Last week in fashion: Melbourne Fashion Week goes online, along with the rest of the world
By: Bianca O'Neill
Tags: Melbourne, Style, Fashion, Digital Marketing, Australia

Also in the news this week: David Jones announces a new Indigenous fashion collaboration, another photographer accused of releasing unapproved model nudes following Emily Ratajkowski’s emotional essay for The Cut.

Your past week in fashion, condensed into point form. Here’s to another week…

Melbourne Fashion Week announces mostly-online schedule

This year, Melbourne Fashion Week is going to look a little different. The spring runways have been pushed back to Monday 23 to Sunday 29 November, with runways and talks all moving online, and select in-person activations and pop ups pending the easing of restrictions.

Online elements of the free program include more than 20 runways with an all-Melbourne designer line up, and live M/FW Conversations with industry leaders.

“Melbourne Fashion Week will return a bit later than usual this year with a revamped program featuring an online runway designer line-up that is 100 per cent Melbourne-based,” said Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

“Melbourne is renowned for its creativity and style and we want to use this event to showcase our incredible talent and encourage people to support local.”

Read more about the reimagined runway event, including at-home restaurant and bar pairings to accompany online runway viewings, on their website.

It’s a move mirrored across the pond this week, with Milan and London showing mostly online runways, with few socially-distanced in-person events.

David Jones announces new commitment to Indigenous design and culture

Retailer David Jones has partnered with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation’s (DAAFF) Indigenous Fashion Projects, to deliver a new Pathways Program for Indigenous Australian fashion designers.

The first designer to take advantage of the program will be Ngali founder Denni Francisco, who showed a collection at VAMFF this year.

“Providing an opportunity to design talents who may not have the platform to reach a commercial level is crucial to the development and enrichment of our industry,” said Bridget Veals, General Manager of Womenswear, Footwear and Accessories.

“It broadens our fashion offering and allows for deep storytelling and a greater connection and understanding of cultures. Our role in the program is to listen and understand the needs of our First Nations fashion designers and provide support at all stages of the development of a fashion label.”

Photographer David Larsen is the latest fashion industry figure accused of predatory behaviour

This week saw Instagram watchdog Diet Prada releasing a series of screenshots from models accusing photographer David Larsen of predatory behaviour — culminating in a nude photo book to be released without their consent.

“The pathological need for predatory male photographers to acquire troves of nude photographs of young models in the name of “art” is disturbing to say the least,” says DP in their Instagram post.

“In the last couple years, we’ve seen survivors come forward about their experiences with Bruce Weber, Mario Testino, Timur Emek, and Marcus Hyde… It’s a problem that’s especially hard to reconcile when the photos are compromising in nature and plied through psychological, verbal, or physical coercion.”

The latest accusations follow an emotional essay for The Cut penned by famed model Emily Ratajkowski. In the much-shared article, she details the predatory experiences she says she endured as a young model trying to make it in the industry.