Melbourne
MELBOURNE ART FAIR VERNISSAGE, ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDING
Who are we to argue with Ralph Waldo Emerson, especially when he says, ���Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful���?
Hellana Mardasian, Michelle D��??Agostino, Joanna King, Demi Bryant at the GHD Curve launch. Photo: Wes Nel
Who are we to argue with Ralph Waldo Emerson, especially when he says, ���Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful���? On Wednesday night the Royal Exhibition Building was filled with it ��� beauty ��� at the Melbourne Art Fair Vernissage. The Fair ends Saturday if you haven���t had a chance to heed Emerson���s advice.
Party people: August 15
From launch parties to exhibitions, here's a rundown of last week's events in and around Sydney and Melbourne. Photo: Shaney Balcombe
After a fortifying visit to the Ruinart VIP lounge, emboldened by bubbles, we asked renowned artist Abbey McCulloch , apart from her wonderful paintings how does she make her life more beautiful? ���Can I say something really daggy? I just love being in my garden.���
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���I surround myself with artworks and fashion that���s Australian-based, I love having that local experience around me,��� Mariam Arcilla said. Her cherry red hat added its own pretty pop, too. ���It was [designer] Gail Sorronda���s hat, from her garage sale, it���s not her label, it���s from her garage; she was trying to get rid of some really expensive things.���
Painter Darren Wardle ���s beauty took a darker form: ���I do large scale, distorted, ruined architecture works. I also do very confronting portraits which tie into the idea of the ruin and a dystopic kind of environment.���
���It���s little things that I do every day,��� Elle Zoltak said, ���like, put music on when I���m cooking, wear brightly coloured lipstick, dress my daughter in polka dots and plant flowers in my garden.���
FASHION AID 007 LAUNCH, LA CHINESCA
���A night of celebration in anticipation������ It���s such a hopeful phrase, isn���t it? On Tuesday it was a night of celebration in anticipation of Fashion Aid 007, set for September 13, raising awareness for Love Me, Love You, a not-for-profit organisation committed to the prevention, intervention and management of youth mental health issues to empower young people to achieve their potential.
We wondered where does your love, your passion, lie? MasterChef winner Brent Owens , attending with his girlfriend Madison Ancrum , said it was easy: ���I���m really passionate about helping people with mental illness, and underprivileged youth; to help them become successful and have a clear mind and a clear vision.��� Is life different for you now? ���Life is different - I realize now that I can be the one to inspire, the tables have turned. I can inspire people to be something that they never thought they could be, because I wouldn���t be where I am at the moment if I didn���t take someone else���s inspiration and go with it.���
DION LEE STORE LAUNCH, EMPORIUM MELBOURNE
It was a lazy psychological study, perhaps even impertinent, but on Tuesday night at the Dion Lee Site 02 store launch at Emporium Melbourne ��� the designer���s second Australian store and his first in Melbourne ��� we wondered if Lee was someone who prizes order?
���The site numbers, that���s more of an architectural reference or a construction reference,��� Lee explained. ���The concept for the stores was about building an idea around construction and construction sites, drawing a parallel between the pattern and construction that goes into each garment and designing a store.��� And? ���And I���d say I am pretty disciplined; I think you need to be, to be doing this job.���
Should we expect, say, Site 1094 one day? ���No,��� he laughed, ���we don���t have enormous world-dominating plans but I do like the variation in concept that comes with each store.���
In your private life, is there anything that has to be done in a very particular way? ���I am quite particular about hangers in my own home.��� No wire hangers? ���Definitely not, just uniformity, I think that���s important. Yeah, yep, definitely.���
Sydney
CITY2SURF AFTER-PARTIES
Runners and supporters hopped between the finish-line Bondi hotspots: the Sun-Herald after-party at Bucket List, the Keystone and McGrath marquee and the Stylerunner and Adidas after-party at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar ��� including celeb team Tim Robards, Laura Csortan and Sally Obermeder who raised $5000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
THE BALMAIN BALL
The inaugural Balmain Ball brought together a group of residents and businesses to fund-raise for their local St Vincent de Paul. Thepeninsular people travelled to the Westin for the bash and the night - with auction led by actor Peter Mochrie - raised about $75,000.
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2015 SEASON LAUNCH
The SSO provided an exciting glimpse of their coming programto a distinguished crowd, including Ros Packer, John Alexander MP and Penelope Seidler. The highbrow vibe at the Park Hyatt was punctuated by giggles thanks to an enthusiastic Adam Spencer confessing to a crush on SSO Principal Oboe Diana Doherty who, Spencer claims, ���puts the ���O��� in Oboe���.
DESIGNER RUGS HARE + KLEIN COLLECTION LAUNCH
Meryl Hare���s design studio unveiled their new collaboration with Designer Rugs at the latter���s showroom at a genteel soiree with a string duo, vintage Champagne and design bigwigs including Lisa Green, editor in chief of House & Garden and the evening���s hostess, and Designer Rugs��� Tal family.
MELBOURNE CUP DINNER
There���s no cup in our cupboard that has its own passport, travels the world and hosts dinners like this one does ��� but this is the 18 carat gold, $175,000 Melbourne Cup, racing���s most coveted trophy. The trophy came to Sydney as part of a national tour and graced a swish dinner at Quay in its honour before climbing the Harbour Bridge (with some help from its friends) the next day.
GHD CURVE LAUNCH
Sydney���s party scene couldn���t survive without GHD hair styling products, so the launch of the latest curling tool, GHD Curve, merited a morning party at Cafe Sydney for beauty writers, bloggers and hair aficionados eager to get their hands on the hot new weapon.
OMEGA ���DARK SIDE OF THE MOON��� SPEEDMASTER LAUNCH
Rivaling only the Melbourne Cup as this week���s object with celebrity status, the latest Speedmaster watch had its own black-tie dinner at Fox Studios, with an indoor moonscape, decadent after-party and Bollinger Champagne. The indulgent bash���s VIPs included Omega president Stephen Urquhart, model Montana Cox and actor Abbey-Lee Kershaw.
MR TIPPLY���S GRAND OPENING
Proving anew that the CBD bar scene is alive and well, this stylish newbie burst onto the scene with a lively party crowd including singer Casey Burgess, actor Ashleigh Cummings, WAG Zoe Marshall and wedding frock star Steven Khalil. Tipply���s upstairs cocktail bar, The Attic, proved an instant hit.