Guests mingled in the Grand Ballroom and and on the terrace lawn, enjoying Champagne Deveaux and delicious canapes from The Big Group.

VIPs attending the launch included Face of the Festival Melissa George, Creative Director Grant Pearce, Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Robert Doyle, Megan Gale, Lara Bingle, Michael and Lindy Klim, Samantha Harris, Alex Perry, Grant Smillie, Pia Miller and a stellar line-up of Australian fashion designers and identities.

A big congratulations to the Festival team, and with the program now officially launched tickets are now on sale for all events. Visit www.lmff.com.au for details.

Some images are included below. Contact us if you need further information on the exciting lineup at LMFF this year.

Photos all courtesy of Lucas Dawson

Brooke & Quentin are currently relaxing in Thailand, throuroughly enjoying the start of their new life together.

Some of the AMPR team were able to attend the wedding, and although we’re sure Brooke will share some pics soon, in the meantime, here’s one of us for dinner in beautiful Byron Bay.

The team out for dinner in Byron

CONGRATULATIONS BROOKIE!!!

Models with Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, Grant Pearce and Laura Anderson

The 2011 L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) launched in Melbourne Thursday at The Sir Redmond Barry Room with exciting announcements:

The Hon. Jacinta Allan, Minister for Industry and Trade, Victorian State Government announced a future Labor government’s $4.3 million job-creating boost to sell Victoria’s fashion industry on the world stage.

Included in this funding package was $1 million to expand the 2011 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival to have a stronger regional and industry development focus and support the Decades of Fashion retrospective to celebrate the Festival’s 15th Anniversary.

Festival Creative Director, Grant Pearce also revealed exciting new elements to the 2011 LMFF Program, including:

• A refreshed Program Launch – to be held at Government House in February
• A spectacular Consumer Launch Event – launching on a grand-scale with a specific focus on broad public appeal and engagement

Grant also revealed the 2011 Festival Ambassador is film actress Melissa George. Melissa will attend the Festival in March.

He finally announced the first of LMFF’s always world-leading international guests:

• Mikael Schiller – CEO of ACNE Studios, the immensely successful Swedish brand, where he works with the fashion, publishing and furniture divisions. LMFF is proud to announce ACNE’s famous Paper Party will be held in Melbourne during LMFF
• David Jones – Global CEO of Havas Worldwide, one of the world’s leading advertising groups, running Euro RSCG Worldwide, Arnold Worldwide and all creative, marketing services and design companies throughout the global Havas network

Tickets to the LMFF Business Seminar are now on sale – visit www.lmff.com.au for more information

The kitchen garden is in centre until the end of this weekend, with free cooking and gardening workshops taking place as part of the Magic of Growth program. So head on down if you can – it’s spectacular (as this time-lapse shows).

The runway show will feature the latest women’s and men’s Carnival looks from Thurley, Arthur Galan AG, Fame Agenda, Mimco, Alannah Hill, Dom Bagnato, AX Armani Exchange, ck Calvin Klein and Batsanis.

In her first performance since returning to Australia, Zöe Badwi will accompany models including Melbourne Spring Fashion Week favourites Alice Burdeu and Kate Peck with a rare acoustic set of her hits.

Styled by Philip Boon and decorated by Melbourne’s most celebrated florist, Fleur McHarg, the show will be illuminated within the transformed Melbourne Central link bridge. The daytime setting will create a light and bright garden party feel – gorgeous lush grass, beautiful box hedges and flowering dogwood trees.

If you are in town, feel free to drop past at 11am, or email Franky (francesca(at)ampr.com.au) for more information

Australia has officially welcomed the first store for international fashion brand RAOUL, located at Crown Melbourne. The store was officially launched alongside RAOUL’s stunning Spring-Summer 2010 Collection last Thursday 19^th August with a lavish cocktail reception for invited guests.

RAOUL marked the celebration with welcome addresses from Douglas Benjamin, F J Benjamin CEO & RAOUL Creative Director and Ann Peacock, Crown General Manager of Public Relations.

The launch saw the Crown store transformed into a beautiful cocktail area decorated with fresh flowers and a custom designed RAOUL bar where mixologists created bespoke RAOUL cocktails and mocktails for guests to enjoy along with Mumm champagne and delicious canapés.

The guestlist featured some of Melbourne’s most prominent social identities including international model Alice Burdeu, swimming star Michael Klim, music entrepreneur Grant Smillie, fashion designer Zoe Weir, former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks’ son Nick, fashion identity Dhav Naidu and many more.

It was also an opportunity for Melbourne to meet the creative forces behind RAOUL, Douglas and Odile Benjamin and key members of the F J Benjamin team who flew from Singapore especially for the night.

Douglas Benjamin said, “This was a fantastic evening and the warm, enthusiastic response to RAOUL’s brand of accessible luxury has shown that we are well-placed to serve an interesting niche in the Australian market.”

Celebrity DJ Lindy Klim who wore a beautiful lilac RAOUL blouse kept guests entertained all evening with her distinctive sounds.

During the night, guests viewed RAOUL’s Spring-Summer 2010 collection on some of Melbourne’s top models who mingled with the crowd. Many guests noted that the collection should be a hit with race-goers as they start to choose their outfits for the upcoming Spring Racing Carnival.

Check out the collection on the runway below and visit our gallery to see images from the night.

Aussie synth-rockers Amy Meredith will appear live at Melbourne Central’s Shot Tower Square this Thursday 29th July at 4:30pm as part of the Two Blocks festival. The band will also sign copies of their new Top Ten debut album ‘Restless’.

The Sydney band are celebrating the launch of  ‘Restless’ and the performance at Melbourne Central will be the boys first appearance since the album launched.

A lot is happening for the band with the sudden popularity of their new album, the announcement of them supporting Grinspoon on tour and  the recent news that they will embark on their first solo tour in September!

So head down to Melbourne Central this Thursday – we’ll see you there!

Now in its second year, Melbourne Central’s Two Blocks festival brings culture and creativity to the people. From 19-31 July, the public can experience unique art exhibitions, live painting, a pop-up fashion event, parties and music performances.

For the full program of events visit:

http://www.melbournecentral.com.au/content.aspx?urlkey=two_blocks

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They strongly believe that style is not just your clothing. It’s about much more than that; it’s about image, about the way that you hold yourself, and above all, the lasting impression that you give off to others. We believe in creating lasting transformations inside and out. That’s why we define style development as not only focusing on outer appearance, but building upon inner character; not just finding a style that makes you look amazing, but finding a style that matches your personality and makes you feel amazing.

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