LMFF

We’re halfway through the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival and stars are continuing to up the glam factor on the front rows and runway. Megan Gale returned to the catwalk after three years to open Alex Perry’s first Melbourne runway show, sporting some of his elegant designs and some fierce eye makeup. LMFF ambassador Melissa George stuck to simple but stylish black for days two and three of the event, while L’Oréal spokeswoman Andie MacDowell brought some international star power to the festival. Rachael Finch looked cute in a black and green dress, and Neighbours stars Ashleigh Brewer and Valentina Novakovic also took the opportunity to dress up. Check out Fab and Bella for all the fashion and beauty news!

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Day two of L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival was jam packed full of hot new season threads! Molten metallics from sass & bide, clever colour combos at Arnsdorf and Ellery's luxe line up got us excited about the Winter season ahead. The best part about LMFF is that the clothes on show will be dropping in store any day now — so you can copy the catwalk, STAT. We've gone through yesterday's L'Oreal Paris Runway shows 1 and 2 with a fine tooth comb, and picked the best looks out of the bunch. Click through for your Winter '11 highlights package!

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For the Runway 2 LMFF show, presented by Vogue, we chatted to L’Oreal Professionnel Hair Director Brad Ngata backstage. The feel of the hair for this show was “’90s minimalism,” he told us, with a “multi-textured” finish. To create the ponytail style, Brad blow-dried the models’ hair a little, but not too much as he wanted the “raw, natural texture” to shine through. The girls’ strands were styled straight back and then L'Oreal Professionnel Tecni.art Volume Lift ($25) was applied in vertical stripes that were about an inch or so apart. Placing product next to natural hair helped to create the multi-texture — Brad wanted it to look just like the girls had scraped the hair back themselves. Unlike last year’s high pony, Brad used the brows as a guide for securing the strands just below the crown. “It’s a ‘90s ponytail with a few tweaks to keep it modern,” said the mane man.

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L’Oreal Professionnel Hair Director Caterina Di Biase had her hands full backstage at LMFF’s Runway 1 show, creating not one, but two looks for the models.

The first, she described as a “manicured ponytail” which was inspired by Helmut Newton. It was minimalist. It was perfection. To create the look, Caterina says it’s essential that you straighten the hair before putting it in a pony. If hair is especially curly or frizzy, use L'Oreal Professionnel Tecni.art Smoothing Liss Control ($27) to take out the frizz before blow-drying. The key to the high-shine finish was a “cocktail of Tecni.art Volume Lift mousse and Liss Control,” which was painted on to models’ hair and combed through. The secret to the perfect pony is serum, according to Caterina, who says you really have to work it in, not just pat it on, so that it goes inside the cuticle and really smooths the hair.

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Ever wondered what it’s like backstage at a fashion show? Well, wonder no more, peeps because thanks to L’Oreal Professionnel, you’ve got you’re very own backstage pass to L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF). With Melissa George as the official face of the 2011 Festival, and international guests like Jefferson Hack and Andie MacDowell flying in for the occasion, not to mention local celebs like Ruby Rose. Rebecca Twigley and Yumi Stynes sitting front row, it’s the place to be. And backstage sees all the action. Just check out this behind-the-scenes footage of the Runway 1 parade, presented by Grazia, which showcased designs from sass & bide, Romance Was Born, Rachel Gilbert and more. Caterina Di Biase was the hair director of the show, so as well as coming up with the concept — in this case, two different looks — she styled models’ hair and gave the OK to each and every one of the girls before they hit the runway. Wanna know how she finished the look? Check out the how tos!

L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival kicked off proceedings yesterday, and it looks like a frockin' good time was had by all! Bella will be our girl on the ground for the next two days, and we can't wait to see her front row reports. The LMFF peeps started things with a bang with the Fashion Full Stop: Decades of Australian Fashion and Music show, which showcased fabulous swimwear, bridal designs as well as a retrospective runway show of some of our local designer heroes. Speaking of, Akira Isogawa, Alex Perry and Joe Saba showed their support as did f'row regulars Megan Gale and Rachael Finch. We'll be keeping you in the loop with more LMFF news, but in the meantime get amongst the action by clicking right this way.

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The official launch for the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival took place last month but the event really kicked off yesterday with the Fashion Full Stop: Decades of Australian Fashion and Music show, and some gorgeous Aussie ladies made another appearance for the stylish festivities. Melissa George took time out from filming The Slap and looked glamorous in a sequined dress, while Megan Gale was in fine form as a guest reporter for A Current Affair. Rachael Finch kept it sexy in a short black tuxedo-style dress and posed with designer Alex Perry, while Guy Sebastian and Marcia Hines kept the crowd entertained with their performances. Check out Fab and Bella (who’s there taking in all the action) for the fashion and beauty low-down from the event!

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Anna & Boy designers Anna Hewitt and Lil Boyd have made a stylish collection out of bed sheets. Yes, you read that right. Celebrating this year's L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and Sheridan's POP mix-and-match manchester range, the designer duo have turned the linen line's graphic prints and signature patterns into a trés cool fashion collection. The too-cute line up is unfortunately not for sale, but will be on show during this week's fashion fest. Curious? Then head on down to the entrance at the LMFF Esplanade in Melbourne, from Tuesday the 15th until Saturday the 19th. Chic dreams peeps!

L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival held an exclusive festival programme launch yesterday at Government House in Melbourne, and we took a peek inside. The elite from Australia's fashion industry have been busy this week, what with the David Jones A/W Show Tuesday night, and now this! Which stars did double duty? Megan Gale, Alex Perry, Lara Bingle, Melissa George and models Samantha Harris and Louise van der Vorst backed it up to support the Melbourne based fashion festival. LMFF kicks off March 14 (through to March 20), and we'll be downloading our official programme here to get all the deets on this fab, consumer friendly fashion event. Click through to get your inside pass to the party for fashion's crème de la crème....

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