So far she has walked for Bottega Veneta, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, Simone Rocha, Burberry, Versace, Fendi and Prada.

She recently told Vogue: "I never thought, at 18, I'd have my own apartment, renting in a new country. I was dying for the new year to start. I'm a grown woman – I'm 18!"

Akech is not the only Australian model making waves around the world.

Currently the darling of the male modelling world, our very own Zoolander, Jordan Barrett, has caused a stir around the offices of global modelling juggernaut IMG after he ditched the agency to sign up with new Sydney outfit Kult.

Strike a pose: Jordan Barrett gives his best "Blue Steel".

Photo: Brook Mitchell

This poses an interesting conundrum for IMG in the lead-up to Australian Fashion Week in a few weeks. The event is owned by IMG and, previously, Barrett has walked for local designers, being one of the models on IMG's books.

It remains to be seen if his latest move will thwart his ability to return home and strut the Sydney catwalk.

FEUDING POLO PRINCE TAKES A FALL

It was a bad day for millionaire polo enthusiast John Marshall last Saturday.

Not only did he grace these pages after PS revealed he had pleaded not guilty in Windsor Local Court to charges of assaulting his neighbour, fellow polo moneybags Peter Higgins, but he ended the day in a hospital bed after falling off his beloved polo pony, leaving him poleaxed in the middle of his polo field.

John Marshall with his son Adam Marshall at their Kurri Burri Polo Club in Richmond.

Photo: Supplied

Marshall, who was also ordered by the court to stay away from Higgins and is due back for a hearing next month, is understood to have suffered several serious injuries, but his spokeswoman did not elaborate when PS inquired.

"John is recovering very well, thank you," Marshall's spokeswoman told PS.

"He was hospitalised but is due out this week. All active polo players have injuries from time to time."

As for rumours he was airlifted to hospital after fracturing his ribs and suffering a punctured lung, no further information was forthcoming.

However, his spokeswoman did comment on the charges Marshall, whose business interests include the huge Sportscraft fashion label, is facing after PS's revelations last Saturday.

"As for the spurious charges, once the full facts come out – and they will – those charges will be shown to have been misplaced," she said.

"The matter is before the courts so it is not appropriate to comment further at this time."

Last week, PS reported millionaire businessman Higgins, a founder of Mortgage Choice and a former Dragons' Den judge, who is also the owner of the Sydney Polo Club at Richmond, claimed he was left bloodied, bruised and "stunned" following an alleged incident involving Marshall.

Polo horse breeder and businessman Peter Higgins.

Photo: Edwina Pickles

At Windsor Local Court, Marshall, 68, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and trespass after he and Higgins, 58, had an encounter on Higgins' property during a polo match.

Higgins' lawyers had previously sent Marshall a letter informing the latter that he was not welcome on the former's property and that, if he turned up, the police would be called, which is allegedly what happened when Higgins confronted Marshall after discovering him on his land. He alleges Marshall then headbutted him following an altercation.

Locals have been agog with chatter following the latest episode in what has been a long-running feud between the men, with lawyers at 10 paces, elaborate public relations campaigns, and Facebook catfights in a turf war between two of Sydney's wealthiest men.

Higgins only had one word to say on the matter when PS called: "Karma".

MANN'S PARTNER IN COURT

A decade ago he was one of Double Bay's leading society hairdressers, splashed across the social pages with his star clients and a key player during the early days of Australian Fashion Week, though several years ago he gave up the glitz of Sydney for the calm of Byron Bay.

Former Double Bay hairdresser Bruce Mann and his partner Llan Anthony, accused of illegally taking explicit photos in public toilets.

Photo: Facebook

These days the headlines surrounding Bruce Mann have not been quite so welcome, especially after his partner, Llan Anthony, was accused of taking illicit photographs and videos of more than 60 people in public toilets without their knowledge.

Last month Anthony, 44, spent the weekend in jail but was granted bail under the condition he not visit or loiter near public toilets, not use electronic devices except landline phones, not visit the Lismore Bunnings store and not leave his home unless accompanied by Mann.

The Northern Star reported his lawyer, Edwina Lloyd, questioned the strength of the prosecution case, noting the alleged victims in each image and piece of footage would need to be identified and must confirm their lack of consent but none of the images police showed included the subject's face.

Anthony's alleged activities were brought to police attention after an incident on March 8, when he was accused of looking over a public toilet cubicle wall at a plain-clothes police officer in South Lismore.

Anthony is due to enter a plea on Monday when the matter returns to Lismore Court.

ONISFOROU'S CLASSIC PLEDGE

It's been called Elizabeth Bay's very own Berlin Wall, but millionaire property developer Theo Onisforou is adamant the two luxury terrace houses he is planning to build along the exclusive Billyard Avenue will become "architectural classics".

Millionaire property developer Theo Onisforou's proposed terrace houses in Elizabeth Bay, a "future classic".

Photo: Angus Property

Onisforou is waiting for City of Sydney council to determine a development application he has lodged to demolish an existing home and build two new, 10-metre wide terraces. He predicts they will be more valuable than "the current Australian records for a terrace house", which incidentally is held by his estranged wife, former Harper's Bazaar "gemologist" Heidi Onisforou, who last year sold her Challis Avenue home for a record $13 million.

But none of it has impressed local development agitator and self-styled heritage warrior Andrew Woodhouse, the president and founder of the Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation & Residents Society, which is vehemently opposing Onisforou's vision.

"The proposals design is anathema and obnoxious, out of character with its surroundings, and is neo-brutalism. It has hallmarks of the Berlin Wall," was how Woodhouse viewed the DA in his submission to council, telling PS his unincorporated group had more than 1000 members, though he was unable to provide evidence to back his claim.

Andrew Woodhouse has dubbed the proposal the "Berlin Wall".

Photo: Michelle Mossop

Onisforou says he is planning to live in one of the homes when it is built and that he had personally addressed each of the objections he had been notified of, with his proposed design not affecting any neighbouring views and within the floor-space ratio for the area.

Landlord and millionaire property developer Theo Onisforou.

Photo: Katherine Griffiths

"I am not a property vandal," he assured PS, inviting Woodhouse to see his detailed plans of the proposal, though Woodhouse indicated he was "not interested".

WHITLAM'S RETURN

One of Sydney's more intriguing characters has quietly slipped back into town, with PS hearing none other than Andrew "Baci" Whitlam has returned.

Andrew "Baci" Whitlam with Gough Whitlam in 1980.

Photo: Fairfax Media

The former socialite, who changed his surname by deed poll to Whitlam in honour of the former prime minister, the late Gough Whitlam, whom he famously described as his "godfather", once sold imported European clothes at Double Bay boutique Baci Da Roma.

Whitlam was unable to attend his "godfather's" funeral in 2014 as he was still serving prison time for dealing cocaine.

Gough Whitlam's son, Nicholas Whitlam, was at pains to make sure PS was informed that claims his father remained close with Baci in his later years were not accurate: "Gough resided at Lulworth for the last six years of his life. Andrew Whitlam never visited him there and he was never invited to do so."

BIG ON BOLLINGER

Long before Patsy and Edina got hold of it in Absolutely Fabulous, Bollinger was being quaffed by the colonials by the crate-load.

A grand affair: The Bollinger RD 2004 dinner at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Photo: Supplied

On Tuesday night at the Art Gallery of NSW, Bollinger threw a dinner to launch the release of its R.D 2004 (tough gig), but even more interesting was the discovery that the first bottle was imported to Australia in 1901, and the stuff is still being imported by Rob Hirst, a direct descendant of the family that first brought it here.

Eat your heart out James Bond, Australia ranks as Bollinger's third biggest market – per capita – in the world.

Comments disabled

Andrew Hornery

Senior journalist Andrew Hornery is the man behind The Sydney Morning Herald's Private Sydney column. If they are worth knowing about, they are on the PS radar.

Morning & Afternoon Newsletter

Delivered Mon–Fri.