Tangled webs and weaves
Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are Sydney’s very
own Hollywood royals, but even an Oscar-winner needs a little help
when it comes to those dreaded close-ups.
And no, we are not talking Botox.
Kidman and Blanchett have been getting help in the follicular
department, with both stars having hair extensions, also known as
“weaves”, glued to their scalps for photo shoots and red-carpet
appearances.
The actresses are well versed in the black arts of wig-wearing
for their on-screen performances - but what is more curious is how
much of that fake hair is creeping into their off-screen lives.
Hairdressers across town have been chattering about the
thousands of dollars worth of hair regularly glued into Kidman’s
scalp, most recently for the fabulous curly mop she flourishes on
the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, courtesy of
uber-hairdresser Kerry Warn.
Kidman is famous for her locks, which over the years have been
spiralled into cascading tendrils, straightened into a sleek mane,
bleached blonde and even cropped off into a pixie-style do.
However, so many different styles mean she is constantly making use
of hair that is not her own.
Similarly, Blanchett, who has long endured a heinous ginger
fuzzball planetoid for performances as Queen Elizabeth I, has
sought help to pull off a variety of looks.
Paddington’s Renya Xenides makes customised hair
extensions for some of her celebrity clients that clip in with
secret fastenings.
The stunt hair is harvested from Third World regions, mostly
throughout Asia.
The stars can take heart in the knowledge they may be sustaining
a small village somewhere on the subcontinent, thanks to the
demands of fame.
Bailey’s brush with disaster
Marilyn Koch, business partner of the celebrity hairdresser
Joh Bailey, summed up 2007 at the salon’s Christmas party as
their “anus horribles”, much to the amusement of guests, including
the federal MP Malcolm Turnbull.
Koch had cheekily borrowed from the Queen’s 1992 “annus
horribilis” Christmas message, but behind the scenes she and Bailey
were working frantically to rescue their beloved business, which
counts the rich, famous and powerful as clients.
Plagued by court cases over the underpayment of apprentices and
negative press after an ill-fated expansion with Myer, things only
got worse for Bailey and Koch when their relationship with another
business partner, Hilton Paul, soured. Paul is now suing the
business for non-payment of long-service leave.
Over the past two months PS has followed an intriguing paper
trail revealing a complete restructuring of the salon’s ownership,
which does not appear to include either Bailey or Koch, though
neither would comment in great detail about it when PS called.
It all began on November 5 last year, when Kulgoa Investments
served a statutory demand on Joh Bailey Hairdressers to repay an
outstanding loan. Kulgoa Investments is owned by the businessman,
philanthropist and high-profile member of the Jewish community
Paul Kornmehl, 87, who made his fortune in women’s hosiery
with his Kolotex brand.
On November 28 one of Bailey’s oldest friends, the former
dancer, socialite and renowned fashionista Suzanne
Pritchard, registered five new business entities.
On December 7 Joh Bailey Hairdressers was deemed in default of
the Kulgoa loan.
On the same day, the business, including all the salons, was
sold to the same entities registered by Pritchard.
Ten days later all Joh Bailey companies went into voluntary
administration with debts of more than $2 million. On the same day
a special resolution was passed to wind up all Joh Bailey
companies.
On January 22 Kulgoa’s loan was repaid in full. Four days later,
despite the closure of some salons, “Bailey’s people” told the
media the remaining salons continued to perform well and “bore no
liability to the failure”.
In a statement issued to PS yesterday Bailey said: “To be
honest, I was stung by the whole experience. It has taken a number
of months to resolve the related issues and, I’m pleased to say,
that is now complete. In the process we have had to close some
salons and whilst that is regrettable, I am relieved to take back
control of my own destiny.”
Rocking on
Sydney business identity Greg Jones is not one to do things
by halves, especially since pocketing a reported $45 million after
floating his RAMS mortgage business six months ago. RAMS’s more
recent woes were the last thing on Jones’s mind last Sunday night
at Paddington spaghetti joint Buon Ricordo when he joined a group
of intimates to celebrate wife Kim’s 40th birthday. He
presented her with a $250,000 knuckleduster, resulting in several
jaws dropping on various tables. Jones, a former political adviser
to the NSW attorney-general, once told the Herald he had
been dining at Buon Ricordo since he was 22. He’s now 55.
Web of confusion
PS found itself back in the 1980s this week after stumbling across
the website of former Sydney Swans owner and disgraced medico
Geoffrey Edelsten. Edelsten was famed for his glitz,
helicopters and Ferraris, though his world unravelled in 1988 when
he was deregistered and later jailed for hiring hitman
Christopher Dale Flannery to bash a patient. So why a
website? Edelsten told the Herald’s Jacob Saulwick: “I
started it because media reports over the last 20 years are just so
erroneous factually that I thought I would correct it. Hopefully it
will balance some of the unfair journalistic records.” Erroneous?
Like his own website’s list of very expensive cars and super
yachts. When asked which ones were his, Edelsten admitted “none”.
And he has no problem regurgitating those “erroneous” reports
highlighting the famous women he has been linked to in the press,
including Diana Ross and Lynda Carter (she played
Wonder Woman in the TV series).
Medical mystery
Four years ago Edelsten applied to the NSW Medical Tribunal to be
re-registered as a doctor. He was rejected on character grounds. He
was allowed to apply again this week, but said he had “absolutely
no intention” of doing so. But he still has big plans. He has gone
into business with Alan Kwan. On January 16 they registered
a new business called New Age Medicine Group. While he did not give
too much away, Kwan promised “it will be quite interesting. It is
something different.”
Fresh canvas
A decade ago Steve Bush and Deke Miskin were the
darlings of the Sydney publishing world, boasting more than a
million teenagers reading their magazines each month, from
Girlfriend to TV Hits. They sold their business for
an undisclosed sum, but it was enough for Miskin to pay a record
$28 million for a Point Piper mansion, Altona. Bush sunk his money
into one of Australia’s finest private art collections, boasting
works by Picasso, Hirst and Miro. Bush’s passion for art has now
produced a magazine called Art World, to be launched in
Sydney next week, having already received the imprimatur of
Britain’s art collecting king Charles Saatchi (Nigella
Lawson’s husband), who has ordered a subscription.
On the nose
Today Sydney’s original fashionista, Pat Ingram, notches up
35 years in the notoriously fickle fashion magazine business. The
ACP executive celebrated the milestone with cupcakes and champagne
in her office, though she managed to share a few “highlights” with
PS, including the time as a young reporter she was nominated to
interview high-profile men around town for the “Bachelor of the
Month” column. “On this occasion I was to meet with a hot, hirsute,
lascivious and oleaginous nightclub entrepreneur whose first
instinct was to make it obvious he was interested in more than an
exchange of views on what made him irresistible to women,” Ingram
revealed. “To deflect his advances I offered him a light for his
cigarette but as he leaned in, my little disposable shot the flame
straight up his nose setting his nasal hair alight. After leaping
backwards and evincing great injury, mostly to his ego, he then
shed black ash from his nostrils for the remainder of our very
brief embarrassing interview.” Ingram declined to reveal the
Lothario’s identity.
Psst%26#133;
Deborah Hutton’s private life continues to provide fuel for
dinner conversation across Sydney. Seven months after reports that
the 46-year-old’s alleged seven-year relationship with former
Hockeyroo Danni Roche had expired, effectively “outing” the
television personality, Hutton has remained tight-lipped on the
subject of her love life. In recent weeks chatter has
surrounded the younger man who has been by Hutton’s side throughout
much of the summer: Paddington solicitor Nicholas Hogan.
However when PS contacted Hogan, 35, he described his relationship
with the homewares queen as nothing more than platonic. “We are
just good friends %26#133; nothing more. I am also her solicitor,” a
bemused Hogan politely explained. Hutton’s friends say she is
getting on with life after a difficult six months since the death
of her brother Rod Haylock and rampant speculation about her
private life. PS understands Hutton is taking her mother on a
holiday to China in coming weeks.
