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Amazing people

September

Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello typically sells more than $700 million of Melbourne real estate each year.

How Marcus Chiminello became the go-to agent for Melbourne’s wealthy

Marshall White director Marcus Chiminello has broken many records in his career in luxury real estate, but there’s one goal he hasn’t achieved yet.

  • Yolanda Redrup

September 2023

Freddie Mercury and Queen, performing live on stage.

Someone just paid $800,000 for Freddie Mercury’s door

The first auction of the singer’s personal items raised more than $24 million for his former lover and closest friend, Mary Austin.

  • Updated
  • India McTaggart

June 2021

Financial Review journalist Mike Smith with ABC journalist Bill Birtles as they prepared to leave China in September last year.

Five books that reveal Australians’ awkward relationship with China

The expulsion of Michael Smith and Bill Birtles has left Antipodeans blind about life on the streets of the Asian nation, as the authors’ tomes demonstrate.

  • Aaron Patrick

July 2020

Pierre Cardin's designs were futuristic and avant-garde, ushering in a new era for women and fashion.

The man who changed fashion forever

Pierre Cardin was almost Christian Dior's successor. Instead, he founded his own house and broke the mould, a new documentary reveals.

  • Lauren Sams
James Hunt with Elfin at Winton Raceway, Victoria, in 1978.

A fitting tribute to the little Aussie car company that time forgot

There's more to Elfin Sports Cars than just being fabulous race cars or Australia's answer to Lotus, as a stunning new book reveals.

  • Tony Davis
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June 2020

Gordon Murray with his various cars.

The best motoring podcasts to make your commute fun

A return to the office means more time sitting in traffic, but at least car enthusiasts are well catered for in the booming world of podcasts.

  • Tony Davis

May 2020

The 400km/h-plus McLaren Speedtail is the latest car from the manufacturer.

McLaren Group remembers the tragic passing of its brilliant founder

Fifty years after Bruce McLaren's sudden and tragic death in a motoring accident, the company he started remembers its brilliant, fearless leader.

  • Tony Davis
Marc Newson: "I’m not tinkering away designing a new respirator. But I definitely get the sense that it’s a bit of a reset for everyone."

Rethink ‘fundamentally inhumane’ air travel, says Marc Newson

In the current crisis, when inside a plane is the last place many of us would want to be, the famed designer sees an opportunity for airlines.

  • Stephen Todd
Zacaria is an F1 machine for the street.

The Australian-made F1 machine built for the street

The F1-inspired Zacaria road car, made by a self-trained car-builder in country NSW, attracted plenty of interest when it was unveiled in Europe.

  • Tony Davis
Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma and last Vicereine of India, wearing her Chaumet tiara for George VI’s coronation in 1937.

The treasure hunters searching for long-lost royal jewels

An impressive archive of jewellery with intriguing histories can be found in the Paris HQ of Chaumet.

  • Sarah Royce-Greensill
Biossance is looking to science and engineering to create planet-friendly beauty products.

The company changing beauty the way fake meat changed food

Total plant-based skincare, which is environmentally sound, is a big bet. Biossance, founded in conjunction with Bill and Melinda Gates, is hoping it pays off.

  • Lauren Sams
Anna Lahey of Vida Glow on Mother's Day.

Five of the best Mother's Day presents ever

Be it pancakes at home or handmade gifts, five influential women share their favourite Mother's Day gifts – and the ones they’re most proud of giving,

  • Annie Brown

April 2020

Some of the best Mother's Day wines.

The best wines for your mum this Mother's Day

Named in honour of a family matriarch, there's more than meets the eye to a pinot noir from Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

  • Updated
  • Max Allen
Seve Ballesteros wins the British Open at St Andrews, 1984. Jack Nicklaus said of him, "Seve’s impact on the golf world is immeasurable."

Golf, grief and the legacy of Seve Ballesteros as the game pauses

The golf world is on hold until at least September, giving us a chance to remember one of the game's greatest players.

  • Updated
  • Richard Allen

January 2020

The son of eastern European migrants has lived the American dream and created an empire that champions style over fashion.

How Ralph Lauren built his $11b fashion empire

A man defined by his own mythology, Ralph Lauren has, over 52 years of business, managed to pull off nothing less than the American dream.

  • Updated
  • Lauren Sams
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December 2019

“I do not believe in one truth," Neilson says. "There might be 20 truths that make up the story."

AFR Magazine’s most memorable stories of 2019

To celebrate the new year – and the new decade – we revisit 10 significant pieces published in Australia's multi award-winning newspaper magazine.

Soccer commentator and author of Fighting for Hakeem, Craig Foster, at lunch with AFR at Icebergs Dining Room, Bondi.

Craig Foster is thinking of working as a lawyer

The TV soccer analyst who campaigned to free refugee Hakeem Al-Araibi talks about why he's now pondering a career in the law – and maybe politics.

  • Updated
  • Michael Pelly

November 2019

Waller values discretion and says that her relationships enable her to source what nobody else can find. Here, she's photographed at Harrolds, Sydney Westfield.

How Gabriel Waller went from an admin role to shopping for the stars

The Rockhampton-born fashion whisperer sources 'sold out' items for celebrity clients – and she's making a killing.

  • Natalie Reilly

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/amazing-people-1n5u