Lune Croissant founder Kate Reid, who started her career working as an engineer in Formula 1, wore a floor-length dark pink dress with a tulle skirt, which she said made her feel like a princess.
She said returning to the event as a grand prix ambassador felt like she had come full circle.
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“The reality of being an engineer and working these incredibly long hours in a high-stress environment wasn’t a great match for my personality,” she says. “I discovered the croissant, which is one of the most technically difficult pastries to make. So it’s kind of, for me, the Formula 1 of the pastry world.”
Hosting the grand event were a couple of new kids on the grand prix block – Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Travis Auld and former Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula, who is now AGPC chairman.
Auld, who was there with his wife Megan O’Reilly, said he pulled his outfit together about two hours earlier, but was not really in a party mood.
“I’m trying to think about all the stuff we’ve got to get done between now and tomorrow,” he said.
Eleanor Baillieu at Glamour on the Grid.Credit: Luis Ascui
Auld, who replaced Andrew Westacott as chief executive last year, said the real party would happen when everything wrapped up next week.
Pakula, who replaced businessman Paul Little as chairman, was there with his wife Lisa Febbo and son Ben.
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“I am definitely in the bottom glamour quartile at Glamour on the Grid,” Pakula said.
The 800-odd guests were expected to sip on an estimated 1500 cocktails and quaff 2500 glasses of champagne while ingesting 9600 canapes and lobster rolls.
The event is estimated to cost between $125,000 and $250,000, but sponsorships picks up a large part of the tab. Last year’s grand prix cost the state government about $100 million owing to a budget short fall.
Stylist Paul Versace dressed 14 guests for this year’s event, including Daicos and Dalins.
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“I feel like every year it’s kind of got bigger and bigger,” he said. “Besides the Brownlow it’s the biggest red carpet of the year.”
Versace said this year’s Glamour on the Grid was about really bright colours and different shapes.
He spent all day Wednesday dressing his clients at a special penthouse suite at the Pullman where photographs and videos were taken for social media before the guests arrived at Albert Park.
“It doesn’t matter how good the outfit is if there is no photo,” Versace said.
Melbourne Fashion Festival chief executive Caroline “Ralph” Ralphsmith and her husband Gandel Group chief executive Dion Werbeloff were also in attendance, as was fashionista Nadia Bartels.
An earlier media list had former foreign minister Julie Bishop attending, and gave details of her “partner” Steve Gray, sparking media attention. But even though the cat was out of the bag, Bishop was tight-lipped, but did confirm she was in Perth. No comment on Gray.
Source Agencies
