Hey Big Spender

Harpers Bazaar
March 2009

London Fashion Week

September 18th, 2008
I touch down in London midway through London Fashion Week.  As a buyer, I love watching the shows, but the real action for me during the collections, centres on the showrooms once the media has moved on to the next fashion capital. 
I start the day with lunch with my best friend from school, rebecca Korner(of Korner Skincare), at La Petite Maison in Brooks Mews, just behind Claridge's hotel, before attending one of London Fashion week's most coveted shows, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, which I stock in Parlour X.
This season at Westwood it's all about layers; my favourite look is the low-crotch harem pants teamed with draped shirts.  The after-party is a star-studded (and fabulously fun), event in a private house in the West End.

September 19th
I have owned Parlour X for seven-and-a-half years now and the role of a fashion buyer appears to be the dream job for those who adore shopping, travelling to London and Paris to attend the shows, and meeting designers in the showrooms.  But it is also very hard work.  Every season is different.  And just when you think you have established a formula for buying the right pieces, everything changes.  Fashion is constantly evolving and there are many factors that influence the business - weather patterns change, currencies crash, clients move away or become pregnant and don't visit for a while.  I have learned that the more adaptable and accepting of this i am, the better, and so with this in mind I attend Josh Goot's show at the Royal Academy of Arts.  The location is a beautiful old-world auditorium and I'm definitely going to add his multicoloured shift dresses to my order.
There I bump into many friends, including Liberty's Yasmin Sewell, UK BAZAAR's senior fashion editor, Vanessa Coyle, and Eugenie Poumaillou (the daughter of the owner of super-cool Paris boutique Maria Luisa) as well as Sneaky Sound System's Daimon Downey and the dangerously naughty Dan Single of ksubi.  Aussies.  They get around everywhere.

September 20
Saturday is Portobello Market day so i'm off to visit my favourite antique jewllery supplier and make a few scarily priced ring purchases.  In the afternoon i race to the Barbican for the final day of the House of Viktor & Rolf exhibition, which is absolutely brilliant.  Today I am particularly enchanted, as I have followed Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren's journey from the beginning and, when i started going to their shows in Paris in 2003, they became one of my greatest design influences.  As a retrospective, the exhibition shows just how big an influence they have had on fashion.
I have a degree in fine arts and my initial career choice was to be a curator.  However my "sliding door" moment occurred when i was living in London in my very early twenties and landed a job working in the international wholesale division of French Connection (which also owned Nicole Farhi at the time), where i was introduced to the world of designer representation.  What followed was a 10-year career as a fashion agent and eventually starting my own agency in Sydney.

September 21-28
Before heading on to Paris I spend my last few days in London visiting my favourite stores, such as Dover Street Market, Koh Samui and Matches...all in the name of market research, of course.
London is my favourite city for inspiration.  I truly believe it's the fashion mecca of the world.  In London you can experiment with so many different looks; it encourages boundary pushing and change.  So where New York is either grungy or conservative glamour and Paris is polished and proper or bohemian chic, London has absolutely everything.       

Paris Fashion Week        

September 29
Isabel Marant is my first show at Paris fashion week.  Usually I prefer to see her collections up close in the showroom, but this season i loved the show.  The styling, models, hair and make-up are all amazing.
I have been buying Isabel Marant for five years now and each season my clients become more and more obsessed with it.  Sometimes I go back to the showroom three times before i place my final order, just so that i can get it perfect.
Because of my wholesale background, I'm told that my formula for buying is quite unique.  First I look at the entire collection piece by piece.  Then I begin making my style selections according to the house's stories.  I always think about colour combinations and how the collection will be merchandised in the store, as well as how it will complement the other brands that I buy.
Next is my Hanii Y appointment.  I've been following the brand for a few seasons bt it hasn't shown in Paris or London before.  When buying a new brand that I haven't worked with, there are a number of important factors that i need to establish before committing it to my budget.  In the past, i have bought garments that i have expected to fit differently from their samples - sometimes the brand's sizes were off or its pieces were made for a woman with no breasts or hips.  But now I'm very conscious of fit and I make these types of buying mistakes far less often.  Today I break my rules and buy on the spot - wonderful leather jackets and fabulous printed t-shirts.
Afterwards, I race to the Louvre for Vivienne Wetswood's Gold Label show.  I love it.

September 30
Tuesday is another full show day, with three of the four shows from the Comme des Garcons stable being presented.  First up is Junya Watanabe, then Tao and then Comme des Garcons' main line.
In my opinion Junya Watanabe and Tao were among the best shows of the season.  I just loved the headpieces at Junya Watanabe, and the African-inspired music and styling.
Comme des Garcons is so highly respected by the most influential people in the fashion industry that getting the chance to stock its pieces definitely paved the way for an expansion of Parlour X's brand portfolio - especially with elusive labels such as Azzaedine Alaia.
That night, I meet the H30 crew (Australians Nicole Bargwanna and Jason Lee Coates, whose fashion agency represents brands such as Preen, Phi, Richard Nicoll and Mawi) at La Perle for a pre-dinner drink with Jutta Kurz(a friend from New York who has a great agency called JuJu The Showroom which reps after brands such as Willow).  We then head to fashion week insitiution, Cheq Omar restaurant, for a North African feast.

October 1
The day starts with my Anne Valerie Hash appointment in her showroom.  I love the collection; feminine jersey and structured lace-detailed shirts. 
That afternoon is my first Comme des Garcons appointment.  Because I buy four lines from Comme des Garcons, my appointment can take up to three days.  They are complicated collections and I need to focus to ge the buying right.  I have a loyal Comme des Garcons client following at Parlour X and I know exactly who I am buying for, while at the same time I am alway hoping to create a new following with the younger generations.

October 2-6
The next few days are a blur of buying appointments at Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, and a few more shows (including Chloe and Martin Grant).  Add to that catch-up dinners with agents who have become friends, such as Zac Posen's international agent Sandra Ellis.
The highlight of this trip is my first buy of Balenciaga.  Next sesason will be the first time that Balenciaga ready-to-wear will be accessible in Australia.  I am very proud because two months earlier the company sent an agent to Australia and New Zealand to visit all the major cities in search of the right boutique to stock their brand and they selected Parlour X.  People often think that you just pull out a chequebook and ask to buy a collection, but it is all about developing relationships.  They often choose you, not you them.

October 7
Today is my Azzedine Alaia appiontment.  It is always a buying-trip high because I love the brand and Alaia the man.  He is such a great character and is always there when his collection is presented at his wonderful showroom, just behind his lovely store on Rue de Moussy in the Marais.
I also discovered a new cool brand called Sultan which specialises in re-worked vintage pants.  The designer, Jeremy Benjamin, shows at Tranoi the most prestigious trade fair in Paris.  Jeremy gets his hands on old army and navy uniforms from different countries, then reworks the styles and dyes the fabrics.  He is a colour specialist and, as a side venture, creates the colour palettes for his friend Olivier Thyskens at Nina Ricci.  Here I try on pieces to gauge the fit for my clients. 
Paris alway feel slike such a whirlwind but I alway feel so revived energetically and spiritually, by the city.  I love Parisian's passion, seriousness, humour and price.  Just knowing that it will not be long before I return keeps me happy, focused and balanced.
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