Aboud and our fashion director Jolyon Mason.

But in every issue there’s always a story that sticks, that you’re really proud of, and often it’s the one that’s had the most work go into it.

In this issue that is, perhaps obviously, Babes [page 60]. This is an idea that photographer Jordan Graham, Mr Mason and I have been talking about, debating, imagining, re-imagining and planning for over three years, and it finally comes together in this issue after an intense week of pre-production and three days of multiple locations, six models, a professional football player, eleven children and more than a few grizzly moments (both the adults and children).

Quite how we pulled this together I’m still not sure, but that we did is testament to the talent and ability of each and every member of the team that worked on it, and I thank them, and all of the parents involved, for this. The shoot itself can be read in many different ways – from the outrageous levels the paparazzi goes to capture an image of a celebrity with their newborn, to the cheesy portraits that said celebrities sell to gossip magazines – but, like always, I’ll leave that to you.

Until next time,

Mitchell Oakley Smith twitter.com/MrOakleySmith Photography Bowen Arico

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Editor & Publisher Mitchell Oakley Smith Creative Director Jolyon Mason

Art Director Elliott Bryce Foulkes Fashion Editor James Dykes

Editorial Assistant Kate Venman Contributors Michele Aboud, Bowen Arico, Alex Bellemore, Helen Chilton-Taylor,

Kylie Coutts, Jordan Graham, Liz Ham, Jenny Kim, Sasha Nilsson, Amanda Reardon, Sophie Roberts, Todd Robinson, Jonathan Seidler, Jonathan Zawada Special Thanks 2c Management, The Agency Models, The Artist Group,

Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, Chadwick Models, Company1, EMG Models, London Management Group, Network Agency + Management, Prema Hair Salon, The Rat’s Nest Collective, Viviens Creative, Viviens Models manuscriptdaily.com facebook.com/manuscriptdaily twitter.com/manuscriptdaily Manuscript is owned and published by Mitchell Oakley Smith (ABN 67 212 902 027), 11-13 Burnell Place, East Sydney NSW 2010, manuscript@mitchelloakleysmith.com. Printed By MPD, Unit E1 46-62 Maddox Street, Alexandria NSW 2015. © 2012 All Rights Reserved. ISSN 2201-0815.

Contributors

enny Kim

onathan seidler

lex bellemore

Born and raised in

Writer Jonathan Seidler

Alex Bellemore is an

New York, hairstylist

joins Manuscript after

arts administrator,

Jenny Kim began her

a lengthy journalistic

curator and writer

career at the age of 18

career in entertainment

currently working for

as the network educator for Bumble and Bumble.

and opinion. From newspapers to street press,

Having since spent the past five years freelance

fashion bibles to TV appearances, he’s scribbled

manager of the arts sector resource arts interview.

hairdressing, Ms Kim has worked with a number

his name on every masthead he can. Most recently,

Past projects have seen Mr Bellemore exhibit with

of impressive editorial and advertising clients

Mr Seidler took up residency as a men’s columnist

China Heights, Information and Cultural

including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and now

for the relaunched Fairfax Digital venture, The

Exchange, NIEA and, next year, Slot Gallery.

lends her talent to Manuscript, believing "it's a

Vine, and became an Australian correspondent

A professionally trained dancer gone to seed,

publication created by people that I not only adore

for Monocle. He ran his own aural discovery

Mr Bellemore can be found in his spare hours

but respect on a creative and professional level.”

site, One A Day, promoting long-form music

trying to keep up in a ballet class. For this issue

Thanks for the shout out, Ms Kim. In this issue,

criticism, for nearly five years. The second song

of Manuscript, Mr Bellemore profiles designer and

the stylist tends to the locks of our models in

ever featured was by The Presets, whom Mr Seilder

director of Like Minded Studios, Luca Iconescu,

A Coat of Many Colours [p26], Planet Z [p38]

admits was a privilege to profile in this issue as

viewing the experience as “a good conversation

and Babes [p60].

"they are the soundtrack to so many long summer

between the creative and practical departments of

nights of my youth".

my brain.”

8

the Australian Council for the Arts and as the

MANUSCRIPT

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

Photography Bowen Arico Styling James Dykes

Burberry Prorsum studded document folder

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MANUSCRIPT

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

Panama hat

available at Strand Hatters

Curio Noir

Emporio Armani

candles

watches

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MANUSCRIPT

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

Aesop shaving products, bowl & brush

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MANUSCRIPT

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

Bally

D.L. & Co candle

leather briefcase

Framed butterfly

Oliver Peoples

available at World

glasses

16

introducing

g n i c u d o r t n I Luca Ionescu Jim Thompson Matt Stegh

&

Tim Moore

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Ionescu photographed with his son, Jaga,

by Liz Ham on 14 July 2012 at the Rat’s Nest Studio, East Sydney, Australia.

Words Alex Bellemore.

18

introducing

In gold, black and silver, the words ‘Do What You Like’ twist and crackle through an elaborate creation by Luca Ionescu. The lavish finished product – embossed, embellished and foiled – appears as though designed for a baroque-themed party for Snoop Dogg, beautiful and bling all at once. The text from the piece speaks truly of this dedicated creative, who brings what he likes into all aspects of his life. A perfectionist at heart, typographer, logo designer, artist and curator, Luca Ionescu has built a reputation founded on the pursuit of technical excellence, attracting some of the biggest and best brands in the business.

Although artistry and creativity play a large part in his practice, Mr Ionescu is the contemporary version of a master blacksmith or stonemason; a dedicated craftsman whose working tools are the screen and tablet, his workshop a studio in an Art Deco office block in Darlinghurst, Sydney. “The thing I most enjoy is crafting type as best as I can,” explains Mr Ionescu. “Making it as technically and aesthetically refined as possible. Clients come to me from past experience and they know I will put a lot of effort into crafting a piece.” Under the guise of Like Minded Studio, his independent practice, which fluctuates in size depending on the number of jobs on the books, Mr Ionescu has worked on blue chip campaigns for brands such as Absolut Vodka, Nike and Sass & Bide. But his portfolio extends beyond the commercial.

Come June, he’ll unleash his distinctive aesthetic onto the international forum with his typographic treatment for Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s latest epic The Great Gatsby – in 3D, no less. Working within the highly articulated, super sensorial reality aesthetic of a Luhrmann production could pose challenging obstacles for a man who is successful in his own right, but Mr Ionescu knows how to achieve artistic balance, which he did alongside Bazmark creative Silvana Arri Heras. “Baz and Catherine [Martin, the film’s production designer and Mr Luhrmann’s other half] already had a vision and ideas of what they wanted the visuals to look like and I tried to bring that to life,” explains Mr Ionescu. “I like adding a lot of detail to my work and finessing it, and I think there is a connection there and a crossover with what Baz does in his films, which made the process purely creative. To get that opportunity was a really nice career endorsement.”

But it’s not just big-name projects that fill Mr Ionescu’s schedule, with a range of offshoot projects to satiate his interest in his work. In the past, these included Refill, a design- and art-based magazine, Refill Seven, an exhibition of unique skateboard decks created by lasering the plywood with typographic treatments, and more recently, curatorial projects and productions that promote and present the work of other creatives and designers working in similar fields. With the insatiable curiosity of an artist, Mr Ionescu is drawn to these projects as an opportunity to share and learn from others. “Bringing artists out and doing something for the community allows me to engage with other typographers and curators,” he says.

“Meeting guys from the other side of the globe who you admire and respect and connecting with them and that exchange of ideas keeps it exciting.”

It is not surprising that Mr Ionescu’s no-nonsense coffee order of a tripleshot long black is an essential staple in an average day of one very busy gentleman. With ongoing work for The Great Gatsby, curatorial collaborations and client briefs, it is hard to fathom that Mr Ionescu could be anything less than a workaholic, chained to his studio until the deathly hours of the night. But the creative is also a family man, learning not only from his four year-old son, Jaga, but also managing the struggle to fit it all in. “My son really inspires me, just seeing him and hanging out with him. Through all the intensity of what happens with work the connection between him and I is unconditional. Having a child definitely made me realise how much you can fit in.”

Typographer

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MANUSCRIPT

I first met and interviewed Jim Thompson exactly three years ago – in mid-2009 – following the release of his debut collection for Three Over One, the menswear label he’d set up. What struck me then about Mr Thompson, who had previously worked as a buyer and product developer, was the conviction of his intention.

“That we produce and throw away doesn’t sit well with me,” he

Fashion Designer

explained in that interview, for the Australian edition of GQ. “Workmanship is something that you don’t see much of today. I always wanted to do something that I truly believed in.”

In those years since, the label has naturally evolved. “Every

Fast forward those three years and, when we catch up, Mr

season is a continuation of the signature look,” explains Mr

Thompson is at the factory that produces the vast majority of his

Thompson, at the same time directing a maker to re-position the

collections in Bankstown, in Sydney’s south, having brought it on-

buttons on a button-down shirt that he’s not happy with. “I’m not going

shore after initially producing in China, and he echoes himself from

to move away from that style too much. I like taking classic styles and

that first interview. “When I started I was trying to do something that

executing them in good fabrics and good fits, but there are a million

was less about mass market, cheap merchandise, and more about encouraging customers to buy better and buy less,” he says. “I wanted to avoid waste and promote longevity by creating things that stood up to wear season after season. The market has shifted and gone that

white button-down Oxford shirts, so you do need an element that surprises the customer,” he says. For his spring/summer collection this season, that surprise is in the form of colour and print, both of which were previously scarce in a Three Over One collection. “That

way in recent years, with more brands adopting that approach now,

fashion element interests me more and more now. Perhaps it’s the

which is fantastic. It’s better for business, better for the environment and, at the end of the day, better for the customers, too.” Yes, I think to myself. This is why Mr Thompson is one of the best menswear

Aussie side of me starting to come out,” he adds jokingly.

He’s pretty proud of that Australian-ification, if we can so call it that, but being based in Sydney has certainly presented its fair share

designers to have come out of the country. Not that we can truly lay

of challenges for the budding designer. “It certainly hasn’t gotten any

claim to him, though, given he’s British.

Mr Thompson, 39, moved to Australia from North London near a decade ago with his then girlfriend – now wife and mother of his two

bloody easier since I began,” he says, citing Australia’s small market and the strong exchange rate, which pushes up the wholesale cost on exported garments, as being the greatest problems Australian

children: Ivy, featured alongside him in the portrait on this page, and

designers face, himself included. “It just makes the product so

Billy, who arrived at the time this publication was going to press – and

expensive overseas, so retailers don’t want it even though they like

worked largely behind-the-scenes in the fashion industry. Three Over

the product, and yet with Australia being so small you really do need

One was borne out of frustration at a lack of clothes he himself wanted to wear, rather than any long-held desire for creative invention.

It’s perhaps for this reason that, when the label began, Mr Thompson

the overseas distribution, especially if you’re not a mass label.”

Overseas growth hasn’t been as strong as Mr Thompson would have hoped, which is unsurprising given he launched his label on the

wasn’t really reinventing the menswear wheel. Indeed, the styles –

cusp of the global financial crisis, but he has fostered a strong

denim three-piece suits with high-waisted, pleat-front pants, pre-

portfolio of local wholesale accounts, as well as found stockists in

washed, button-down Oxford shirts, and sweatshirts – were, for the

Japan. He’s also set to launch an online store come September this

most part, modern updates of vintage workwear classics. And yet at

year, which is a long time coming, he says. “I think online will be a big

the time, when the market was suffering from an overabundance of

focus, and I can control my own destiny rather than dealing with

Hedi Slimane-style slimness and Rick Owens-style androgyny, Mr

agents overseas that make the cost prices even more expensive with

Thompson’s designs felt new and innovative. Hail a return to classic,

their cut added on top. With the online store we can service anyone,

masculine dressing.

and we’ve had so many enquiries from all corners of the world.” It’s also an opportunity to control the look and feel of the retail transaction which, given his focus on quality, is really attractive to Mr Thompson, just as it was those three years ago.

20

introducing

Mr Thompson photographed with his daughter, Ivy,

by Kylie Coutts on 14 June 2012 at the Rat’s Nest Studio, East Sydney, Australia.

Words Mitchell Oakley Smith.

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Stegh photographed with his son, Zephyr,

by Liz Ham On 02 June 2012 at The Rat’s Nest Studio, East Sydney, Australia.

Words Mitchell Oakley Smith.

22

introducing

When a person naturally falls into doing something, it’s often a sign that they are, for one, naturally very good at it. That’s certainly the case with Sydney-based stylist and costumier Matt Stegh, whose trajectory from graduate designer to model

Stylist, Costumier & Performer

to his current day job, which he’s been doing for nearly two decades, is testament to his talent. In many ways, Mr Stegh’s career has been with thanks not so much to fate as the evolving cultural landscape of his home since the early 90s, Sydney, and his continued engagement with it on different platforms.

Indeed, when a young Mr Stegh was modeling for Kelvin Harries,

But Mr Stegh, much to his credit and benefit, has never focused

then one of Sydney’s only stylists in the true sense of the word, and

all of his energies into commercial fashion, parlaying his skills and

began assisting the luminary, fashion wasn’t exactly a buzzword in

interest in costume design and performance into his advertising work,

Sydney. “In the nineties no one dressed cool,” recalls Mr Stegh today.

and working on projects outside of fashion. This, too, happened much

He and his circle of friends, on the other hand, had it going on. “We

by accident. “We were watching a lot of our girlfriends doing burlesque

thought we were so onto it back then and thought Sydney was the

performances at these big girl queer nights in the late nineties, many of

daggiest city in the world. It still is daggy in many ways.” Even before

which were women- or trans-only admission, so decided to start a boys

understanding what the title meant, Mr Stegh was unassumingly

equivalent,” he explains of Man Jam, a male strip night, which lasted

customising his clothes for raves. Around 2000, he tells, was when

three events. “They were the first gigs we did and were really

things started to shift. Mr Stegh was working as a designer at Surry

community based because it was illegal to perform naked in a club at

Hills retailer YPV, a fashion-forward store by any standard, and saw

that time,” he says. “We were being anarchic and trying to dismantle

the first arrival of Ksubi, then Tsubi. “That’s when it all started to

and challenge the notion of masculinity at that time.”

happen,” he tells. “It was a homogenised look, for sure, but for what

Today, Mr Stegh’s performance-based initiatives include gender-

seemed like the first time Sydney gained a fashion identity, and it

questioning burlesque events such as U Little Stripper!, which is

was really exciting.”

staged at a not-for-profit creative space in Sydney’s inner west. “I

Mr Stegh grew up outside of Newcastle, a few hours north of

really get a kick out of it,” he explains. “There’s a lot of costume

Sydney, where, he says, he was “really into performance, but it

design, a lot of making, a lot of logistics that go into it.” What’s more,

seemed not to be a thing you did in the seventies. You got the vibe

says the stylist, is that many of his commercial clients hear of the fun

that dressing up wasn’t a thing boys did.” Having studied graphic

had at such events and often come along. “They know it’s not on a

design and taken “heaps of drugs”, he wound up studying fashion

professional scale but they’re intrigued to come to an event where

design at what was then East Sydney Technical College, inspired by

there’s jelly wrestling or the crowd strips. We’re constantly opening it

the arrival of The Face magazine in Australia in the early 1990s. Soon

up to new people.” It’s this word-of-mouth promotion that saw Mr

later, Mr Stegh was represented by an agency and, unlike many others

Stegh collaborate on costumes design for Sydney Theatre Company’s

that saw Sydney as a dead-end for a career in fashion, began working

production of The Comedy of Errors where, he says, “there really was

on high-profile advertising campaigns.

a crossover between that world and the traditional theatre.”

“I remember writing a letter to Marion [Hume] at Vogue

The point of it all? “There’s such a huge lineage of queer

[Australia, it’s then editor-in-chief] telling her that I should work there

performance in Sydney from the seventies and we slotted into it,” he

because I really liked what she was doing in calling a spade a spade.

says simply. But beyond this, Mr Stegh is aware that while there’s far

We as a country really didn’t have a fashion identity, and I wanted to

smaller a division between hetero and homosexual communities in

help craft something of one.” While Ms Hume was impressed by Mr

Sydney, it nonetheless remains. “We’re apart of mainstream society

Stegh’s enthusiasm, a job at Vogue, then the country’s only

but often don’t communicate through it, like on television, and

commercial fashion title, didn’t eventuate, and he built a portfolio

because queer politics change so much, those modes of

working with his then partner, make-up artist and photographer Matt

communication aren’t fast enough,” he says. “The live forum is a really

Hornby, at independent title Oyster. “Everyone was going to New York

nice way to keep up to date, and that’s what I love about it: that

and telling me I should, too, and to be honest I don’t know why I

immediate exchange of ideas that are really radical and challenging of

didn’t,” he says. “I was happy in Sydney and still am.”

hetero-normative society.”

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MANUSCRIPT

British-born, Sydney-based Mr Moore has worked as a visual artist for near a decade. Having graduated from Brighton University with a Bachelor of Three Dimensional Design with Honours in 1998, he drifted unhappily between jewellery and graphic design jobs before finding himself in love in Australia, making the move in 2001. In 2008 he explained to Dazed & Confused his transition from pen to needle, and the story has become tied up in the mythology that surrounds any

Artist

artist’s practice. “It’s an old story,” Mr Moore rehashes, clearly having explained it more than once. “I always carried a sketchbook but when I was flying back [to Australia] I left my pencil case somewhere and

For the Melbourne Art Fair in 2010, Tim Moore created two works

that’s how it all started with the embroidery.” Using the in-flight sewing

that were exhibited via his gallerist, Helen Gory Galerie, and one

kit (pre-September 2001), Mr Moore discovered a new way to express

particularly stands out. Hi everyone I’m Sponge Nob, a 30x30cm

his pen-on-paper doodlings. “It’s been in print so many times that

embroidery on vintage Sicilian linen – the standard format of

story,” he adds.

most of Mr Moore’s work – features an overzealously happy

While time is limited for the artist, he’s currently working on a

Sponge Bob Square Pants, eyes glitteringly alive and arm

solo show to be unveiled at his Melbourne gallery in the first quarter

waving. It sounds nice enough, a little quirky, given the silliness,

of 2013, though he’s worried about the works’ completion. “These

except that, on the character’s black trousers sticks out a thick

works are the biggest I’ve done,” he explains, with one of the pieces

yellow penis, reaching nearly to his knee.

nearing 1.5 metres. “But once it’s finished it’s going to be amazing,”

The male phallus is central to Mr Moore’s art, and the utter

he adds reassuringly, more to himself, I suspect. Mr Moore begins

absurdity of seeing it embroidered – that combination of bygone,

by sketching the outline on the linen and then embroidering over the

feminine craftsmanship and childish toilet humour – is what makes

top and within the lines. “It’s like a really, really slow colouring book.

his work so amusing and, at the same time, rather profound. But when

It feels like I’ve been working on this one piece for fucking ages, but

pressed, the artist is by no means keen to share his fascination with

I’m really excited about by the thought of getting it done.”

cock. “I know where it comes from, but I don’t think I can talk about

Can’t he hand some of the handiwork over to a minion? “I

that,” he says rather coyly. “Look, I just think that cocks are funny.

would love to do stuff with the Country Women’s Association,” he

Pictures of them are funny. People draw them on their schoolbooks.

says. “A friend of mine knitted a penis scarf for them, and the lady

It’s just ridiculous and, I think, part of not wanting to grow up.”

at the Geelong Wool Gallery just blushed and giggled. See,” he says,

But Mr Moore is no child. In fact, when we speak he’s sitting in

“the craft of penis appeals to everyone.”

the back of his car having just got his son, Silas, to sleep, the 10-month old child he had with his long-term partner, stylist Caterina Scardino. Things have, very rapidly, changed for the 37-year old artist, who finds it a struggle to dedicate time to embroidery, the element of his work he describes as so boring. “It’s hard,” he concedes. “But it’s just going to get easier as [Silas] grows older. I try and do it when he’s asleep, like in the evenings, and dedicate at least one or two days just to sewing each week, but in the free time I have I’m helping Cat out, and besides, I enjoy hanging out with him.”

24

introducing

Mr Moore photographed with his son, Silas,

by Jordan Graham on 02 August 2012 at Sun Studios, Alexandria, Australia.

Post Production Mitch Fong.

Words Mitchell Oakley Smith.

25

MANUSCRIPT

A Coat of Many Colours

End the interminable cold months with a hit of colour. Take your pick.

Photography Kylie Coutts | Styling James Dykes | Grooming & Hair Jenny Kim

26

FASHION

Above Jac+Jack sweater, Calibre suit, Isson eyewear, Country Road bag.

Opposite Libertine-Libertine sweater,

Vanishing Elephant pants, Adidas bag, 99 Degrees skateboard.

27

MANUSCRIPT

Vanishing Elephant shirt & pants, Tommy Hilfiger sweater, Trenery cardigan, Isson eyewear, stylist’s own clutch bag, World belt.

28

FASHION

Pageant shirt, Ralph Lauren sweater.

29

MANUSCRIPT

Elvrik shirt & pants, World jacket, Gucci coat.

30

FASHION

Max Panichetti/EMG Models | Photographic Assistance Peter Plozza

Elvrik shirt, CK Calvin Klein suit, Gucci watch.

31

MANUSCRIPT

J. Z

.

Perth-born, LA-based artist, graphic designer and illustrator Jonathan Zawada might just be one of our greatest exports.

Story Mitchell Oakley Smith 32

PEOPLE

It takes Jonathan Zawada, 31-year old multi-

Australians seem to be able to accomplish a lot in

clients want to attach their brand to a pre-existing

hyphenate creative, and I some four weeks to

a short amount of time; there's a real can-do

designer style, but I don’t like the approach of

pin down a time to speak via Skype for this

attitude. All the Aussies I meet here are really

using a client project to promote myself. It should

interview. He’s not pretentious or above doing

prolific and working extra hard. I think being in

be about promoting the client, not yourself.

an interview – far from it, as the following

Australia, with its various restraints, teaches you

discussion attests – just busy. In a career

to be more economical and varied in what you do,

spanning just over a decade, Mr Zawada has

just to make things happen. It can be difficult not

risen from merely a graphic designer to an

being able to achieve what you want, but I love

internationally recognised name in fields as

that part of Australian creative life too.

broad as video direction, print design and

We’re not as laidback as our

You said in an interview once that you are a terrible collaborator, and yet nearly all of your projects require you to work with others in some way, which makes that hard to believe.

I love responding to a brief. I love solving

illustration, radically flip-flopping between all

reputation suggests.

of them depending on the job he’s given. You

Exactly. The more you work with others, the more

particularly social but I like being social via

could say that Mr Zawada gets all the good

you realise that Australians aren’t lazy or

meetings. I think it’s important to be a good

projects – commissions from ASOS, Surface to

laidback. At least the last generation, anyway.

communicator and that a good communication

Air, Nike and the New York Times – but he’s known for his ability to do interesting things with more corporate brands, too, with a portfolio spanning Bloomberg, BMW, Coca-

problems. I love meeting people. I’m not

I asked earlier about your work having something distinctly Australian about it, because others have written, and in many ways its true, that because your

channel is key to a good project. Very few projects require me to sit alongside someone to create something together.

I guess that level of collaboration has

work is so broad it’s hard to pin down

been limited to your work with Annie and

reaches new heights following a relocation to

an overarching aesthetic.

Shane [Sakkeus].

Los Angeles last year and solo art shows on

It’s probably the wrong word to describe it, but

Shane and I had been friends a long time and I’d

the cards, as well as a new baby, Pip, in the

there’s definitely a conceptual underpinning to

been going out with Annie for years before we did

mix, he shows no signs of fatigue.

what I do. I approach each job the same way, and

anything together, so there wasn’t anything at risk.

the way I work is with pretty much the same

There was a whole lot that had already been said,

process. It’s the aesthetic style of the outcome

and those projects just worked.

Cola and Mecca Cosmetica. And as Mr Zawada

MITCHELL OAKLEY SMITH You’ve been living in Los Angeles for a year now. How’s it treating you?

that varies. For me, a lot of the work I put into my practice is not the visual side; it’s thinking about

How do the more commercial collaborations – like those with ASOS

JONATHAN ZAWADA

the challenges and problems inherent in the brief

and Surface to Air – come about?

I love working here. It seems like anything is

and the concepts associated with it. The outcome

They were both out of the blue. Those kinds of

possible, and people are really positive. Everyone

tends to be solving that problem in my head and

one-off product projects are usually out of the

wants to help and be doing stuff and gets behind

then moving onto that final stage. I guess it

blue, otherwise it’s through someone I’ve worked

one another, which is great. In terms of living it’s

changes a lot because as the problem is solved

with before as a nameless graphic designer, like

not the greatest. Annie [Wright-Zawada, Mr

there are a lot of solutions.

Colab [eyewear]. ASOS came about through It’s

Zawada's wife] once described it as an endless

Is there one medium you prefer working

Nice That, which I’d been involved in. In some

Parramatta Road, which it is in some ways, but

with more?

at least it’s cheaper [than Sydney].

Not really. I love working with lots of different

straightforward but I feel you get a bit more

Is that why you moved?

things. A lot of my work lately, especially in my

respect than with others.

I’d come over here twice – once for a group show

art practice, has involved lots of mediums slung

There’s been not so enjoyable ones?

and another time for a solo show at Prism

together; there’s scripts I’ve written, oil paintings,

Surface to Air was a particularly bad experience

[Gallery]. The show had gone well and it seemed

sculpture… I like combining processes as much

for me. In contrast, I have had amazing working

like a good time. Not much was happening in

as I can. I enjoy drawing with pencil on paper,

relationships with people like Tina Kalivas for a

Australia at the time, so I wanted to try out

and although I haven’t done it much in the past

long time, and that’s really collaborative. With

something different. I’d been trying to do more art

few months, it feels really natural. But then I love

someone like Surface to Air they are under no

[in Sydney] but renting studios was really

working on the computer with new software,

obligation to make the experience enjoyable.

difficult, whereas here it’s really easy; space is

too, and I’m happy to sit down and fiddle with

They get the PR out of it to help sell their normal,

abundant and it’s cheaper.

things digitally.

straight-up line, and they never risk enough

radically evolved in the past few years.

look closely, many people would assume

It certainly seems that way. And my theory has

all of your work is digitally created.

always been that Australian people have a chip on

There’s a lot of artists that love picking up a

to work with them again. Which sucks. It should

their shoulder. There’s always the assumption

notebook and scribbling bits down, but I don’t feel

be a 50-50 relationship, as how the press sees it,

that you haven’t really made it until you’ve made

like I have a natural style for that. I don’t doodle

but really it’s 95-5 with those projects.

it somewhere else, like New York or London, and

much. I always wish I had my own style, where if I

so everyone second-guesses decisions they make.

felt like drawing I could just draw, but I’ve never

Here, on the other hand, it’s not like people are

really had that.

industry, from luxury to designer to

It makes sense then that so much of your

mass market. Why do you think they’re

The contemporary art scene in LA has

striving to go elsewhere. They’re focusing on what

ways [this kind of project] tends to be more

It’s interesting because, unless you

money for the collaborative project to be a big deal if it doesn’t sell well, so it doesn’t matter if the artist is unhappy because they’re never going

And yet these collaborations, so to speak, are so prevalent in the fashion

work has been about responding to a

so popular?

Do you think that being Australian

specific brief.

differentiates your work over there,

I think an artist’s name has a lot more weight than

Yeah, I like a brief. When I started working, ten or

it did in the past. A collaboration might not sell

15 years ago, the vision I had of graphic design

product, but it creates a story, generates press,

then – and graphic design was a different thing at

with the brand theoretically publicising the

that time – was that you got a brief from a client

collaborative project when, in fact, they’re using it

I don’t know, actually. I haven’t met too many LA

and you executed a solution, and it was always to

to promote the stuff they do that’s not

natives, really. One thing I have noticed is that

promote that client. It’s changed a bit now in that

collaborative, because often the collaboration

they do right now.

or are we so globalised today that geographic influences aren’t so prevalent?

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isn’t so retail-friendly or commercial. I’ve been

fashion, in that each piece is different. So I guess

show. It simply seemed like the best way to

caught out and discovered that firsthand. When

we did things for Trust Fun that we wished we

execute the idea I had in my mind. There’s no way

things are labeled a collaboration there’s the

could do or wanted to do for clients but had been

I could have done them in Australia. I wouldn’t

implication that it’s 50-50, but in reality it’s more

turned down. That then translated to our fashion

have had the means to survive and there wasn’t

a case of ‘we’re already making this X bag or

comic, Petit Mal.

the forum or support for it. But anyway, I’ve

t-shirt and we want to put your Y print or whatever on top of it’. There’s no real discussion going on. Sometimes, though, it works brilliantly.

Speaking of publishing, it’s amazing that a place like the New York Times, undoubtedly the world’s greatest media

always tried to keep my work – art and design – separate. I had small shows of pencil work at Monster Children [Gallery] and Sarah Cottier

[Takashi] Murakami with Louis Vuitton was a

institution, has picked up on your work.

blending of the two, a meshing of the two worlds,

Yeah, definitely. I get really excited by those

didn’t have my name attached too it, at least

and it was great.

projects, like the one I did for Bloomberg. The

earlier on. The show I’m working on at the

Times had asked me to do things previously, and

moment has oil paintings but also installation

it’s always so exciting, but with those sorts of

work and sculpture, and I’m not sure I’ll use those

things you usually get an email late at night asking

mediums again, but I always approach my

Some people would argue that the application of an artist’s work to a fashion garment devalues the artist’s work, as happened with Murakami.

[Gallery] in Sydney, and my design work often

for artwork in two days time with little in way of

practice with whatever seems like the best way to

I don’t tend to agree. I don’t think it devalues an

a brief, which is understandable for the operation,

do so. That’s the part of the process I enjoy most:

artist. When it’s not done right, maybe then it

but it can be terrifying and unceremonious and

learning something new.

devalues an artist’s work, like with my Surface to

exciting all at once.

Air project. I produced the artwork with the

Do you still spend much time in book

Where is the show?

At Prism in Los Angeles, just near my house. I’m

assumption that it would be reproduced at a

stores?

certain quality and size. But when it’s done

Not really anymore, especially now we’ve moved.

correctly and the artistic integrity is maintained,

I left all of my books at home.

People often say that having a baby

I don’t think it inherently devalues an artwork

Where do you find inspiration?

forces you to be creative in the

by virtue of it being on a garment.

I haven’t been looking at the internet, as I’ve been

compartmentalised moments you have

Is the clothing then deemed art?

also doing a bunch of different design things, too.

There’s a lot on.

painting so much. More and more I trust my own

available.

I think there are definitely boundaries between

approach to the brief and am having to look for

It’s true, which is probably why it hasn’t been so

the two. I have quite defined boundaries between

inspiration less and less. Aesthetics tend to be a

challenging. I’ve always had so many jobs on that

the two in my practice and maintain a separation

product of the concept.

I’ve never had the luxury of spending the whole

between the two. If I make something with my own hands, I consider it art, but if it’s mass-

What about other graphic designers and illustrators – are there others

day on just one job. I do things in incremental additions and work on multiple different projects

produced I don’t think it is. With Tina or ASOS,

you admire?

there’s a lot of design that takes place and so many

Heaps! There are so many amazing designers –

paint is wet, it requires hours at a time, it can be

production processes, and that doesn’t speak to

Peter Saville, Barney Bubbles, Hipgnosis. Early

trickier to work out a balance. The first week or

me of the idea of art, which is a fluid flow of ideas.

on I had very specific points of reference, but then

two after Pip was born I managed to produce a

I guess we tried to address this with Trust Fun, by

Tumblr came about and with the images not

24-page book for The Presets, along with some

doing something in the middle. We produced the

attached to names, I guess my influences became

vinyl artwork, and it was challenging but I like

pieces in small numbers or hand made most of

more disparate. I feel like a result of being older

working in little blocks of time. I get sidetracked

them, like the jewellery, which we loved from an

that I don’t look at other things too much. I go on

or procrastinate if I have too much time.

environmental perspective. But all that said, I

a different tangent from job to job. There’s a

think that the term ‘art’ is pretty malleable. In a

bunch of people and things that inspire me, like

museum show, pretty much anything can be

Bjork, but not so much in a visual sense.

construed as art. For example, I love car design, and there’s a lot of old car design that I consider to be art. Really, the term ‘art’ is, a lot of the time,

at once. With the oil paintings where, because the

Actually I recall you mentioning Bjork in a previous interview as someone you’d like to work with. Is there an ideal

It doesn’t seem like you have trouble creating anyhow, with the prolific amount you turn out.

I like doing things as quickly as I can, not for economic reasons but because it seems healthy to me. I get a brief and don’t pay it any attention for

ill suited for discussion. You can say the word and

project in mind?

it means a very different thing to different people

Less and less so. The jobs that are the most

until an idea forms, usually when I’ sleeping, and

based on their experience.

enjoyable or rewarding are the ones you least

then I’ll execute it in the last few days.

Going back to Trust Fun, I found that project interesting in that you’d already worked with other fashion designers – like Tina, Insight and Ksubi, and Shane with Josh Goot. Was it a reaction to all of that?

the first few weeks, just let it linger in my mind

expect to be. I really like the surprise of something new that I don’t know anything about, and I guess there are different measures of what constitutes a good project. I love my working relationship with The Presets. They, maybe more than anyone, have a lot of faith in me and let me

Yeah, we’d been doing so many fashion projects,

go off and do what I do best. We have similar

and worked together on Follow magazine. I’d been

mindsets and a lot of stuff doesn’t need to be said,

doing a hell of a lot of t-shirt prints and was

which is the same as with Tina. The thing I’m

getting the shits with the process of it. I thought

most proud of though is Trust Fun.

that the idea of printing the same t-shirt in multiple quantities was really archaic, and I think Shane felt the same way, and so we began with tiedye, which we couldn’t get any other brands

Going back to your artwork… you’ve created large-scale paintings, installations, and sculptures. A lot of people, at least in Australia, don’t

interested in at the time. Then it went to digital

know this side of your work.

printing, which is an amazing technology in that

Well, the oil paintings came about out of

every garment can be different in terms of the

something I was working on, and after doing one

print. It goes against the grain of commercial

I thought I would do a group of them for a solo

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Mr Zawada’s solo show, Free Roam Above The Mist,

opens at Prism Gallery, Los Angeles, on 08 September 2012.

Portraits Jonathan Zawada 35

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Adults Only

INXS. Nick Cave. Midnight Oil. The Presets ?

Manuscript tracks the electronic duo’s bold attempt to join the Australian music canon.

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PEOPLE

When two highly skilled but emphatically

previous records by layering it up in distortion and creating these dark

bored Conservatorium of Music graduates

characters that were quite punk-y. Now we really tried to take the mask

stumbled into the role of punk-dance

off everything, in the most natural way we could.”

prophets for a new generation of Australian

It’s hard to move beyond ‘Adults Only’ when talking about Pacifica, a

hedonists, it didn’t sound like a formula for a

disturbingly noir epic about the seedy underbelly of Sydney, because there’s

serious, lasting career. Yet somehow, almost

just so much to talk about in those six minutes. “We really wanted to inject a

a decade later, Julian Hamilton and Kimberley Moyes find themselves

bit of this feeling, which is something we personally have felt for a long time

standing on a precipice so far above their contemporaries that they have

about Sydney,” says Mr Moyes. “It’s this place that’s quite idyllic with good

nobody to rebel against but themselves. Internationally acclaimed and

times and beautiful beaches but there is a dark history to it and a dark

locally deified, The Presets return this spring with Pacifica, their third and

present. There’s something crook underneath it all and we wanted to draw

perhaps most dangerous outing yet. “We’re in a really gifted position right

attention to that, perhaps to people we play to overseas, you know, who think

now where we’ve worked really hard to get all of these people’s attention”,

Australia is all Home & Away and Neighbours.”

says Mr Moyes, The Presets’ propulsive drummer and keyboardist. "Now

The song ends with a menacing buzz of pure white noise that only

we have a lot of people waiting to hear what we do next, so let’s deliver it

relents at the final moment. It’s uncomfortable, grating and never quite

to them in the most ambitious way that we can."

drops into the house beat you’d imagine it would, which Mr Moyes

Whether it’s turning up to the ARIA awards clad in Romance Was Born

maintains is the exact denial of pleasure he was aiming for. “We were trying

or remixing Kings of Leon, The Presets revel in shocking their audience. It’s a

to create absolute tension. It’s that non-verbal feeling of fear that we

trick they perform to devastating effect on Pacifica, which was preceded by

wanted to inject. Someone actually said to us recently that the white noise

what Mr Moyes refers to as the ‘face-melting techno’ of lead single ‘Youth In

at the end sounded like blowflies, which I don’t think we thought about, but

Trouble’ that had tastemakers aflutter about the supposed new direction of the

that adds another amazing Australian element to the song.”

group who have led Modular’s electronic brat pack – The Avalanches, Cut

Perhaps the most useful way to think about Pacifica is that it sounds

Copy and Van She – for what seems like an era. They were right, of course, but

like The Presets after they’ve gone to bed at a reasonable hour (unlikely,

also completely wrong. A sprawling, ambitious record that encompasses a

given they’ve both recently become fathers) and had a decent shower. The

whole new spectrum of sounds and ideas one would never typically associate

rebellious streak is still there, but clean pop songs with very few bells and

with the group, Pacifica is perhaps the best magic trick of all because it reveals

whistles have rinsed in with the grime and dirt of their signature sound.

what The Presets have been masking their entire lives; namely, that they’re

Down tempo ballad ‘Its Cool’ is almost completely organic, nothing but

actually proper musicians. “One of the concepts for the record was to base the

voice, drums and piano, while ‘Promises’ pumps out a major chord

centre around the piano and the drums. We wanted every song to have some

progression that is perhaps even more stunning than ‘Adults Only’ because

kind of subconscious meaning, which is ‘This is Julian and Kim and this is who

there’s not a hint of darkness in there. Nobody will see it coming. Certainly

we are and where we came from,’” says Mr Moyes.

hearing Hamilton sing out a proper pop melody instead of flattening his

Where The Presets come from, of course, is Sydney, Australia. Pacifica

notes to match club grooves will be a revelation – and a divisive one at that

is defined not only by its astonishing excursions into sledgehammer techno,

– for many fans, but The Presets remain confident. “Pav [Stephen Pavlovic,

classic mood rock and major-chord synth-pop, but also by an inescapable,

Modular CEO] told us ‘This album is the career definer. The last one was a

driving Australianness. There’s a tune called ‘Ghosts’ that is a bass-drum

breakthrough success and if you nail this one, it sort of seals the deal,’” said

driven convict sea shanty, and another, ‘Adults Only’ which references

Mr Moyes. “At a certain point in the making of this record, we needed to

Darlinghurst small bars, bushfires, yuppies and cocaine. “I think in the past

hear that.”

we were much more concerned with presenting ourselves as an international

Have the bad boys of electronica mellowed? “You have to remember

act,” says Mr Moyes. “And in the wake of all the success we had, particularly

we’ve both had kids in this time, so we also have that circle of life sort of thing

in Australia, we started to look at who we were as Australians and as an

come to the forefront. You see in your child and start to look back at yourself,

Australian band, and who we liked growing up.”

and become less concerned about where you’re heading. We are fortunate to

This extends beyond Hamilton’s accent, which has always been

be in a position where we could settle down and enjoy those moments of

pronounced on The Presets' records but typically wrapped up in loop

inspiration and not worry about whether anyone would listen to it if it didn’t

pedals, effects and pitch modulators, through to the aesthetic of the songs

sound a certain way. Hopefully it comes across like that, but it doesn’t matter

themselves. “We looked at the amazing quality of certain Australian acts,

if it doesn’t,” says Mr Moyes. “I don’t really care either way if the next wave of

like INXS, Midnight Oil and Nick Cave and wanted to create something

great Australian music is electronic or not, I just want it to be great.”

that we felt could exist amongst records of that calibre. This time around we didn’t want to disguise Julian’s voice. We really went to town on

Story Jonathan Seidler Photography Jordan Graham 37

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PLANET Z Installed for less than a year, Paul Surridge’s second collection for Z Zegna was one of the strongest at the recent Milan Fashion Week.

T

here has been so much defection and departure

unveiled the brand’s inaugural ready-to-wear collection in January

and denial within the upper echelons of the

this year, complementing its existing range of shoes, in another

European fashion industry in the past twelve

reinvention and expansion of legacy-based brands by the group.

months that, for the average punter, it’s tricky to

But unlike Berluti, Ermenegildo Zegna remains privately owned by

figure out who did what, who went where and,

three fourth-generation Zegnas – siblings Anne, Gildo and Paolo –

perhaps most importantly, who designed the shirt

but with 557 standalone stores globally, it is by no means a small fry

on your back. As it happens, most of the change

in the apparel world. “I didn’t realise just how much work there is to

that has uprooted France and Italy’s leading established houses has been

be done in such a big organisation,” concedes Mr Surridge, “but the

born out of designers’ struggle to meet the demands imposed by their

tailors' expertise is incredible. Zegna has a lot of resources and as

employer, which makes sense: these houses produce upwards of eight

I push the boundaries I learn more and more.”

collections per year, often twelve, including men’s wear, women’s wear,

It’s just as well, given Mr Surridge doesn’t come from a tailoring

resort, pre-collections, couture and accessories, and then there’s the

background. In fact, before working at Zegna he’d never really worked

creative campaigns and in-store appearances and press responsibilities.

in suiting at all, his most recent role being head designer of men's wear

And yet for all the brouhaha that has encompassed women’s wear,

at Jil Sander, reporting to Raf Simons, and, prior to this, held stints in

a British gentleman, Paul Surridge, has been solidly toiling away for the

the men's wear teams at Burberry and ck Calvin Klein. Of course, Z

past year as the creative director of Z Zegna, the fashion-forward line of

Zegna is the company’s directional fashion line, not its commercial

1910-established Italian men’s wear tailoring house Ermenegildo

suiting core, and granted, the designer certainly worked his way around

Zegna. “It has been intense,” admits Mr Surridge when we meet the day

a blazer at those other fashion houses, but the announcement of his

following the Z Zegna presentation, his second, at the recent spring/

succession to the Z Zegna throne came as a surprise to those in men's

summer men’s wear collections in Milan, Italy. “It is a company that

wear circles, particularly given the commercial and critical success

has a definite rhythm. When you’re coming from another company it

of Mr Sartori’s latest collection. After all, his last name translates to

always takes time to adjust.” In print, the designer’s opening words

tailors in Italian. Mr Surridge recognises the challenge. “Zegna

sound somewhat negative, which isn’t at all a reflection of his mindset.

possesses a real excellence in fabrics and manufacturing and tailoring,

In fact, he’s thrilled to have wound up as the creative head of Z Zegna

whereas my responsibilities have always been geared towards leisure

but is keenly aware of the reputation Alessandro Sartori built during

and sportswear. I really had to understand tailoring to take this on.”

his eight years with the brand, its first creative director, and wants

But all that said, Ermenegildo Zegna should be commended for a left-

to earn his own stripes. “A rich foundation was left for me,” he

of-centre choice, hiring a relatively unknown designer, which is rare in

continues, “and I don’t want to be disrespectful by erasing that. It

the celebrity-driven nature of the industry, and as it turns out, it seems

would be different if the last director was let go, but because it was

Mr Surridge might well be just the man to continue Z Zegna’s growth

a personal decision to leave, you have big shoes to fill.”

and development. His second collection for the brand, shown on these

He is, of course, referring to the amicable departure of Mr

pages, was perhaps the finest at Milan Fashion Week this season, subtle

Sartori, who left the company in May, 2011 to take the newly-created

in its appeal, and gave greater voice to the first collection he unveiled

role of artistic director at the LVMH-owned Berluti, where he

earlier in January.

Story Mitchell Oakley Smith Photography Michele Aboud | Styling Jolyon Mason Grooming Amanda Reardon | Hair Jenny Jim 38

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B

ritish-born and trained at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art, 38-year old Mr Surridge cuts a handsome figure with dark hair, slightly greying at the sides, and a few days growth on his cheeks and chin. For his title and success, he’s surprisingly affable, with an accent that lilts between British, Italian and American. He’s keen for a chat – we’re allotted an hour for this interview, though he seems the

type to be as helpful to a journalist as possible – but is aware of what is required of him, in this instance: to talk about Z Zegna. I provide this background not to praise him for the purpose of the story, but instead to outline the ability with which he has taken the reins handed to him. This is the designer’s first role where he’s had to talk to the press, to be a face, so to speak, and while it’s not criminal investigation, answering the questions of an interviewer with no less than three public relations managers within earshot can be confronting, and yet within less than a year, Mr Surridge is as comfortable and confident in his words and self as was Mr Sartori, which suggests that he’s not only the right fit for Z Zegna, but that he is happy, too.

Mr Surridge was tapped for the position directly by Gildo Zegna, and the announcement came along with that of Mr Sartori’s departure, which indicates he was the first choice for the role. Mr Surridge was given a small project to work on and, following that, offered the job. “I asked myself, ‘Can you do this?’ As a designer, you always dream of becoming a creative director or owning your own company. If you don’t dream far, you won’t make it. I guess I was nervous, but I think nerves mean that you’re passionate.”

Better known simply as Zegna, the manufacturing company was founded in 1899 in the Piedmont region of northern Italy by Michelangelo Zegna. The business began in the town of Trivero, in the foothills of the Alps, with four looms built for weaving cloth. Michelangelo set up shop in Trivero because the water in the region was low in minerals, meaning it would, when used in the manufacturing process, help produce a particularly supple cloth. While Michelangelo established the foundations of the brand we know today (even then it was recognised for its high quality fabrics and commitment to research and development), it was his tenth-born child, Ermenegildo, who secured its future.

Taking control of the company in 1910 at just 18 years of age, Ermenegildo’s aim was to produce the finest quality cloth in the world. He purchased the most technologically advanced machinery available and used only the finest quality wool, sourcing it from distant lands such as South Africa and Australia. He was out to directly challenge Britain’s venerable Savile Row firms, the market leaders at the time, yet in the century since, Zegna has become a booming luxury brand, while Savile Row, despite revived interest in recent years, is a challenged institution.

Yet, rather unusually for a luxury brand, the brand’s customers are exclusively male, as Ermenegildo Zegna focuses solely on men's wear. As a result Zegna doesn’t get the media attention that some of Europe’s more high-octane brands which cater to both genders attract, but a lack of column inches doesn’t appear to be having any impact on the bottom line. Ermenegildo Zegna’s loyal clientele tipped $1.4 billion into its coffers in 2009, and the business churns out more than two million metres of luxurious fabrics – from cashmere silk blends to vicuna – a year, which is used not only for its own brands (alongside the mainline sit Z Zegna and Zegna Sport) but also the production of suits for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford.

Given that Italian men are known for their suit-wearing panache year-round, Ermenegildo Zegna has formulated a ‘cool effect’ fabric, which reflects the sun’s rays, reducing the body temperature of the wearer. Most clever is the Zegna suit with an invisible micronsphere finish, inspired by the lotus leaf, that employs nanotechnology to resist stains. Ermenegildo Zegna still sources the majority of its wool from Australia and, in support of the industry, holds an annual competition to identify and recognise the finest wool in various categories. That the heaviest fabric used by Zegna today is lighter than the lightest fabric used a decade ago gives some indication of how rapidly Zegna suits evolve, much like the business. Indeed, following the opening of its first standalone store in Paris in 1980, Ermenegildo Zegna was the first luxury brand to open its own store in China, which it did in Beijing in 1991. Today, the Asian market forms a significant portion of the brand’s global business.

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he Z Zegna collection presented in Milan

designer. “We are not all doing the same thing, we don’t all live

in late June was something of a surprise. Of

or dress the same, and so we need different clothing options as

course, the line has always been the fashion

a result.”

offering from the tailoring house, but in the

That modernity was something Mr Surridge employed to

past the latter has always been more prevalent

communicate what this collection was all about, using a purpose-

than the former, perhaps due to the line's

built set as a way of giving reason to his choices. “It’s a really

relative youth.. Yet following his fall debut,

strong mechanism,” concedes the designer of the importance of

where suiting formed a core that was influenced by modern sports-

a presentation’s accompanying elements. “We start so early so we

and tech-wear, Mr Surridge took the line into previously unexplored

have to know our destination from the very beginning.” While Mr

territory, one where the suit, while present, served to communicate

Surridge used the same space the company does each season to

his ideas for the season, rather than the other way around.

show the Z Zegna collection – a large, vacant warehouse around

“It was supposed to be fun and non-conforming,” explains

the corner from its headquarters in Milan – he divided it into

Mr Surridge of the new direction. “I wanted a level of colour

distinctly different zones, separated by floating walls, and

that kept it cheerful in tone but that it would also be relaxed in

continued the use of the Flavin-like palette of the collection.

line.” That line was, indeed, rather relaxed, the collection notes

“When I saw [the space] empty I thought ‘wow’”, says Mr

discussing notions of the Z Zegna man “leaving aside the rigidity

Surridge. “What an amazing opportunity. Not many people get

of working life and letting a playful, carefree and at times

the freedom to create that kind of environment. There is a luxury

nostalgic spirit emerge.” Here, shoulders are unstructured, the

in having the finances to create such an amazing space.”

upper silhouette breaks free of the slim-fitting style it had been

Beyond top-tier houses with exponential budgets for

corralled in for so many seasons, adopting a more oversized,

presentations, the designer is right. Mr Surridge has, indeed, found

boxy shape, and the overall construction of the outerwear shares

himself a rather plum job, and he’s not wasting a moment of it. “At first

more commonalities with shirting than traditional suiting with

it was hard to really immerse myself in the brand as I was thrown in

its high cut, four-buttons and elbow-length sleeves. There is a

the deep end [designing the fall collection] but eventually I managed

feeling of classic military uniform, but not in a referential or

to visit the archives,” he says. “I really wanted to breathe Zegna and

overtly obvious sense. The high-waisted trousers and chinos

understand the textiles and why the brand is where it is today.”

with bow pleating and French seams do much to counteract

That sheer history can prove both an asset and a challenge to

anything too obvious or done-before. “I wanted to create a

fashion houses and the designers they employ, for while on the one

wardrobe that has continuity and can evolve,” he explains.

hand the authenticity of legacy helps sell product, but it can be hard

“We’re working on making Z Zegna more accessible, not to

to move a house’s style into the 21st century. For a house like

damage the business, but to open it up. We have to keep moving

Ermenegildo Zegna, some of its key fabrics, though modernised,

forward and make it fun.”

date back to the very early 20th century, while its core remains in

Yet most interesting was not necessarily Mr Surridge’s

suiting. “It is challenging,” concedes Mr Surridge, “but our tailors

crafting of a new silhouette for Z Zegna but rather the colour

and technicians are so talented. A client might want something

palette with which he presented it, with tones – avocado, coral,

opulent and dynamic or more historic, and we can adapt.” In any

lemon and taupe – inspired by the work of installation artist Dan

case, Z Zegna does, by virtue of its fashion approach, attract a

Flavin, known for his site-specific fluorescent light fixtures. “He’s

younger customer. “There is always an air of elegance but it’s not

always been an inspiration to me and is as modern today as he

my goal to imitate high-end luxury of my father’s style,” says the

was in the sixties,” says Mr Surridge. “It’s these moments of great

designer, who sits in a similar age group to many of his customers.

creativity that have occurred in the past that we need to hold on

“The language of Z Zegna comes from the flavour of the fabric and

to.” In combination, the solarised brights in micro jacquards have

the attitude of the customer. I have had to modify my personal

a futuristic sense to them – of David Bowie meets Dune – that

aesthetic to meet the Zegna style, and it’s resulted in this modern,

seems entirely modern. “I’m not a fan of cookie-cutting,” says the

realistic outcome.”

Brandon Lund/EMG Models | Photographic Assistance Glenn Porkony & Robin Hearfield | Post Production Kisma/Green Room Sessions Hair Colour Helen Chilton-Taylor, Prema Hair Salon, Surry Hills 46

FASHION

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MANUSCRIPT

48

FASHION

They're fashion's most recurring styles. It was only a matter of time before they collided, and ever so brilliantly at that.

Photography Liz Ham | Styling Jolyon Mason Grooming Sasha Nilsson | Hair Sophie Roberts

Mr Jensen wears Hermès pullover, Vivienne Westwood ring from Harrolds, stylist’s own sunglasses.

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50

FASHION

Opposite Bally sweater & coat, Just Cavalli jeans, Nom D skirt.

Above Rusty rash vest, KJ by Kirrily Johnston singlet, Zambesi vest & pants, Nike hooded jacket, sweatbands from Rebel Sport.

51

MANUSCRIPT

Courtney White, 22, University of Technology, Sydney Ms Henderson wears Courtney White clothing and Thom Browne eyewear, available at Harrolds.

Materialbyproduct dress.

52

FASHION

Z Zegna trench coat, Magdalena Velevska mask.

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MANUSCRIPT

Above Comme des Garcons shirt and Thom Browne vest, both from Harrolds, Zambesi jumpsuit, Ksubi long sleeve t-shirt tied around waist.

Opposite Adidas hooded sweatshirt, leggings & slides, Song for the Mute vest, Jeremy Scott for Adidas plastic jacket, Zambesi shorts, American Apparel socks.

54

FASHION

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MANUSCRIPT

Comme des Garcons shirt from Harrolds, Jimmy D t-shirt, Chronicles of Never jeans, Nom D shorts & snood.

56

FASHION

Nike t-shirt, leggings & shorts, Yuliy Gershinsky net t-shirt & bomber jacket, American Apparel socks, Nike sneakers & gloves, both from Rebel Sport.

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MANUSCRIPT

58

FASHION

Tristan Jensen/Chadwick Models | Olivia Henderson/Chic Models Photographic Assistance Soraya Zaman & Elle Green | Digital Operation Jeremiah Wolf

Opposite Lagerfeld shirt, Jimmy D tights & shorts, Giorgio Armani hat & bag, Gala Curios neckpiece, Burberry jacket, Givenchy sandals from Harrolds.

Above Emma Mulholland t-shirt & pants, Deadly Ponies necklace.

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MANUSCRIPT

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FASHION

Babes Bugaboo and Balenciaga, Pumpkin Patch and Pierre Hardy: kids are summer's must-have item.

Photography Jordan Graham | Styling Jolyon Mason Grooming & Hair Jenny Kim

Mr Vanderhart wears Herringbone shirt & suit, Brando shoes.

Master Winnie wears Babies R Us onesie.

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MANUSCRIPT

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FASHION

Messrs Stenmark wear Orlebar Brown polo shirts.

Miss Leyla & Miss Telli wear their own onesies.

63

MANUSCRIPT

Mr Richardson wears Reebok t-shirt, From Britten suit & coat, Baby Bjorn carrier.

Master Charlie wears American Apparel onesie, Emu shoes.

64

FASHION

Mr Young-Whitford wears Body Science unitard, Reebok shoes, Skull Candy headphones, Colab glasses.

Master Boris wears Adidas shoes. Bugaboo pram, Baby Bjorn carrier.

65

MANUSCRIPT

66

FASHION

Mr Jensen wears Michael Bastian for Gant polo shirt, Topman blazer, Orlebar Brown pants available at Harrolds, Nike sneakers, Lego backpack, available at Toys R Us. Miss Audrey (left) wears her own dress and jacket, Baby Gap shoes, and 2-in-1 harness budy.

Miss Rosie wears her own onesie and is carried in a Hermes scarf.

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Panichetti wears Bassike jeans and tank, Josh Goot bomber jacket, Helen Kaminsky hat, Bernhard Willhelm for Camper shoes, Lucy Folk friendship bands.

Miss Ondine wears her own beanie and is wrapped in a Hermes scarf.

Mr Williams wears Polo by Ralph Lauren jacket, Anna & Boy shorts.

Miss Ramona wears her own cardigan and necklace.

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FASHION

Mr Richardson wears Orlebar Brown swimmers & towel, Havaianas flip flops.

Master Charlie wears his own costume.

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Jensen wears Calibre t-shirt & suit, Ice watch.

Miss Rosie wears her own onesie.

70

FASHION

Mr Richardson wears Whyred shirt, Brent Wilson vest, LAB suit, Michael Bastian for Gant neckscarf.

Miss Violet wears American Apparel swimsuit.

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Mr Zac Stenmark (left) wears Bassike t-shirt, Levis denim shorts, Loft denim shirt.

Mr Jordan Stenmark (right) wears Calvin Klein Jeans denim shirt, Ralph Lauren denim jacket, Levis jeans.

Both wear Ray-Ban eyewear.

MANUSCRIPT

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FASHION

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Panichetti wears Jac+Jack shirts, American Vintage cardigan, Polo by Ralph Lauren cargo pants, Brando shoes, Lucy Folk friendship bands.

Miss Ondine wears her own onesie and is wrapped in a Hermes scarf.

Mr Young-Whitford wears Puma jacket, leggings & shorts.

Master Boris wears Adidas t-shirt & shoes.

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FASHION

Miss Audrey wears American Apparel t-shirt.

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MANUSCRIPT

Mr Williams wears Bassike shorts.

David Williams/London Mgt Group | Peter Edward Richardson/The Agency Models Max Panichetti, Jack Vanderhart & Jimmy Whitford-Young/EMG Models | Jordan & Zac Stenmark/Viviens Models Photographic Assistance Mitch Fong & Josh McGee | Digital Operation Cara O’Dowd Post Production Mitch Fong & Alex Reznick | Production Assistance Techa Noble | Fitness First, Darlinghurst A very special thank you to the parents who assisted with this project and the beautiful children featured on these pages.

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FASHION

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MANUSCRIPT

Stockists

99 DEGREES / 99degrees.com.au ADIDAS / adidas.com.au AESOP / aesop.com

JEREMY SCOTT FOR ADIDAS / adidas.com.au

AMERICAN APPAREL / americanapparel.net

AMERICAN VINTAGE / am-vintage.com

AMERICAN RETRO / americanretro.fr ANNA & BOY / annaandboy.com

BABY BJORN / babybjorn.com.au

BABY BUNTING / babybunting.com.au BABY GAP / gap.com

BALLY / bally.com

BASSIKE / bassike.com

JENNY KEE / jennykee.com

JAC+JACK / jacandjack.com

JIMMY D / jimmydwashere.wordpress.com

JOSH GOOT / joshgoot.com

JUST CAVALLI / justcavalli.robertocavalli.com

KJ BY KIRRILY JOHNSTON / kirrilyjohnston.com

LOFT / loft.com

BRENT WILSON / brentwilson.myshopify.com

BUGABOO / bugaboo.com

CALIBRE / calibre.com.au

BURBERRY / burberry.com

CALVIN KLEIN JEANS / calvinkleinjeans.con

CHRONICLES OF NEVER / chroniclesofnever.com

CAMPER / camper.com

CK CALVIN KLEIN / calvinklein.com

COUNTRY ROAD / countryroad.com.au

COMME DES GARCONS / comme-des-garcons.com

DEADLY PONIES / deadlyponies.com

ELVRIK / elvrik.com

COLAB / colab.com.au

CURIO NOIR / curionoir.com

D.L. & CO. / dlcompany.com

LEVIS / levis.com.au

LAGERFELD / karl.com

LIBERTINE-LIBERTINE / libertine-libertine.com

BODY SCIENCE / bodyscience.com.au BRANDO / brand.com.au

LAB / labgallerie.com

KSUBI / ksubi.com

LITTLE MARC JACOBS / marcjacobs.com/littlemarcjacobs LUCY FOLK / lucyfolk.com

MAGDALENA VELEVSKA / magdalenavelevska.com

MATERIALBYPRODUCT / materialbyproduct.com NIKE / nike.com

NOM D / nomd.co.nz

ORLEBAR BROWN / orlebarbrown.com

OLIVER PEOPLES / oliverpeoples.com PAGEANT / wearepageant.com PUMA / puma.com.au

RALPH LAUREN / ralphlauren.com.au REEBOK / reebok.com

RUSTY / rusty.com/au

SIGNATURE SPORTS / rebelsport.com.au

SONG FOR THE MUTE / songforthemute.com

SKULLCANDY / skullcandy.com

EMMA MULHOLLAND / emmamulholland.com

GANT / gant.com

TOMMY HILFIGER / tommyhilfiger.com.au

GIVENCHY / givenchy.com

TOYS R US / toysrus.com.au

GALA CURIOS / galacurios.com

GIORGIO ARMANI / armani.com GUCCI / gucci.com

HELEN KAMINSKI / helenkaminski.com.au

HERMES / australia.hermes.com

HERRINGBONE / shop.herringbone.com

ICE WATCHES / au.ice-watch.com

HYPE DC / hypedc.com

ISSON / isson.com.au

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STRAND HATTERS / strandhatters.com.au THOM BROWNE / thombrowne.com TOPMAN / topman.com

TRENERY / trenery.com.au

VANISHING ELEPHANT / vanishingelephant.com WHYRED / whyred.se

WORLD / world.co.nz

YULIY GERSHINSKY / yuliygershinsky.net ZAMBESI / zambesi.co.nz

Z ZEGNA / zzegna.com

F ina l e x a m ination

Back to the Future Story Todd Robinson

A fifteen-year old photograph is a catalyst for discussion about the notion of evolution in culture.

aristocratic feel while at the same time it is reminiscent of seventies Bowie, androgynous and sensual. The clothes, as far as I recall, are by now defunct menswear label SO, designed by Dutchman Alexander van Slobbe. I remember cutting this image from i-D magazine and sticking it on my wall. It floated around for years, on walls, in journals – an isolated emblem.

When I return to this image after all this time it appears to challenge the notion we have of generations. That is, the way one generation cedes to another that follows.

It is not the disparity between now and what was then, but more the continuities or what remains. The image remains to me timely, prescient. In practice there are no clear dividing lines. I think it’s more productive to think of cultural practices, with fashion being one of them, as discontinuous, irregular, patchy. Some things are passed on, but the change is not global, it’s more localised, in an abstract sense.

At this local or individual level we pick up bits and pieces of culture, play with them, The other day I happened to look through

small square photographs cut out of contact

re-arrange them for ourselves. These might

a box I had. It was brown cardboard, with

sheets, pieces of fabric, creased,

be images, reference points, actual things or

partially collapsed sides, small tears and

photocopied images.

ideas. However, these things have histories,

creases all over. It contained the sort of

There is one image from a magazine

we don’t simply pull them out of the air.

stuff you decide to keep at one phase of

that really stands out to me. It is cut neatly,

Culture is given to us but not in any

your life, or what appears like a phase now

although one corner is ripped and patches

straightforward way. This is the sense in

when I look through the box – stuff that was

remain brown where adhesive tape has lifted

which the so called legacy of one generation

at that time important for different

parts of the image. It was from around 1996,

is not something simply taken on by one that

reasons, for the most part unclear to me

maybe, and like all fashion images it

follows, but rather deciphered to work out

now. Something more indistinct than

is really about a moment, but looking back it

what bits are worth keeping, what bits less

reason – more affect or atmosphere.

seems to sit outside of time. Not quite 1996,

so. In this respect (I hope), the individual

When I look over the contents of the box

more a slippery, ambiguous masculinity

impulse to bricolage works against the

as a whole, it’s an odd mix from a pre-digital

ushered in by Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme

tendency for global shifts that erase some

world: torn-out pages from magazines,

some five or so years later. There is a faintly

things that might be worth keeping.

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