Category Archives: Australian fashion

Matildas jerseys outsell past editions 13 to 1, as Australian fans clamour for more merchandise

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Unprecedented merchandise sales have led to major stockists running low. Here’s how to buy Matildas merch, or make your own to dress the part

There has been a run on all things green and gold this week in Australia, after the Matildas’ streak of victories in the Women’s World Cup.

Nike said that there has been “record breaking” demand for the team jersey, with this year’s outselling the 2019 World Cup’s edition 13 to one. More Matildas jerseys have been sold in Australia in the past three months than before, during and after any previous tournament.

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Bras fit for burying: Australia to set a world-first standard for composting textiles

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Australia has a 227,000 tonne a year fashion waste problem, but thanks to a lingerie designer’s campaign, some of it could soon rot productively

Australians could be the first people in the world to confidently compost their worn out clothing, thanks to a campaign led by a lingerie entrepreneur.

For the last 18 months, Stephanie Devine of the Very Good Bra has worked with sustainability experts, academics and industry to create a proposal for Standards Australia: a technical specification for compostable textiles.

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‘I’m not humble’: Artist Ken Done delivers colourful speech as 2022 Australian fashion laureate

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The painter known for his vivacious Australiana prints accepted the award with a 10-minute speech that elicited laughter and some uncomfortable silences

Ken Done, the artist known for his riotously colourful Australiana paintings and prints, has been named the Australian fashion laureate for 2022. The lifetime achievement award honours individuals for their significant contribution to the Australian fashion industry.

“I’m not humble, fuck it,” Done said upon receiving the award at a ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday.

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G-strings in the mist: ‘You wouldn’t expect Jane Goodall to be fronting a campaign for underwear’

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Renowned primatologist ‘had a laugh’ at the idea she’d be surrounded by models wearing Australian bamboo fabric brand Boody

Underwear-clad models stand in a rainforest, surrounded by ferns. Sunlight shines through the morning mist. “Humans,” intones renowned primatologist Dr Jane Goodall. “What unusual animals we are.”

As the camera pans over a closeup shot of a male model’s boxer briefs, the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees says, “It’s a big job making our world a better place, but getting started? Well, that’s as easy as changing your underwear.”

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‘We are changing the narrative’: meet the new faces of Australian fashion week

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After a year of radical upheaval, the country’s premier fashion event will look very different in 2021

Australian fashion week was ready for a change in late 2019. Before a global pandemic irrevocably changed the fashion industry, live events and just about everything else, the week’s organisers had already announced a significant shift: the public would be able to buy tickets to what was previously a trade-only event.

Last year’s shows did not go on, but IMG, the global events company that runs Australian fashion week, is optimistic about the 2021 edition. Barring public health emergencies, the event will begin on 31 May.

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Beyoncé looked glorious on my magazine cover. ‘Are you going to lighten her skin?’ my boss asked

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Being urged to retouch then re-retouch the singer’s photo left Justine Cullen shaken. In this extract from her new book she recalls the ‘cookie cutter’ cycle her industry was trapped in

I stood and knocked tentatively on my publisher’s office door, holding a printout of my latest cover gingerly in my fingertips. The cover I held in my sweaty hands this time was Beyoncé, and she looked … well, she looked like Beyoncé. She looked perfect.

The publisher held the cover in her hands and looked at it approvingly. “It’s wonderful,” she said, nodding. I gave a relieved little sigh and turned to leave the room. But, just as I got to the door, she glanced back up from her computer screen and piped up, nonchalantly, as though having an afterthought: “Are you going to make her skin a little lighter?”

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Dopamine dressing: Australian fashion insiders on the clothes that make them happiest

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Feelgood fashion from a ‘pro-science, pro-Dolly’ T-shirt to a ‘surprisingly powerful’ necktie

The idea of ‘dopamine dressing’ – wearing clothes that make you feel happier, has been around for several years, but it has reached new heights of relevance in 2021 as we continue to go out less, and feel rotten more often.

Feelgood clothes are often reduced to aesthetics – pieces that are bright, poppy or overtly joyful. But an outfit doesn’t have to scream happiness in order to provoke it.

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