Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie: The rise of the Australian
August 6th 2008 07:19
Recently, the fashion world has been experiencing a wave of Australian girls strutting their stuff on the runways. And that is seriously great! I think Australian models are amazingly beautiful, they really do seem to have a certain glow about them, very fresh-faced and unusually doll-like in appearance. But what has been bugging me, is that we in Australia only take notice, or care about Australians in the fashion scene once an overseas power does.
On a side note, I'm not normally one to champion a notion of "woooooo....oue Aussies are the best....", because I think people it's cause for celebration that people are talented because of who they are, not because they were born in a particular country. However, I do recognise that there is a certain feeling of pride (?) that comes about when you do see that Australians are doing well. Especially when they do duely deserve the recognition and are talented in their relative fields. So it got me thinking, why do we wait for others to acknowledge the talents of 'our' stars before we are willing to do this ourselves? Do we need the justification that 'yes, this person's good enough to admire', or do we not see what we have until it's gone?
Brief case in point: Sass and Bide only really took off here after great sucess in New York. It's now a HUGE label, and is doing amazingly around the world. I do think it is a very 'international' brand, but I really do believe that when we wear this label many of us feel a certain feeling of gloat that , "hey, this is an Aussie label that's MASSIVE overseas".
But where this trend is really evident is with Australian models.
Recently, Catherine McNeil has been doing incredibly well on the international runways, modelling everything from Chanel, to Hugo Boss. But you know what, she's been around for AGES. I remember reading a copy of Girlfriend magazine about four years ago, and she had won a model search competition. It sounds so silly now, but I remember thinking "Hmmmm... I don't see how she won, she's just another blonde (yes, blonde) to the pile of them". She dwindled into oblivion for a couple of years... But yeah, eventually she proved me wrong! Now that she's recognised internationally as one of the world's top 10 models, we're all too happy to say "SHE'S AUSTRALIAN!!!!"
Eerily similar is the case with Miranda Kerr. She also won a modelling competition in a tween magazine, namely Dolly. However, unlike Catherine, Miranda sustained her modelling career modelling with surfy labels like Voodoo Dolls and Billabong. Now that's a long way from Victoria's Secret! Then suddenly, she becomes a coveted "Victoria's Secret Angel", and she begins dating Orlando Bloom, she has the world of paparazzi at her feet as a 'star' at the Randwick? races, and becomes a David Jones Ambassador. Coincidence?
And finally, the cute-as-a-button Abbey Lee is now gorgeously starring as a covergirl in this month's Vogue Australia magazine. But only after a Gucci contract. And several international runway shows. And not to forget Alice Burdeau, who after winning Australia's Next Top Model became incredibly successfull in Milan, Paris etc, but that's because she's Australian, right? And we own her. And if she forgets that we will hate her....
So in conclusion, I hope it's not lost in this rant that I am really happy for all these stunning girls who are doing well. My god they're goregous! But as aforementioned, I do have an issue with the fact that these girls are here modelling for years, and it's only once they are recognised as 'hot stuff' internationally that we take notice, and then never let ANYONE forget that they were born and bred here. So next time Australia, just be a bit more perceptive/adventurous, and appreciate what we have BEFORE some other country does.
-2.55
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