Katarina Kroslakova. Photography by Pierre Toussaint. Welcome to T Australia’s first Style issue.
Naturally, we have fashion for days. Fans of timeless silhouettes and refined tailoring should turn immediately to page 38 to get their kitten heel on. For those whose tastes run more to the fantastical and the romantic, Levon Baird photographed a (very high-end) dress-up box of fringed and feathered dresses and tactile coats on location in a former milking shed in the Blue Mountains (page 62).
Victoria Pearson profiles the rising Australian designers who unapologetically bring their personal backstories and aesthetics — be it a lifelong familiarity with the rag trade or a love of the Great Aussie Flanno — to bear on their collections (page 78). File under names to know.
We check in with Victoria Beckham in light of the recent upswing in her eponymous label’s fortunes (page 28). And we meet some of the growing cohort of men who proudly wear Miu Miu despite its official status as womenswear (page 46). As one of the brand’s male fans describes, “It is dope to be the guy that’s in the jacket that the average person is like, ‘Oh, that’s Carhartt’, but you know that it’s the one big size from the store of the coolest women’s brand in the world.” You might not know, but they know, and isn’t that the essence of personal style?
It can’t be put in a box, but style can definitely come in one. Case in point: this issue’s watches and jewellery pull-out rounds up the latest pieces that, among other things, conjure a summer breeze at the touch of a button and glow in the dark. No kidding.
Just as style’s dictionary definition covers both appearance and manner, the word can mean both aesthetics and a way of living (I’m carefully avoiding the term “lifestyle”, which has been overused to the point that it’s a weird hybrid of the two). Our columnist Lance Richardson ponders the ethical implications of our collective stylistic choices in the face of the worsening climate crisis (page 44). He writes that he finds himself increasingly buying from op-shops and being more restrained in all areas of his life, down to the places he travels to, and how often.
An especially stubborn factor in the climate situation is food waste — an issue not helped by our absurdly strict beauty standards for ingredients. Kara Hurry profiles the chefs, growers and produce suppliers who are making lemonade from these lemons — or, in the case of the Sydney chef Alex Prichard, limoncello from citrus judged too imperfectly formed to sell. Mona’s executive chef, Vince Trim, advocates for sustainable menus that use other overlooked foodstuffs like deer, an invasive species, and long-spined sea urchin, which is currently ravaging Tasmanian waters.
Sometimes style is a polish that reflects intense thought to improve something. Other times, there’s plenty of thought involved in doing very little, to preserve something that was beautiful already. On page 90 you’ll explore a grand old home in Puglia, Italy, abandoned for half a century, where the amazing heritage elements have been left respectfully in tact throughout a renovation, just as its new owner, the eldest son of the Etro fashion family, likes them. There’s something very Italian about that.
On page 22, our food and drinks writer, Fred Siggins, answers a question on everyone’s lips: why is every second bar to open at the moment Italian? Turns out it has something to do with hospitality, and a lot to do with style.
Katarina Kroslakova — publisher, editor-in-chief
