Fashionista (2003 - 2005)
Interstitial series
Weekly x 10 minutes
Series synopsis:
Fashionista offers a snapshot of what’s happening and what’s hot in Australian fashion, riding the wave of interest in our designers shown by overseas buyers and going some way to explaining why Australian Fashion Week is always such big news.
Over two series, unashamed fashionista Lee Lin Chin offers ten minutes of all that is cutting edge in the world of Australian fashion. Described by SBS as 'a cult fashion newsflash at 9.45pm on Saturday nights’, each program showcases a fashion designer, an artisan of bespoke shoes, fabric, or accessory designers of jewellery, belts or hats. It’s a veritable who’s who of the Australian fashion scene, providing a colourful and sometimes amusing interstitial on Saturday evenings for an industry that was just breaking into prominence on the international scene.
Curator’s Notes:
Fashionista is Lee Lin Chin. She first came to the attention of SBS audiences as the weekend newsreader. Her hairstyles and fashion sense were always on show, even behind the news desk, so it seemed inevitable when SBS found a vehicle to exploit her great passion for fashion.
Lee Lin Chin was born in Jakarta of Chinese heritage and educated in Singapore. She began her career at SBS in subtitling Chinese films into English, then became the weekend newsreader in the early 1990s.
Titles in this series
Fashionista – Alex Perry 2003
There’s quite a psychology to designing a wedding gown and Alex Perry has been doing it since 1984 with huge success. His passion is for every bride to look really beautiful for that special day, not to mention her mother ...
Fashionista – Donna-May Bolinger 2004
Donna-May Bolinger has attempted to move beyond designing shoes, to incorporate a feminist history in her work – in this case, the biography of an early 20th century circus artiste.
Fashionista – John Macarthur 2003
John Macarthur is from the Macarthur dynasty, the pioneers of Australia’s wool industry. He says he’s descended from the poor relations. This John Macarthur grew up in Bombala near the Snowy Mountains and took up knitting to get through the ...
Fashionista – Mambo 2003
Robert Moore loves his job and he’s been at it since 1989. He designs for Mambo and creates what he likes. Mambo may or may not pick up his design but then there’s always another season and one of his ...
Fashionista – Naomi Goodsir 2003
Naomi Goodsir is a milliner, but not just any milliner. Her creations are like sculptures. Luckily there’s always a race day somewhere, otherwise she’d be out of a job.
Fashionista – Nicolas Jurnjack 2004
Nicholas Jurnjack is a hair stylist who insists that fashion photography is all about lighting. He hails from Marseilles and was offered a choice of a plumbing or hairdressing apprenticeship as his first job. He chose plumbing but when he ...
Fashionista – Vivienne Westwood 2005
This film records an exhibition of Vivienne Westwood’s fashion designs from over 30 years, which was held at the National Gallery in Canberra in 2005. The exhibition was opened by Westwood’s husband, Andreas Kronthaler, who wears a Westwood-designed suit and ...
