Street Style
MBFWA 2017 Opening Night Street Style Highlights
I’m so thrilled to be here in Sydney for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. Dion Lee opened the schedule tonight in front of the sails of the Opera House, out in the open air where everyone was praying hard for the rain to stay away. Thankfully it did! Lee’s Resort SS18 collection had a mix of cobalt, red and white coloured pieces; and I am obsessed with his menswear range – silk sailor pants, oversized vinyl coats, blazers and long sleeved shirts.
Shooting street style in front of the epic venue was the highlight of the night. My absolute favourite street style looks were: Beth Levi wore fuchsia Balenciaga over the knee boots and Dion Lee velvet dress; Sarah Ellen wore Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co jewelry, and Lisa Aiken’s wore flared pants, silk long sleeved shirt and blazer worn as a cape.
Ok, enjoy my favourite looks of the evening xx
Travelling with Samsonite
It’s pretty surreal to see an image of yourself on one of the hero shots for a reputable brand like Samsonite’s. I’m a huge fan of Samsonite’s luggage bags so it was absolutely no brainer for me to partner with Samsonite to bring you a little NYC travel content with their midnight blue, Samsonsite Cosmolite 3 range. Scroll down to get some insider tips on travelling 🙂
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Images of me in Melbourne, taken by Alan Woo.
Images of me in New York, taken by Ruby Wong.
1. Where was your last trip?
My last overseas trip was to New York for September Fashion Week 2016. I spent most of my time in New York travelling upper and lower Manhattan, shooting street style at the major fashion shows like Marc Jacobs, Coach, Phillip Lim, Thom Browne to name a few. The biggest highlights of my trip were going to the Coach Varsity fashion event and re-sees, attending a two day fashion photography workshop and spending time with my good friends eating, shopping and creating travel content. Having my picture taken on top of the Rocks with a full landscape of city scrapers and the Empire State Building in the background was an epic moment.
2. As a photographer, it must be difficult to pack light. How do you get in under the luggage weight restrictions?
In order to pack light, you have to start with the most light-weight luggage bag you can find, and thankfully the Samsonite Cosmolite range are high quality, lightweight and brilliantly designed both inside and outside. I always judge the suitcase by how much I can pack inside. What I love about the Samsonite is that it’s completely hollow with a slim side compartment so you can pack as much as you can. I normally hand carry all my valuable items such as my laptop, photography equipment and hand bags into the Samsonsite Cabin 55cms suitcase. Also it helps keep the luggage weight under 40 kgs.
3. How do you decide to cull items?
When I pack, I usually look at the number of days I’ll be away, the weather and what I’ll be doing. I always pack outfits that I can easily mix and match such a nice jacket, basic tees, pants, jumpsuits and two pairs of sneakers for everyday wear, and at least one nice outfit and heels for going out to a nice restaurant. Otherwise, I normally leave my suit case half empty so I can come home with new outfits. I decide to cull items if I’ve packed too many similar coloured tops and pants, or unnecessary toiletries or amenities.
4. What makes those you keep must haves?
I can’t live without my Camera and laptop gear, hair straightener, comfortable shoes and coat, or my hair and skincare products. These are my essential items as I know it may be expensive and difficult to find when I’m overseas, especially if I’m travelling to a third world country.
5. How important is it to you that your travel look, including luggage, is chic and matches your aesthetic?
When I’m travelling, especially to Fashion Weeks, I think it’s quite important to travel well by being efficient and chic. For example, you don’t want to break a sweat or look uncoordinated while you are lugging an insecure looking, and heavy suitcase around without any spinners. I guess it’s all about completing your overall look and aesthetic.
6. What’s your favourite Samsonite luggage piece to travel with? Why?
The Cabin luggage 55cm spinner piece is definitely my favourite piece because it looks good, light weight, small and convenient to board with. I’ve even use the suit case as my feet rest on long international flights.
7. What’s more important to you in luggage – strength or lightness?
Lightness!
8. What is your number 1 travel tip?
Always pack your most valuable and essential items in the Cabin bag, so you can easily access your bag whenever you need to, or if you need to claim back tax or declare anything at Custom.
Diner En Blanc 2017
Diner en Blanc, returned to Melbourne for a third time last night. It was a special dinner event where people were asked to dress in white and meet at a secret location which was revealed only hours before it started. Some walked and carried their dining table, chairs and tableware, whereas some, like myself were fortunate enough to be picked up from the Royal Exhibition Building by bus and was accompanied by our Bus and Table Leader. If you have no idea what this concept was about, it was all started by François Pasquier with a group of friends nearly 30 years ago in Paris.
What I found most amusing was seeing how people reacted to us when we walked right past them in unison to our location lugging all our tables and chairs. It was pretty funny when they came up to us and asked what we were doing.
After our tables were organised in long rows, I quickly set out to see what kind of stylish people turned up. I really enjoyed this year’s choice of location because I loved how beautiful and soft the afternoon light shone against the outfits with the greenery in the background. I experimented with the light and created a few moody images which I was pretty happy about.
I would like to thank the team from Arize Communications for being so accomodating and amazing to work with, and for Bared Footwear for my rad new white sneakers in collaboration with Carla McRae to keep my feet comfy all night. Hey, you can shop them right here.
Also thanks to Vincent Calderon for being my guest and taking my pics.
Enjoy and Bon Appetit xx
Lindy Klim
The first time I knew of the name, “Lindy Klim” was when I brought a range of her Milk & Co baby products for my friend’s baby shower gift. I remembered studying the beautiful packaging, reading the natural ingredients and thought, “what a clever idea”. Fast forward 7 years later, I never thought I’ll be in the same room with Lindy Klim, let alone shooting her on Valentines Day!
Working with Lindy Klim was effortless. We were like-minded in every way, with styling and the shots to be taken. She was upbeat and energetic, and great fun to be around with. It’s not often that I get to hang out with celebrities who are incredibly down-to-earth, and gets the job done.
Thank you Lindy, Tres Dalla (make-up) and Resta Vie (hair) and Claire (assistant) for such an AMAZING day xxx
