backstage

We have been all over Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. Fashion editor Ali, health and beauty editor Alison, and publisher Marisa have been on the ground at Carriageworks (and all over Sydney, depending on show locations) reporting on the runway and backstage beauty as quickly as possible. We had our phones at the ready to snap all the behind-the-scenes details you may have missed, from hair and makeup prep to designer notes for how models should walk, and accessories that also deserve the spotlight.

Click through for your all-access pass to MBFWA and be sure to check out all our fashion and beauty coverage from the week!

It may have been a short week (hooray for public holidays!) but it was as busy as ever — especially since Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is just around the corner! We were kept busy this week as we covered all aspects of the latest and greatest celebrity, fashion and beauty news, and as usual, we updated Instagram along the way! Fashion editor Ali was thrown into the thick of all things fashion, taking in showings by talented Aussie designers Rebecca Vallance and Gary Bigeni, while beauty editor Alison chatted to Australian actress Phoebe Tonkin about all things beauty (and squeezed in a selfie). Keen to see more? Click through to see our visual diary!

It was a fashion and beauty dream-team last night, when Bella and I combined our model-stalking powers to go behind the scenes at the 2013 David Jones Autumn/Winter fashion launch. Before the celebrities walked the red carpet, before Miranda slipped into her first of many exits, before the (Veuve) champagne was served, we were on deck to scope the making of this bi-annual fashion extravaganza. We chatted with Miranda — lusting over her Ryan Storer ear candy in the process, bailed up the mega-adorable Stenmark twins, hosted a round-table discussion with Jessica Gomes, Samantha Harris and Bambi Northwood-Blyth, got the D.L on Napoleon's "2013 smokey eye" ...  and that was still hours before that brave model hopped onto her two storey-high perch above the red rug. Phew! It was hectic, but by gosh it was worth it. From the makeup den to the dressing rooms to the front row, consider this your all areas access pass. 

Being backstage at a runway show is highly addictive stuff. Adrenaline is running high, the head stylist is usually attacking models with pins/double-sided tape/a lint brush and the models go from pretty schoolgirls to elegant glamazons before your eyes. We jumped at the chance to hang backstage at Lisa Ho's Autumn/Winter 2013 salon show on Tuesday afternoon, in part because of the aforementioned fun, but also because we wanted to speak to the lady behind the brand about her latest inspiration, her Hollywood fan-club and how she pulls it off, season after season. Step inside to see what Lisa had to say, and snoop our backstage gallery. Full runway report coming soon!

ASOS launched a special Australian seasonal collection last night with a professional runway show. We went backstage to find out the beauty looks for the parade — bright lips a go-go! — and it was the usual model madness and high octane fashion atmosphere. Such fun! Fab has the backstage fashion angle covered (she's so efficient), so click through to see Redken hair director Jon Pulitano hard at work, as well as some cutie models having lots of pre-show fun.

ASOS continues to woo it's Aussie fan-base, firstly by giving us our own Oz-only, season-specific collection and secondly by throwing us a slew of shindigs to fete the launch of the exclusive capsule collection. Last night we were lucky enough to go backstage at the first runway show preview and my, my, didn't we have some fun! Apart from getting up close and personal with the killer collection (which, btw you can snap up before the rest of the world here), we were able to snap some of the backstage shenanigans. You know how we love a bit of backstage! The full runway roundup is coming soon, but for now why don't you wind back time, pop down to the Sydney Opera House, and hang out backstage with us?

We've been backstage again this week — this time at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Sydney. Set up in conjunction with the store drops of all the looks we saw at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in May, the Festival runs all week and is just as fast and fabulous the second time around.

Maybelline NY's makeup director Nigel Stanislaus created four beauty looks to be used in all the shows, and each one embodies a different woman. "I think it’s appropriate," said Nigel. "We are the embellishment."

The corresponding hair looks were created by Redken hair directors Jon Pulitano and Richard Kavanagh, together with Jodi Nicholson, Lorna Evans, Maria Ardino and Paloma Rose Garcia.

Click through to snoop our backstage gallery, and find out the inspiration behind the Redken looks as the details come to hand.

We were busy little bees yesterday, as BellaSugar ed Alison, and FabSugar ed Ali, spent the afternoon and well into the night quizzing models including Miranda Kerr, Jessica Gomes and Montana Cox about their fashion and beauty must-haves and lust-haves from backstage at the David Jones Spring Summer Fashion Launch. We were there for all the action before the runway show, and in a flurry of front row celebrities, makeup, shoes, celebrities, beautiful bodies and even more beautiful clothes, we emerged with some pretty cool behind-the-scenes snaps. Let's go! 

To say it's been a big week is an understatement. Our beauty editor Sarah (aka Wonder Woman), spent all five days of MBFWA running from show to show — in heels. And in between prodding models and quizzing makeup artists, she also took some happy snaps! So this week's celebrity candids post is dedicated to all the behind-the-scenes action — not just from Sarah's eyes, but the front row celebrities in attendance, and the makeup artists, too. Lara Bingle was a hair and makeup chameleon all week, while stars like Jodi Gordon experimented with a bright pink lip. Click through to see all the best shots from around MBFWA.