The Wolf of South Yarra hits Sydney

The majority of soundtracks for this year’s Fashion Week shows involved a lot of panting, heavy breathing and even Rihanna’s tempestuous ex Chris Brown. But famed bridal and evening gown designer Johanna Johnson didn’t want intimate and sexy; she basically brought Coachella to Sydney.

Johnson, who most recently designed the bridesmaid dress for Amal Clooney’s best friend Jennifer Robinson, flew in the most in-demand female DJ to perform live.

New York-based Alex Merrell​, who once toyed with the idea of moving to Australia, now travels every week of the year providing music for high-end brands like Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton and is also Anna Wintour’s favourite DJ, having been hired byVogue to provide tunes at official functions. But even fashionable disc jockeys aren’t immune to the odd request.

“I played a really fun Canadian fashion event a few weeks ago, with some electro and hip hop, everyone was dancing through the store, having a really great time when a guy came up and requested Don’t Stop Believing by Journey. So yeah, some requests are awful,” she said.

Merrell, whose set list included Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl, had the front row shimmying and the models dancing down the runway. The DJ, who has a background in theatre and performed at the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics, was cool under pressure, dancing as she overlooked and timed out the show. As well as live-mixing the music for the final show of the week, she also manned the decks at an exclusive after party on board property developer Larry Kestelman’s 125-foot super yacht.

Johnson’s showcase, which received an undisclosed amount of sponsorship dollars from Kestelman’s Capitol Grand project, was the glitziest affair of the week, with guests treated to champagne and canapes pre and post show, before being chauffeured around the Harbour quaffing more Pommery until midnight.

Once all the fun died down, Kestelman got back to work. The ambitious tycoon, who envisages his Capitol Grand project as the Barangaroo of Melbourne, is planning a road show through London, Paris, New York, China and Hong Kong to attract new luxury brands to the South Yarra retail precinct.

The face of Capitol Grand, actor Charlize Theron, will accompany him to China.