In fashion, it's all about location, location, location
Visions of white, ocean blue and verdant green made Aje the most memorable runway show at Australian Fashion Week, before the first model appeared in an ivory gown with a hemline swooping like a wave at Bondi Beach.
Those in the Aje front row were the first to experience the water views and serene surrounds of the visually arresting $18 million Pier Pavilion at Barangaroo, before it was flooded with the throbbing beat of the show soundtrack.
Influencers in the brand's signature voluminous dresses competed for the best selfie backdrop, with the 85 structural steel columns offering more flattering angles than the oculus roof of the building, clad in terrazzo packed with crushed oyster shells.
'We wanted something special that felt Australian and something that would suit the mood of the collection,' says Aje co-founder Adrian Norris, who secured the first official event at the Pier Pavilion. 'It shows our commitment to Australian fashion.'
Norris and Aje co-founder Edwina Forest were among the first to support a revived Australian Fashion Week by the Australian Fashion Council, following the departure of former organisers IMG. 'We are definitely one of the bigger brands. Not being involved probably would've been detrimental to the event, and so we really wanted to show up for the industry,' says Norris.
It was only 13 years ago that Aje were the new kids on the runway at Australian Fashion Week, sending down jangling sequinned skirts, embellished pants and layered cream skirts.
With more than 20 boutiques, they are now a huge drawcard, but that hasn't stopped them from still making sequinned skirts, embellished pants and layered cream skirts.
Today, these ultra-feminine themes were elevated to match the show's surroundings, with more polished details such as painterly sequinned tops and billowing skirts with a mature fluidity that still flirts with youth.
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Sydney Morning Herald
32 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
What happened to Harold Holt? A new novel puts his widow in the spotlight
Kim Wilkins' eyes mist up suddenly. 'I'm going to get a little teary. It's just, Harold Holt's been a bit of a punchline. 'So when I read Zara's memoir, and she talks about the day that he disappears, I finally got that this was a real human being with children, grandchildren and a wife who had loved him for 40 years.' Dame Zara Holt's memoir, My Life and Harry, came out in the wake of the 1967 disappearance of Australia's 17th prime minister while he was swimming at Cheviot Beach in Portsea, Victoria. Toowong-based novelist Wilkins read it after a friend in publishing told her about Zara during a discussion of overlooked women in Australian history. 'This woman was incredible, and I barely knew about her,' Wilkins says. 'She was clever and entrepreneurial, and a really talented designer. She was 19 when she started her first fashion house with her best friend. 'I read her memoir and I thought, oh, there's a novel in this.' That novel is The Secret Year of Zara Holt, Wilkins' new book under her nom de plume, Kimberley Freeman. Wilkins – let's call her Freeman for clarity – is a University of Queensland academic who has somehow found the time to publish more than 30 novels under two names. Her new book covers the life of Zara, nee Dickins, from the night she met Holt at a college dance in Melbourne in 1927 until his fateful swim 40 years later. Speculation about Holt's fate has ranged from a Chinese spy submarine supposedly plucking him from Bass Strait to assassination by the CIA. Some believe he faked his death. Freeman weaves her own theory into her novel, based on what she learned about Zara and Harry's personalities and marriage. 'Harry obviously had commitment issues, and it's well known that he had multiple affairs, even after he and Zara were married. 'He was with his long-term mistress on the beach that day, but he was seeing many other women. No wonder he and [US president Lyndon B. Johnson] got on so well, because LBJ was exactly the same.' Magg, Zara's fashion boutique with friend Betty James, showcased a prodigious talent for design – a collection of her outfits is held at the National Gallery of Victoria. She also contributed to the war effort with innovative ideas while working for her father's food manufacturing business. She had three children before finally marrying Holt, then a rising star in Robert Menzies' cabinet. Zara would bring style to the role of prime minister's wife in the same way Jackie Kennedy added stardust to JFK's White House. Ultimately, she cut an equally tragic figure. Holt came to power when Menzies retired, won the 1966 election and governed for 22 months. His much-reviled 'all the way with LBJ' line outraged Australia's anti-Vietnam War movement. Still, Freeman did not expect to admire Holt's political career as much as she did. 'I'm a member of the Labor Party. And reading about Holt and Menzies blew my mind. That's not the Liberal Party that I see today. 'Holt got through things like the referendum for citizenship for Aboriginal people. He started to dismantle the White Australia policy. And the Child Endowment [Act] – Zara was so proud of that. Politics was very different back then.' Freeman was born in Lewisham, a notoriously rough part of South London that birthed the likes of Alexander McQueen and Sid Vicious. Another Lewisham native, Kate Bush, comes to mind when meeting Freeman, whose witchy sense of personal style features a lot of black. Her New Zealand dad and Papua New Guinea-born mum moved to Redcliffe when she was a toddler. Flunking out of high school to work at Big Rooster and sing in a covers band, she came into academia late after a stint in the public service. Her first tutorial in Elizabethan literature 'took the top of my head off'. 'I did a double major in medieval and early modern literature. The medieval literature has really stuck with me. That's the stuff that really makes my engines run.' She published her first Kim Wilkins novel in 1997 as an undergraduate. The Infernal, a reincarnation drama with witches, found an audience with the Anne Rice-Stephenie Meyer set. 'Under my own name, the books I write inevitably have something supernatural and dark and Gothic about them,' she explains. 'The Kimberley Freeman books, they're like adventure stories for women, and they're historical. They indulge my love of fashion from different periods, which is why I was so drawn to write about Zara.' As Freeman, her 2008 book Wildflower Hill, a multi-era novel in the mould of A.S. Byatt's Possession, almost broke her big, with translations into 20 different languages. 'I used to write like a book a year, and now that I've slowed down a bit, I'm enjoying it much more.' In writing about Zara's first marriage to a British army colonel, she had to invent most details as information was scarce. Zara's final marriage, to Macarthur MP Jeff Bate, is left offstage. As for Harold Holt, Freeman believes the PM was caught up in his 'own mystique'. 'There was that famous photo of him with his daughters-in-law – they were all in bikinis, and he was in a wetsuit going spear fishing. And he looked like James Bond.' As Freeman writes about them, the Holts are Australia's great prime ministerial love story. 'It's clear there were sexual fireworks, because they kept coming back together.' They had a sentimental attachment to Bingil Bay, North Queensland, where artist friends John and Alison Busst lived, and where they eventually owned a holiday house. Freeman admits her depiction of the Holts smoking marijuana there is sheer speculation. 'We don't know that the Holts smoked weed, but it was the '60s and I inferred that from the people that they were hanging around with. I just can't imagine that they didn't.'
The Age
36 minutes ago
- The Age
What happened to Harold Holt? A new novel puts his widow in the spotlight
Kim Wilkins' eyes mist up suddenly. 'I'm going to get a little teary. It's just, Harold Holt's been a bit of a punchline. 'So when I read Zara's memoir, and she talks about the day that he disappears, I finally got that this was a real human being with children, grandchildren and a wife who had loved him for 40 years.' Dame Zara Holt's memoir, My Life and Harry, came out in the wake of the 1967 disappearance of Australia's 17th prime minister while he was swimming at Cheviot Beach in Portsea, Victoria. Toowong-based novelist Wilkins read it after a friend in publishing told her about Zara during a discussion of overlooked women in Australian history. 'This woman was incredible, and I barely knew about her,' Wilkins says. 'She was clever and entrepreneurial, and a really talented designer. She was 19 when she started her first fashion house with her best friend. 'I read her memoir and I thought, oh, there's a novel in this.' That novel is The Secret Year of Zara Holt, Wilkins' new book under her nom de plume, Kimberley Freeman. Wilkins – let's call her Freeman for clarity – is a University of Queensland academic who has somehow found the time to publish more than 30 novels under two names. Her new book covers the life of Zara, nee Dickins, from the night she met Holt at a college dance in Melbourne in 1927 until his fateful swim 40 years later. Speculation about Holt's fate has ranged from a Chinese spy submarine supposedly plucking him from Bass Strait to assassination by the CIA. Some believe he faked his death. Freeman weaves her own theory into her novel, based on what she learned about Zara and Harry's personalities and marriage. 'Harry obviously had commitment issues, and it's well known that he had multiple affairs, even after he and Zara were married. 'He was with his long-term mistress on the beach that day, but he was seeing many other women. No wonder he and [US president Lyndon B. Johnson] got on so well, because LBJ was exactly the same.' Magg, Zara's fashion boutique with friend Betty James, showcased a prodigious talent for design – a collection of her outfits is held at the National Gallery of Victoria. She also contributed to the war effort with innovative ideas while working for her father's food manufacturing business. She had three children before finally marrying Holt, then a rising star in Robert Menzies' cabinet. Zara would bring style to the role of prime minister's wife in the same way Jackie Kennedy added stardust to JFK's White House. Ultimately, she cut an equally tragic figure. Holt came to power when Menzies retired, won the 1966 election and governed for 22 months. His much-reviled 'all the way with LBJ' line outraged Australia's anti-Vietnam War movement. Still, Freeman did not expect to admire Holt's political career as much as she did. 'I'm a member of the Labor Party. And reading about Holt and Menzies blew my mind. That's not the Liberal Party that I see today. 'Holt got through things like the referendum for citizenship for Aboriginal people. He started to dismantle the White Australia policy. And the Child Endowment [Act] – Zara was so proud of that. Politics was very different back then.' Freeman was born in Lewisham, a notoriously rough part of South London that birthed the likes of Alexander McQueen and Sid Vicious. Another Lewisham native, Kate Bush, comes to mind when meeting Freeman, whose witchy sense of personal style features a lot of black. Her New Zealand dad and Papua New Guinea-born mum moved to Redcliffe when she was a toddler. Flunking out of high school to work at Big Rooster and sing in a covers band, she came into academia late after a stint in the public service. Her first tutorial in Elizabethan literature 'took the top of my head off'. 'I did a double major in medieval and early modern literature. The medieval literature has really stuck with me. That's the stuff that really makes my engines run.' She published her first Kim Wilkins novel in 1997 as an undergraduate. The Infernal, a reincarnation drama with witches, found an audience with the Anne Rice-Stephenie Meyer set. 'Under my own name, the books I write inevitably have something supernatural and dark and Gothic about them,' she explains. 'The Kimberley Freeman books, they're like adventure stories for women, and they're historical. They indulge my love of fashion from different periods, which is why I was so drawn to write about Zara.' As Freeman, her 2008 book Wildflower Hill, a multi-era novel in the mould of A.S. Byatt's Possession, almost broke her big, with translations into 20 different languages. 'I used to write like a book a year, and now that I've slowed down a bit, I'm enjoying it much more.' In writing about Zara's first marriage to a British army colonel, she had to invent most details as information was scarce. Zara's final marriage, to Macarthur MP Jeff Bate, is left offstage. As for Harold Holt, Freeman believes the PM was caught up in his 'own mystique'. 'There was that famous photo of him with his daughters-in-law – they were all in bikinis, and he was in a wetsuit going spear fishing. And he looked like James Bond.' As Freeman writes about them, the Holts are Australia's great prime ministerial love story. 'It's clear there were sexual fireworks, because they kept coming back together.' They had a sentimental attachment to Bingil Bay, North Queensland, where artist friends John and Alison Busst lived, and where they eventually owned a holiday house. Freeman admits her depiction of the Holts smoking marijuana there is sheer speculation. 'We don't know that the Holts smoked weed, but it was the '60s and I inferred that from the people that they were hanging around with. I just can't imagine that they didn't.'
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Kylie Minogue forced to postpone run of European shows after contracting laryngitis
Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has postponed a run of European shows, having 'succumbed to a viral infection' after completing the UK leg of her tour. The Padam Padam singer, 57, performed more than a dozen shows in the country as part of her Tension Tour, with her final date a performance at Glasgow's OVO Hydro on June 6. On Friday, Minogue said in a social media post that she would postpone her shows in Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia due to her contracting laryngitis, an inflammation of the voice box. 'Hi Lovers, as some of you may know, a week ago we finished the UK leg of The Tension Tour', she said. 'I made it over the finish line (Yay) but unfortunately have succumbed to a viral infection (Hello laryngitis) I've tried my best to recover fast to start our next run of shows on Monday but I'm afraid it will take me some days to be well enough to get back on stage and perform my best for you. 'I'm so, SO sorry! I have no choice but to postpone the shows in Berlin, Lodz, Kaunas and Tallinn as scheduled. 'Please keep hold of your tickets, we're doing our very best to reschedule the dates and will update you very soon on that. 'Thank you for understanding — you know I love you all. And I LOVE THIS SHOW! And I'll miss you next week. And, I can't wait to see you. Love Kylie xxx'. In 2024, Tension II, a sequel to her 2023 studio album, saw Minogue secure her 10th number one on the UK albums chart. Also in 2024, she took home the global icon gong at the Brit Awards and won the best pop dance recording Grammy for her hit Padam Padam.
