Meet Tony Ellwood, art's blockbuster man
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garçons paired up at NGV
Iconoclastic fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo will both feature in a blockbuster exhibition. The National Gallery of Victoria show, which opens in December, pairs the two influential designers for the first time. Westwood, from the UK, helped define the punk aesthetic, while Japanese designer Kawakubo dramatically subverted ideas about garment shape and functionality. "These two women challenged conventions for beauty, taste and gender through their designs, and established a lasting legacy of fashion history that continues to inspire meaning today," said gallery director Tony Ellwood. Westwood | Kawakubo follows the institution's record-breaking Kusama exhibition last summer, which attracted more than 570,000 people. Both designers were self taught and were born a year apart, Westwood in 1941 and Kawakubo in 1942. The show opens with Westwood's revolutionary punk outfits from the 1970s, such as the bondage trousers and parachute jackets worn by London bands like The Sex Pistols. There are also designs from more recent eras of popular culture, including Westwood's runway version of Carrie Bradshaw's wedding dress from the Sex and the City movie, and a Comme des Garçons outfit worn by pop singer Rhianna on the Met Gala red carpet. Kawakubo has given dozens of garments to the NGV for the exhibition, including the Met Gala dress, and designs from the Comme des Garçons 2025 Spring Summer runway collection. Westwood | Kawakubo will open at NGV International from December 7. Iconoclastic fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo will both feature in a blockbuster exhibition. The National Gallery of Victoria show, which opens in December, pairs the two influential designers for the first time. Westwood, from the UK, helped define the punk aesthetic, while Japanese designer Kawakubo dramatically subverted ideas about garment shape and functionality. "These two women challenged conventions for beauty, taste and gender through their designs, and established a lasting legacy of fashion history that continues to inspire meaning today," said gallery director Tony Ellwood. Westwood | Kawakubo follows the institution's record-breaking Kusama exhibition last summer, which attracted more than 570,000 people. Both designers were self taught and were born a year apart, Westwood in 1941 and Kawakubo in 1942. The show opens with Westwood's revolutionary punk outfits from the 1970s, such as the bondage trousers and parachute jackets worn by London bands like The Sex Pistols. There are also designs from more recent eras of popular culture, including Westwood's runway version of Carrie Bradshaw's wedding dress from the Sex and the City movie, and a Comme des Garçons outfit worn by pop singer Rhianna on the Met Gala red carpet. Kawakubo has given dozens of garments to the NGV for the exhibition, including the Met Gala dress, and designs from the Comme des Garçons 2025 Spring Summer runway collection. Westwood | Kawakubo will open at NGV International from December 7. Iconoclastic fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo will both feature in a blockbuster exhibition. The National Gallery of Victoria show, which opens in December, pairs the two influential designers for the first time. Westwood, from the UK, helped define the punk aesthetic, while Japanese designer Kawakubo dramatically subverted ideas about garment shape and functionality. "These two women challenged conventions for beauty, taste and gender through their designs, and established a lasting legacy of fashion history that continues to inspire meaning today," said gallery director Tony Ellwood. Westwood | Kawakubo follows the institution's record-breaking Kusama exhibition last summer, which attracted more than 570,000 people. Both designers were self taught and were born a year apart, Westwood in 1941 and Kawakubo in 1942. The show opens with Westwood's revolutionary punk outfits from the 1970s, such as the bondage trousers and parachute jackets worn by London bands like The Sex Pistols. There are also designs from more recent eras of popular culture, including Westwood's runway version of Carrie Bradshaw's wedding dress from the Sex and the City movie, and a Comme des Garçons outfit worn by pop singer Rhianna on the Met Gala red carpet. Kawakubo has given dozens of garments to the NGV for the exhibition, including the Met Gala dress, and designs from the Comme des Garçons 2025 Spring Summer runway collection. Westwood | Kawakubo will open at NGV International from December 7. Iconoclastic fashion designers Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo will both feature in a blockbuster exhibition. The National Gallery of Victoria show, which opens in December, pairs the two influential designers for the first time. Westwood, from the UK, helped define the punk aesthetic, while Japanese designer Kawakubo dramatically subverted ideas about garment shape and functionality. "These two women challenged conventions for beauty, taste and gender through their designs, and established a lasting legacy of fashion history that continues to inspire meaning today," said gallery director Tony Ellwood. Westwood | Kawakubo follows the institution's record-breaking Kusama exhibition last summer, which attracted more than 570,000 people. Both designers were self taught and were born a year apart, Westwood in 1941 and Kawakubo in 1942. The show opens with Westwood's revolutionary punk outfits from the 1970s, such as the bondage trousers and parachute jackets worn by London bands like The Sex Pistols. There are also designs from more recent eras of popular culture, including Westwood's runway version of Carrie Bradshaw's wedding dress from the Sex and the City movie, and a Comme des Garçons outfit worn by pop singer Rhianna on the Met Gala red carpet. Kawakubo has given dozens of garments to the NGV for the exhibition, including the Met Gala dress, and designs from the Comme des Garçons 2025 Spring Summer runway collection. Westwood | Kawakubo will open at NGV International from December 7.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why Australia's top tennis umpire chose Windies over Wimbledon
In 2023, a video of Blom went viral when he politely asked spectators at Wimbledon to stop popping champagne bottles while players were serving. He also once told Frenchman Elliot Benchetrit to peel his own banana after asking a ballgirl to do so. Martina Navratilova retweeted a video of the incident, writing: 'What's next – grapes? John did the right thing, that's for sure.' But Blom's idea of a good time is sitting in the stands at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, drinking rum with fans and watching Australia's cricketers. Coincidentally, Blom stayed at Australia's team hotel in Islamabad during their 2022 Test tour when he happened to be umpiring a Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. He has since travelled to India and New Zealand to watch Australia play, and plans to be in South Africa next year for the team's first Test tour since Sandpapergate in 2018. 'I'm surrounded by the world's top tennis players but I get a bit nervous around the Australian cricket team,' Blom said. 'When I see them at the team hotel, I'm a bit of a fanboy. 'It's my favourite sport. Much better than tennis. I grew up watching cricket in the '80s and '90s and it was just such a golden era that crystallised my love for cricket.' The interview is momentarily interrupted by a flight attendant announcing that the descent into Grenada is two minutes away. 'We'll get a fair view of the islands of the Grenadines out the right window,' she says over the PA. 'The temperature is 30 degrees at the airport.' Blom smiles and continues. 'It seemed like there were almost more Australians than locals in the crowd in Barbados.' There's time for a few rapid-fire questions before landing. Favourite player to watch? 'Every official loved watching Roger Federer play. He had such a unique style. He was pretty easy-going and didn't complain too much.' Best match to umpire? 'Nadal and Medvedev in 2022 (Nadal won 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted five hours and 24 minutes). It was an incredible experience. It finished at 2am but I was still buzzing at 6am.' Is it the dream job? 'I think it is. It's like any job that has its issues, right? No one loves their job all the time. You do have some wonderful memories and experiences that you wouldn't get doing watching tennis as a spectator. Wimbledon is my favourite but the US Open has grown on me.' Something people don't know about umpiring? 'A lot of people think that having good eyesight is the most important thing. It's far and away not. You have to have the ability to communicate well and defuse situations before they get out of hand. If you make a big enough mistake, any player is going to go nuts.' Blom says there's one question he gets asked more than any: whether he's allowed to go to the toilet during a match. Loading 'The answer is yes,' he says with a laugh. 'But you don't do it at 6-6 in a tiebreak. You go quickly at a set break. I've probably done it once in 20 years.' Blom has no regrets missing Wimbledon. With Test cricket potentially splitting into two tiers, this might be Australia's last full tour of the Caribbean. 'It really is the dream tour,' he said.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Why Australia's top tennis umpire chose Windies over Wimbledon
In 2023, a video of Blom went viral when he politely asked spectators at Wimbledon to stop popping champagne bottles while players were serving. He also once told Frenchman Elliot Benchetrit to peel his own banana after asking a ballgirl to do so. Martina Navratilova retweeted a video of the incident, writing: 'What's next – grapes? John did the right thing, that's for sure.' But Blom's idea of a good time is sitting in the stands at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, drinking rum with fans and watching Australia's cricketers. Coincidentally, Blom stayed at Australia's team hotel in Islamabad during their 2022 Test tour when he happened to be umpiring a Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. He has since travelled to India and New Zealand to watch Australia play, and plans to be in South Africa next year for the team's first Test tour since Sandpapergate in 2018. 'I'm surrounded by the world's top tennis players but I get a bit nervous around the Australian cricket team,' Blom said. 'When I see them at the team hotel, I'm a bit of a fanboy. 'It's my favourite sport. Much better than tennis. I grew up watching cricket in the '80s and '90s and it was just such a golden era that crystallised my love for cricket.' The interview is momentarily interrupted by a flight attendant announcing that the descent into Grenada is two minutes away. 'We'll get a fair view of the islands of the Grenadines out the right window,' she says over the PA. 'The temperature is 30 degrees at the airport.' Blom smiles and continues. 'It seemed like there were almost more Australians than locals in the crowd in Barbados.' There's time for a few rapid-fire questions before landing. Favourite player to watch? 'Every official loved watching Roger Federer play. He had such a unique style. He was pretty easy-going and didn't complain too much.' Best match to umpire? 'Nadal and Medvedev in 2022 (Nadal won 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted five hours and 24 minutes). It was an incredible experience. It finished at 2am but I was still buzzing at 6am.' Is it the dream job? 'I think it is. It's like any job that has its issues, right? No one loves their job all the time. You do have some wonderful memories and experiences that you wouldn't get doing watching tennis as a spectator. Wimbledon is my favourite but the US Open has grown on me.' Something people don't know about umpiring? 'A lot of people think that having good eyesight is the most important thing. It's far and away not. You have to have the ability to communicate well and defuse situations before they get out of hand. If you make a big enough mistake, any player is going to go nuts.' Blom says there's one question he gets asked more than any: whether he's allowed to go to the toilet during a match. Loading 'The answer is yes,' he says with a laugh. 'But you don't do it at 6-6 in a tiebreak. You go quickly at a set break. I've probably done it once in 20 years.' Blom has no regrets missing Wimbledon. With Test cricket potentially splitting into two tiers, this might be Australia's last full tour of the Caribbean. 'It really is the dream tour,' he said.
