Malan Breton on Australia's Next Top Model

Darlings, our very own Malan Breton from Taiwan appeared on Australia's Next Top Model.



The three finalists, Alexandra Girdwood, Samantha Downie, and Demelza Reveley went to New York and modeled for Malan's retrospective show at the Eli Fine Gallery in New York.

Since once again the topic du jour in the fashion industry revolves around models, we sat the Suave One down to answer a few questions about the event and modeling in general.

Darling, how did this opportunity come about for you?
I was chatting with my business partner about doing a retrospective of my work, including pieces prior to Project Runway. I received a call two days later saying that Australia's Next Top Model wanted to host the show and feature their final three girls.

Tell us a little bit about the whole experience.
It was fascinating being back under the eye of the reality camera! I found myself incredibly shy, but after a bit you, forget that they are there and it was different not being a contestant this time, rather being a host of sorts. the girls were so open to new things. They were very excited to be in NYC and I think it was Alex who had seen me on Project Runway, she was very sweet. When I met the girls I was so shy and got so tongue tied. Then having to sit through my own show was... well we never get to do that, it was fascinating and nerve wrecking at the same time, thank god people like the clothes. The music we used for the show and everything fit the mood of the gallery so perfectly, I had not done such a small setting in a while and the intimacy was wonderful, with just over a hundred people there.

Any difference between American models and Australian models?
Models are models, I think these girls as it was really their first experience they were so excited and starry eyed, it was very sweet. I will say though on behalf of the show, it is the only franchise in eight years to produce a supermodel, Alice Burdeau, they really know what they are doing in Australia.

What's the most important thing you look for when selecting models?

When I select models I look for girls who fit the mood of my show, who have a strong presence on the catwalk , who every eye goes to when she is in a dress. I also look for girls who are not terribly terribly thin, I look for fresh faces that are very confident.

Any backstage model story/dish you want to share?

Oh my darlings, the beaver corset from my Fall 2005 Collection, which you see me talking about on the outtakes video on the ANTM site. Apparently the girls had to do a tampon commercial as one of their challenges, and they had a puppet that was a beaver they had to talk to and the slogan was "love your beaver" no joke ! So when they saw the sheered beaver corset, well I'm sure you can imagine...

Favorite model?
I had two favourites Demelza, who received a lot of harsh commentary by the NY offices about her weight. Darlings, she is 16, just barely a girl. Then there was Samantha, One of the most exotic beauties that I have ever seen, Like Helena Christensen beautiful. I loved Alex but her walk in my retrospective was a concern.

What do you think about the whole all-black Vogue Italia issue/statement?

I think it's about time!!! I try to have a very diverse mix of girls on the catwalk because my clients are diverse, I get so tired of calling agencies and hearing we have only one Asian girl, only one black girl. I look at a lot of the innovators like Yves Saint Laurent, and Hubert de Givenchy who were the first designers to have diverse showings. These men were genius. I still do not understand why there is racism in fashion. I remember once telling someone, who will remain nameless, that I was going to close my collection with an Asian model, the first thing that was said to me was, you should rethink that...Can you imagine?!? I am so happy to see these beautiful women celebrated.





[Photos: WireImage/Landmark Media - Video: YouTube/kimmikimmileon]


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A-List Awards - The Fashion Show

Well.

That was kind of a bust, wasn't it? Not that it was completely without entertainment value. Certainly, Kathy Griffin could keep us entertained by reading her insurance policy. And Lorenzo says that the live version was a hell of a lot more entertaining than the broadcast one. For one, Kathy came out and started off by reading a list of the words that Bravo wouldn't let her say and she did it in her inimitable Griffin style. Also, the wardrobe malfunction bit she did with Lance Bass was not ready for prime time but it sure as hell was funny. What you didn't see were her gigantic rubber boobs and his gigantic rubber penis. Since the whole joke hinged on that, it came across pretty flat when they blurred the offending body parts out.


Still, how much fun was it to see an All-Star Project Runway challenge?


It was so weird to see Laura and Mychael back in the work room alongside Nick and Sweet P and Chris and even (god help us) Daniel Franco. Of course we were thrilled because it gave us .... MORE DRESSES TO RIP! YAY!



When there were rumors floating around a couple of months ago that there would be an All-Star PR season, we rolled our eyes and declared the idea lame.


But after last night, we've definitely warmed up to the idea. Come on, who wouldn't want to see Laura's maribou feathers go toe to toe with Chris's human hair skirt? Or Sweet P vs. Alison? Nick v. Christian? Ah well. It's probably for the best.


The dresses from last night are all being auctioned off for relief efforts in Myanmar. How cool is that? You can own a Laura Bennett original AND help out your fellow man.

As for the dresses themselves, well...


Let's just say there were varying levels of fabulosity. You want more? Then continue to Page 2.

You can watch the whole runway show here, first:


[Photos: WireImage/Bravotv.com/Project RunGay]

MORE >>

Don't Piss Off a Fashionista, Darlings.

Why? Because then they run to the New York Times to bitch about you.


RUH-ROH:

"This week for the New York premiere of “Sex and the City,” Sarah Jessica Parker wore a strapless Nina Ricci gown designed by Olivier Theyskens. It was one of 40 outfits that Parker planned for the movie’s premieres in London and Berlin, and the press junkets. She looked glamorous and happy in the dress and was asked several times by reporters on the red carpet if it was the sort of dress that Carrie Bradshaw would have worn. New Yorkers have no trouble seeing SJP as Carrie, and given the TV show’s name-dropping familiarity with the fashion world, what she wore to the opening was bound to get attention. It had to be stand-out.

Parker was surprised, then, to learn the morning after the premiere that the silver pleated Ricci dress had already been worn on a red-carpet—by Lauren (Davis) Santo Domingo at the Met ball, on May 5..."


Lauren Santo Domingo and Olivier Theyskens attend the Nina Ricci After Party For Met Ball on May 5, 2008.

"What bothered Parker was that she felt she had been deceived by both Grauso and Theyskens, who met her in the studio and assured her that the dress had never been worn except for magazine shoots.

"In the big picture, this is not important, but there is a relationship between the entertainment industry and fashion," Parker said on Thursday evening, adding. "We’ve watched sales dwindle and we’ve watched people be less inclined to spend money on clothes." To Parker, these are reasons for companies to take particular care with their relationships. "Look, my affection for the dress hasn’t changed," she said, "but what they did was so short-sighted. It’s just unethical and disappointing that they would allow the dress to be worn again."

Parker says she remarked to Theyskens during the fitting that she was surprised the dress hadn’t been worn before. He assured her it hadn’t.

"He didn’t say, ‘Well, actually I just escorted Lauren down the red carpet at the Met.’ " said Parker, adding, "I just wish it had been handled differently and they had been straight about it."

Ouch. Go read the fabulous Cathy Horyn's take on the whole thing.

Look, we get it. In a world where there are a million more important things than this, stuff like who wore what dress when seems pretty silly. On the other hand, there's something of a social and even a business contract involved in setups like these and SJP does have a right to be pissed. This is the movie of her career and Carrie is the role she'll be remembered for into her dotage. The NYC premiere was a BFD and all fashion eyes were on her. Starlets go into these arrangements on the strict understanding that they will be wearing something that hasn't been worn at an event before. It's up to the fashion houses and stylists to make sure of this. People let her down.

We turned to the fabulously glamorous Malan Breton, who has some experience dressing the famous for carpets red or otherwise. This is what he had to say:

"Darlings one thing I have learned is never lie to a client, even if you think it will lead to good publicity. I have dressed many girls and always asked if the piece has been worn before. No one wants to be in the same dress for a major event. Sarah looked so beautiful that night I was there and even in the dark lights of the Carlisle for the after-after party that dress shimmered so beautifully. Sadly she was misled. She is such a nice person, I cannot imagine she could believe anyone to be dishonest to her. Especially on a night that is one of the most important in her life.

One word of advice, always be honest with your clients!!! It will come back to bite you in the ass if you are not."

Yes, Meticulous Malan said "bite you in the ass." We think that demonstrates the gravity of the situation sufficiently.

[Photos: WireImage]

PRG at the TRESemmé Finale Party, Part Zwei

More picture dumping from the TRESemmé finale party, darlings. By the way, Bravo's press release informs us that the season four finale became the network's most watched broadcast ever (3.754 million). Congrats, Bravo!


The Fab Four


Jay. Being Jay.


Andy Cohen with Jay's publicist, Nancy Kane


Tim and Emmett. Judging by the picture and knowing Emmett, he probably just said something very droll and slightly inappropriate.


See? We told you there was a lot of drinking going on.


Gorgeous Things and Tim. Check her blog for even more pics and her take on the evening.


Carmen. She told us that she did not design the pants she's wearing but she's had them since she was 18 and only wears them on special occasions.


Miss Emmett. Poor girl's a trooper. He literally stepped right off the plane from France to come to the party with us. He was exhausted.


Kara Janx and her husband Sharone. Y'know, it's not always easy to tell from season 2, but Kara is an absolute RIOT. She came up and gave us a big hello and we asked how the baby was doing. Her face lit up and she started gushing about what is obviously the great joy of her life. Gorgeous Things asked her if she had a boy or a girl and before Kara could answer, Lorenzo piped in with "A boy." Unfortunately for Lorenzo, she had a girl. Kara reacted in mock anger and play-smacked him, saying in her inimitable South African accent, "You know what? I'm not going to read your BLAWG anymore!"


Kaynebow is about to open a menswear store, believe it or not. And Emmett will soon have a line of accessories on QVC.


M. Malan. Fabulous as ever.


Fabulosity cubed. Lorenzo and Malan look they're about to make out, don't they?


Jillian and Lauren. Jillian showed up wearing one of her signature coats, but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it. Hey, the Cosmos were calling us.

UPDATE:



Tim and Sweet P


Zulema. Gotta say, the girl looks gorgeous.


Lovely Marla. She's really sweet.


Nora and her sister. Hotties, am I right?


Here's a better shot of her dress, which is part of her upcoming line.


And the gorgeous Miu Miu boots she was wearing. Yes, we're fags. We take pictures of fabulous shoes.


With Victoria Brody, Senior Press Manager for Bravo. We had been in weekly contact with her since before the season started, but this was the first time we met her. A total doll. Please disregard Tom's wonky collar.


With Valerie Brown, Director, Digital Marketing & Events for Bravo. Valerie is fabulosity personified and if there's such a thing as reincarnation and we come back as women, we want to be just like her when we grow up. Valerie and Victoria are so smart and so professional and they were such a huge help to us throughout the season that we simply have to give our girls a shoutout. As we told Faran from Fashionista, Bravo treats bloggers very, very well and Victoria and Valerie are a huge part of that.

Tom is not an alcoholic, he's merely holding Gorgeous Things' drink while she takes the picture.

And to wrap things up, just for the fun of it, let's play "Where's T Lo?"

We heard rumors that Posh tried to have us thrown out for taking the attention away from her.

Now darlings, we can't thank you enough for all the kind words you said in our previous post, but stop talking like it's our funeral! We're not going ANYWHERE. We have to rip the collections of the finalists, PLUS the collections of the decoys, PLUS we've barely even scratched the surface of the Fall 2008 collections from all the judges, PLUS we have swag bag giveaways coming up, PLUS we're going to finally return to our T Lo blog. Casting for Season 5 of PR starts NEXT MONTH and we'll have the scoop on that, not to mention Top Design Season 2, Shear Genius Season 2, Musical Mondays, Dames & Divas, and any other bitchery and fabulosity that pops in our heads. As always darlings, Watch What Happens!

[Photos: WireImage/Ann Steeves - Project RunGay - Screencap: Project RunGay]

Malan at Bryant Park

As you know, darlings, we dashed off to Bryant Park yesterday to catch Malan's new collection. But before we talk about that, let's talk about one of our favorite topics. Us.

What an absolute hoot it was to be standing in line inside the tents at Bryant Park and suddenly realize that people you don't know are holding up their cell phones and taking pictures of you. To the very lovely people who waved us over and asked us to pose for them, we would like to say that if we were anything less than completely gracious, we totally apologize. We were flabbergasted over the attention, but more importantly, we hadn't had any coffee yet. Besides, we owe you a huge thanks for giving us the opportunity to have the following text exchange with Laura Bennett:

LB: Do you guys have any free time to come over after the show?
T Lo: Sure. Gotta run. People want to take our picture.

We guarantee her eyes practically rolled inside her head at that one.


Here's the view of the tent before it filled up with people.


Lorenzo with Fern Mallis. We were utterly thrilled to meet her and gushed like giddy schoolgirls. She's sweet and down to earth and poo-poo'd our praise. You know what we loved the most about her? Despite her uber-powerful standing in the fashion world, girl had pills on her sweater. How cute is that?


Katy Gerdes from S3 and Diana Eng from S2. Both adorable.


Katy was THRILLED to meet us and said she reads us while brushing her teeth, which is a new one.


Diana with the fabulous commenter (and our good friend) you all know as Gorgeous Things, who's wearing an Emmett McCarthy dress.

After the show was over we of course pushed our way backstage like the bitches we are.


Avec the man of the hour.


FABULOUS AMANDA! We've said it before and we'll say it again: That bitch can WALK.


Angela Keslar from S3. We...um...we didn't tell her who we were when we asked for a picture.

And now, the show. The program described it thusly:

"The captivating dichotomies of the characters played by Catherine Deneuve in her early career in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "Belle de Jour" inspire Malan Breton's designs for his Fall 2008 collection"

It was wonderful to see Malan get away from his trademark "old Hollywood glamour" aesthetic and embrace a new "swinging '60s French cinema" one. The look was clean and sophisticated and pared down. We would have liked to see him get away from so much black since he's done it so often and we really would like to see him embrace the occasional print and texture in order to get out of his "chiffon, organza, satin, taffeta" comfort zone.

We think the show started off strong and tended to get weaker toward the end, possibly because several of the looks tended to be extremely repetitive.

These two were our favorite looks in the whole collection. Clean and chic.

We love the look on the left, but we're ambivalent about the one on the right.

Nice, but we're already having difficulty telling certain looks apart.

Do not like the look on the left at all.

Basic.

We would have liked the second look much more if the hem had hit at a different point.

Don't like that patent leather jacket at all.





Again, basic. And we still aren't fond of that below-the-knee hem length.





The dress on the left was gorgeous, but as high impact as the dress on the right was, the fact is, the model could barely walk in it, which tended to greatly reduce its impact.

Despite our bitchy complaints, the overall look was very sleek and sophisticated and very Malan. Congratulations, darling!

Watch the video here:


[Photos: WireImage/Project RunGay - Video: Bravotv.com]