Welcome to the first issue of Lost and Found Volume II, an email publication offering an inside view of Melbourne's creative people and places, and the first word on events to set the city buzzing from June to September.

To celebrate the launch of Lost and Found Volume II, all current and new subscribers have the chance to win a Melbourne escape for two valued at $2,850. Sound good? Then CLICK HERE.

Kim Jones is a UK menswear designer who has earned a worldwide cult following for his futuristic-yet-refined ranges. Since 2003 he has shown at London Fashion Week, Paris Men's Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. He has exhibited at the Museum of London, and worked as an art director / stylist for Dazed and Confused, Numero Homme, Another Magazine and the New York Times. As you would expect, he is also a DJ. Kim visited Melbourne this year, presented an awesome runway show on the roof of Curtin House, played a set at the opening night of Roxanne Parlour and spoke to us about his favourite spots in town.

Swanston Street's southern stretch features spruikers, two-dollar shops and, somewhat unexpectedly, the artistic beehive of the Nicholas Building. Lured in by the Cathedral Arcade's ornate leadlighting, visitors soon meet the charming lift ladies (and suave lift man) and realise they're onto something. The building houses a large community of artists, jewellers, tailors, milliners and designers. The corridors invite meandering exploration and there's plenty to visit, from artist-run gallery Blindside to secondhand clothing heaven Retrostar. Downstairs, independent fashion hub Alice Euphemia stocks work by numerous Nicholas locals.

The Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston St, Melbourne
Blindside, Lvl 7, Rm 14, The Nicholas Building, tel: (03) 9650 0093
Retrostar Vintage Clothing, Lvl 1, The Nicholas Building, tel: (03) 9663 1223
Alice Euphemia, Shp 6, Cathedral Arcade, tel: (03) 9650 4300

We might talk about the 'Paris End' of Collins Street, but Little Collins, with its profusion of thimble-sized bistros, winding arcades and boutiques, has froggy charm of its own. At Marais, where footsteps echo like champagne toasts on the parquetry floor, you can browse avante-garde favourites Preen, Blaak and Balenciaga, as well as Melbourne wunderkinds Dhini and Toni Maticevski. A few steps down the street, Little Salon boasts an assemblage of baubles and bibelots from more than 80 (mainly local) designers. Drop in for hand-printed homewares, a zoo of animal jewellery from in-house label Love, and clothes for the sartorially superior infant.

Marais, Lvl 1, Royal Arcade, 314 Little Collins St, Melbourne, tel: (03) 9639 0314
Little Salon, Shp 1, 353 Little Collins St, Melbourne, tel: (03) 9670 6996

According to many a glossy mag, this winter's vital accessory is not the pom-pom beanie or the armless fringed poncho, but rather the humble scarf. From June 28 to July 7, Craft Victoria's annual Melbourne Scarf Festival will be where it's at for original neck warmers. This year's festival, entitled SPIN, will feature exhibitions, forums, knitting circles and practical workshops focusing on experimentation with threads. Satellite venues include the CAE, the Cleggs city store, Workshop It in Prahran, Kitty O'Kane Contemporary Arts Space in Ivanhoe, and Monash Caulfield. Paying tribute to the tribal and technological life of scarves (who knew?), this free, ten-day event will reinstate the scarf as an integral fashion piece.

The 2007 Melbourne Scarf Festival: SPIN, Thursday June 28 - Saturday July 7. Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, tel: (03) 9650 7775

Many people can be seen roaming Melbourne's streets these days with a certain little book in hand. On occasion, these readers are so engrossed they end up colliding with the very architectural works they are supposed to be admiring. The Melbourne Design Guide has been out since November last year and, despite the risk to book-worm pedestrians, is already on its second print run. Covering the gamut of the city's creative output - from architecture to design products, jewellery, craft, design press, even bars - the guide leads people on a design-focused tour of Melbourne. Thus, of course, its perfect companion is a podcast.

From mid June, download the first Melbourne Design Guide Pod Tour here. Expect behind-the-scenes insights and a foot tour of Melbourne's hidden design treasures. (And watch where you're going.)

It has been said that the smell of baking bread can melt the hardest of hearts and loosen the tightest of purse strings. Combine this with the promise of good espresso and you have highly alert customers who are possibly in love with you. Melbourne's Con Christopoulos has achieved this and more with his new Commercial Bakery. The man who brought us Degraves Espresso, Syracuse and The Melbourne Supper Club is now bringing us bread. And coffee - from a pair of manual, three lever, Victoria Arduino machines. Out the back is a huge bakery, in front is a cafe with communal tables where people bathe in the glow of the bread ovens, eating gourmet sandwiches. Not at all a half-baked plan.

It was always tempting to run away and join the circus. But what if you took away the suspected animal cruelty and scary clowns and replaced them with hoola-hoops, patent leather heels and feathers? Resistance would be nigh-on futile.

Red Door Burlesque plays out weekly at The Order of Melbourne, featuring the Hi Ball Burlesque troupe, trapeze aerialists, cabaret acts, and hoola hoopers (sometimes on roller skates). Dressing up is not mandatory, but you'll likely be hankering for a headdress and satin bloomers after sampling three or four Red Door cocktails.

Forget dinner and a movie. Book a table for a date that walks the highwire between innocence and raunch. On every Sunday from 6pm - 11pm, entry is $15.

The Order of Melbourne, Lvl 2, 401 Swanston St, Melbourne, tel: (03) 9663 6707

It's not literally a 'skybus' (in as much as it does not travel in the sky), however it does get people to Melbourne Airport from the city in twenty minutes, which is faster than many an airborne craft could manage. The Skybus Super Shuttle transfers passengers to and from Melbourne's Southern Cross station 24 hours a day (arriving every 10 - 15 minutes in daylight hours), 365 days a year. For $15 one-way and $24 return, even the flying nun couldn't beat it.

Kim's Visual Diary
Click below to discover Kim's Melbourne journey...