NewsBite

Lauren Sams

This Month

The Stanley cup was a popular purchase during this year’s Black Friday sales.

The brands Gen Z wants to buy – but they don’t know it yet

Everything old is new again when fashion brands resurrect familiar favourites.

It’s cold. You need a puffer jacket. Is there an option that looks good?

It’s cold. You need to rug up. Is there an option that looks good and protects?

New Harrolds directors Arasch Enayat, Zia Khorram and Gino Pagano, with store manager Guillaume Lacroux.

Luxury department store Harrolds is back from the dead

After closing suddenly in 2024, the much-loved luxury store lives to see another day, thanks to two former employees who have resurrected the business.

June

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine is stepping down from the role.

Anna Wintour is stepping down from US Vogue. What next?

The legendary editor has been a formidable and unstoppable force in fashion for the last 37 years. Can anyone match her impact?

How long did it take Chanel to make these jewels? About 7000 years

High jewellery is known for its loud, sparkling stones. But Chanel’s latest launch speaks volumes with its millennia-old techniques.

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The designer who made the leggings you probably wear

Ten years ago, Antonia Iamartino created the Align design for Lululemon. It took the athleisure label from the studio to the street – and everywhere else.

Just like dupe fashion is often veiled, vapes are used sneakily, hidden beneath clawed hands and speedily chugged down.

Vapes are knock-off cigarettes. Fashion insiders should know better

How have vapes – the ersatz cigarette, the pretend lung dart – infiltrated fashion so thoroughly?

Upparel founders, Tina and Michael Elias, created the business to combat both the impact of overconsumption and the reality of our working lives.

How socks sparked a recycling revolution

Upparel has won the Sustainability Leaders award for the manufacturing and consumer goods category for changing the concept of textile recycling in Australia.

Lululemon is a leading leisure and sportswear maker.

Your new Lululemon gear could use recycled plastic from this start-up

In a new deal, around 20 per cent of Lululemon’s fibres will come from Sydney-based recycling start-up Samsara Eco.

Frank Green founder Ben Young at Clementine in South Melbourne.

This CEO wakes at 5am, but doesn’t get in to work till 10am

Ben Green is the creator of Frank Green, known for its sleek reusable water bottles. He starts his day with his “emotional support dog” Charlie.

What’s the difference between $40 jeans and $400 jeans?

We find out what you’re really paying for when it comes to denim.

Rachel Gilbert with a selection of her event gowns.

This elusive fashion designer is finally stepping into the spotlight

Rachel Gilbert doesn’t crave the limelight, but she’s found fans in Taylor Swift and Julie Bishop. For her 20th anniversary, she gives us a rare interview.

Mecca Brands revenues up 25pc to $1.2b but profits stay flat

The strong revenue increase for calendar 2023 was offset by expenses growing by a similar percentage.

Danielle de Niese at home in Glyndebourne, East Sussex.

From Young Talent Time to Carmen: opera star names her style favourites

At home in her English castle, Australian soprano Danielle de Niese is every inch the diva.

Matt Jensen, founder and CEO of MJ Bale, wearing the blazer made from the wool of sheep fed seaweed.

The next trend in menswear? This unusual jacket

The Australian company at the forefront of sustainable clothing has a new climate-conscious jacket made using seaweed – and the firm has global expansion plans.

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May

Matt Heine in his home gym. “Routine is essential. Making sure I find time to stay fit, enjoy downtime and, most importantly, get enough quality sleep is critical.”

From normal to nuts, the fitness habits of top entrepreneurs

Personal trainers aplenty, at-home Pilates studios and full-body scans put the “well” into wealthy.

The choices are pretty much exactly what you’d expect to find when you type in “party dress” to a search engine that doesn’t know you.

ChatGPT is coming for your shopping cart

Would you allow an AI assistant to pull together your wardrobe purchases?

CJ Hendry: “I don’t have a definitive answer about where we go when we die. That’s OK. I’d rather not know.” Illustration by Sam Bennett

It’s all about the jazz and memories for this creative artist

Provocative prize-winning artist CJ Hendry wants to go out with a negroni, a jazz band . . . and no readings.

Ginger & Smart’s runway show at the Australian Fashion Week in 2021.

Ginger & Smart’s future uncertain after private equity fire sale

Alquemie has offloaded the high-profile womenswear label for a token amount at the same time as selling the remaining assets of online retailer SurfStitch.

Australian Fashion Week 2025.

The best (and worst) of Australian Fashion Week reborn

All eyes were on Carriageworks this week as the industry scrambled to create a new event after major sponsor IMG pulled out. Did it work?

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/lauren-sams-h1bzh6