While I’m in rainy Munich the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is happening in Sydney. I would LOVE to be there because I really love the Australian fashion and think their style is really young and inspiring. So instead of being there I was looking through hundreds of pictures today and found some really amazing backstage pictures. I made this little collage above, it’s like an inspiration board for me for upcoming make up experiments. I really wanna try the dark pink lipstick/nail polish combo, so cute! And the ribbons that are painted on the models are so cool too, I wish I could have seen those looks in reality…sigh.

It’s spring!!!! Finally warm sunny days, the smell of flowers and the sound of birds, it’s like the world awakes from a long sleep. If you love spring as much as I do, I got the perfect music to accompany you through those nice long days. Daisy Hicks. I got to know her music through a friend of mine and I wanna recommend it to all my readers. All week I’ve been listening to her album “Daisy” and couldn’t help but be reminded of Vanessa Paradis in some songs, others reminded me of Delta Goodrem which is not surprising knowing that Daisy lived in Sydney for a long time. My favorite song of the album is “Baby you know”, I love the beautiful melody , the romantic lyrics and the relaxing vibe of it. Probably the most catchy song of the album is “If I can’t make it”, it clearly stands out and is perfect for singing along, love it! Other favorites of mine are “Heartbreak Hill”  and “So lonely” because of the nice guitar sound. So if you wanna see for yourself what I’m talking about, go have a look at her website here and watch the video that I posted above.

What’s your favorite song at the moment???

Alright, so I am back in Berlin and honestly I am pretty disappointed by my bad timing, because if I stayed a week longer I would have met Miranda Kerr today. Boohoo…I know. Miranda has been in Sydney for a week now and was very busy, as always. Today she promoted her Kora skincare line at David Jones and also signed autographs for fans. But lets start with her arrival. It’s pretty clear that Miranda loves maxi-dresses, on the plane or on the way to a photoshoot, Miranda sported these casual long dresses combined with short jackets. The day after her first shoot she went to renew her drivers license and of course couldnt hide from the paparazzi once again, wearing a multi-colored skirt and light blue blouse, also love the sunglasses! A few hours later Miranda had a business dinner at Bondi Beach and looked amazing in a black Prada dress before she was the star of the David Jones Winter collection fashion show on wednesday morning. She walked down the runway next to Nicole Trunfio in outfits of Aussie designers like Sass&Bide. Who thought that this was the end of her promo tour is wrong, Miranda Kerr woke up early this morning to give some interviews to morning shows, wearing an amazing blue silky outfit, can she get any more gorgeous??? Finally, she promoted Kora at David Jones and knowing her, she might be doing another photoshooting now. She’s impressive, I don’t know where she gets her energy from but I would love to have a bit of that….and also her dresses. So here’s one week with Miranda Kerr in pictures…

I’m gonna go home to Berlin in two days so here’s my Aussie Fashion review: I love the laid back surfer style that girls seem to pull off quite well here, I especially like that the sporty/sexy Alexander Wang style is pretty big here, Aussie girls love short but wide tops and Tees combined with Ray Ban Wayfarers. The biggest trend here of the summer though is definitely stripes, mostly navy stripes and let me tell you, I’ve completely fallen for it too. As you can see I bought this cute Sportsgirl chain bag and the cardigan behind it. I actually bought another cardigan with navy stripes just a different cut. Bad news is… I wont be able to wear this summery trend until May or June when it gets warm in Berlin again but when it’s time, I will wear my stripes with pride ; )

I don’t know why but ever since I got to Sydney I love this mint green color and have been buying lots of things in that shade. As you can see on my picture, I bouht this super comfy T-Shirt in light green from a store called “Sportsgirl”. The one at Oxford Street reminded me a lot of Topshop, very stylish and young and Sportsgirl doesn’t only sell clothes, but also accessories, shoes and make up. So I also bought this mint green nail polish there which goes perfect with the ring that you can see, I bought that at a store called “Diva” which sells jewellery and accessories only. The green/blue bottle that you can see there is a face cream from Miranda Kerr’s “Kora” line that you can buy here at David Jones. Smells yummy and it’s all natural! Yeah….gotta love shopping in Sydney!

As you might know, I am in beautiful Sydney at the moment and besides feeding kangaroos and tanning at the beach, I also got the chance to interview Valerie Tolosa in her flagship store this week. Valerie is a wonderful designer who just opened her flagship store in one of the best shopping streets in Sydney and believe me, her store is as pretty as her clothes. She was very kind and took some time to answer all of my questions.

Nadine: Did you always want to become a designer?

Valerie: Well I always wanted to become a designer or a ballerina, but I had weak ankles so I thought I can’t really survive doing this so I became a designer.

N: How did you get there? Did you study design?

V: Yes, after I finished high school I got a scholarship for KvB which is a design school and after that I started my own label.

N: Can you describe a normal day in your life as a designer?

V: Everyday is kind of different, so if I am not looking after the store I am running around with sample makers or looking for fabrics. There are lots of meetings with agents and people who look after production in China, so if I’m not in the store I am running around, it’s busy.

N: Lots of traveling too I guess, do you enjoy that?

V: Yeah, lots of traveling, I do enjoy it, I enjoy meeting new people. That’s kind of the perks that come with the job.

N: So what is the best part of your job?

V: Seeing people buy the clothing and when they wear it they actually love it.

N: How would you describe the style of your clothes, is it for every woman?

V: Yeah, it is for every woman, but people who usually buy the clothing, they’re aged between 18 and 35 and they’re very into laces and lots of embroidery and it’s very pretty.

N: So is that your personal taste as well? Do you wear your own label everyday?

V: Yes, I think I wear it almost everyday other than when I’m in my PJs.

N: With your job is there anytime for days off or for holidays?

V: There isn’t much time but when I travel overseas I see it as a holiday and try to have some time in between meetings. But the last long holiday we went on was about two years ago.

N: What was your favorite moment of your career so far?

V: I think opening my flagship store, it’s been a long time dream and to see it now is amazing. Sometimes I don’t know how I got here.

N: Would you change anything that you did in the past regarding your career?

V: No not really because you learn from everything, so you learn from everything you’ve done and you learn from all the people that you meet so no, I don’t think I would change anything.

After that very interesting talk, of course I couldn’t resist and looked through Valerie’s collection which is full of beautiful dresses and blouses, very feminine and romantic. I tried on about five different dresses and ended up buying a wonderful beige long blouse with black embroidery. It was a great opportunity to meet Valerie and I wanna thank Violi for organizing this and taking the pictures.

If you’re ever around Sydney, go and visit Valerie Tolosa’s store in Paddington and check out her website here!

Dear readers, this is my last post from my home town Berlin as I will be going to the airport tonight to fly to my second home, Sydney, Australia. I’m gonna spend 6 wonderful weeks in the land of Kangaroos and Koalas and hopefully have an amazing New Year’s Eve in the heat! First time ever that I wont wear several layers of clothes and freeze at NYE. Of course I’ll keep blogging from down under even though it might not be everyday, I’ll let you know when I meet Miranda Kerr, Abbey Lee, Catherine McNeil, Elyse Taylor or Jessica Hart ( wow…so many Aussie topmodels!!! ).

So to everyone, I wish you a wonderful New Year’s Eve wherever you are and may 2010 be great for all of us!

Nadine