Style Stories with Madeleine Park

In episode 2 of season 9 I chat with Rachel Rutt, model, artist and designer of cult knitwear & crochet label, Rutt Australia. While Rachel may be a familiar face, gracing the pages of all the style glossies, fashion hasn’t always come naturally. Like her craft her story is an inter-twined web of diverse experiences leading her to a site of substance and style but always circling back to a place that respects and reveres the beauty of nature. Whether she’s foraging in a rural commune, weaving on a wool farm or basking in the beauty of the beach, Rachel has mastered the art of knitting the practical with the pleasing and it’s her style to do it with colour and free-flowing charm.

In episode 1 of season 9 I chat with Lucianne Tonti, Fashion Editor of The Saturday Paper, Closet Clinic columnist for The Guardian and proud author of her newly released book, Sundressed. For Lucianne, fashion is not only beautiful but also serious business and she uses both her writing and her rhetoric to elucidate the significant systems that can move our thinking past just a buzzword of sustainability. Through her exploration of regenerative farming, understanding of our clothing’s origin stories and advocacy of natural fibres, Lucianne sheds light onto her serious reverence for nature, her solemn respect for history and of course her sensational style.

While I’m interested in the frontiers defining the future of fashion, it’s necessary to acknowledge a certain responsibility to and respect for the landscape of our past.

Season 9 aims to understand the context our clothing has to our climate, our culture and our country and in a world where fashion moves fast, examine how we can move forward and find a sense of self back in nature.

This series will continue to share stories of creative people with a strong sense of style, but with a grounded group of talented fashion professionals who share in their ability to work with nature as well as nurture and nourish it.

I hope you can sit back, relax and help explore Season 9: Our Fashion Landscape

The final episode for season 8 is the live broadcast of Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future which took place as part of the Vivid Sydney festival on June the 7th at the UTS Great Hall. In keeping with the spirit of Vivid, I hosted a panel conversation with the type of game changers and tastemakers that have peppered past Style Stories seasons and continue to inspire ingenuity and imagination, namely Nina Fitzgerald, Zoltan Csaki and Maggie Zhou. Together we respectfully dissected the future of fashion examining everything from connection to Country to what we will wear in the meta verse paying heed to the past by recognising our lessons gained and the lessons to be learnt. In a bid to discuss the meaningful movements shaping the future of the Australian fashion industry including First Nations representation, sustainability and slow fashion practices, and the role technology can play to move best practices forward, I hope this episode helps you seek change, sparks a new idea or just inspires you to shine.

I hope from this episode you get a sense of the emotion, the joy and the inspiration this special evening held, not only for me but for all the stylish people in the room. The lead up was certainly a Vivid ride bought together with the help of all the forward-thinking talent that made this event come to light, and who were the heart and soul of this Vivid Idea. If you weren’t able to make it and want to get a little more slice of the action please go to Instagram or YouTube to watch some clips and reels that help capture the light and spark of the evening. And if you’re seeking a little more light and little more spark when it comes to meaningful fashion, listen out for season 9 where I interview some of the creative talent who are consciously shaping the Australian fashion landscape through a climate of change and of course their inspiring Style Stories.

In episode 5 of Season 8, I chat with Marnie Gerber, professional Hair & Make-Up Artist who led the creative direction of the performer’s beauty looks for the Vivid event, Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future. Fashion may have been a defining part of Marnie’s upbringing however it’s Hair and Make Up that’s taken her creative hand. And despite seeing the two as intrinsically linked and actively using fashion as a bold form of self expression, being a self-confessed moody dresser whose not afraid of a Jenny Kee knit, it’s Marnie’s effervescent ease and her natural ability to elicit beauty that have come to define her stand out style.

In episode 4 of season 8, I sit down with Fashion Designer, Nicole Oliveria, who was the Head Dresser and my general right-hand woman for our Vivid event, Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future. From the moment Nicole dropped into my inbox, I knew she would be integral to the project not only because she happens to design the coolest collection of up-cycled clothes but because she always gives careful consideration to history, identity and culture to both her style and her story. Shaped by her Filipino heritage and her Western Sydney upbringing, her sustainable methodologies and modern aesthetic not only promise hope for a future of circular fashion but as a designer, make her one to watch. Oh and she’s an absolute joy to be around, with a heart of gold and can nerd out or cry over all the little fashion details just like the best of us.

In episode 3 of season 8 I chat with Jodie Welsh-Choolburra, founder of Brolga Dance Academy and multi-disciplinary creative working across First Nation’s arts, culture and politics. Jodie is leading the choreography for the Vivid event, Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future and testament to her title of Mama Jodes, she’s paved the way with constant care and clever consideration. Seeing her self as a woman walking in two worlds, that of her proud Gamillori and Murrwarri heritage and that of her inner city upbringing, Jodie’s style has an urban edge whilst always paying homage to her aboriginal roots. Never one to follow trends but always one to dream big, Jodie is a true original and it’s her style to let that shine.

In episode 2 of season 8, I chat with Hayley Pigram, urban Aboriginal artist represented by the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative. Hayley handmade each unique artwork, made from lights, which have been integrated into the up-cycled fashion collection featured in the Vivid event, Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future. While Hayley’s use of bright colours and desire to work with unusual art mediums naturally align her to this project, it’s her story of being a modern woman with an ancient heritage that has been the most poignant point of connectivity. Hayley’s sustainable fashion choices may often be practical in nature, however it’s her style to artfully push boundaries and challenge ideas for both herself and others. And it’s this desire for continuous development that sees Hayley’s confidence rise in the demonstration of her style and the telling of her story.

In episode 1 of season 8, I chat with Nina Fitzgerald, multi-disciplinary Creative Director and Writer, who is a panel speaker at the Vivid event, Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future. As a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman Nina speaks articulately to the movements defining Indigenous identity and representation in both the fashion industry and the arts but it’s her wonderful ways with words and her ability to tell a story that makes her style so compelling. While Nina’s natural style errs on the side of comfort, her fresh take on fashion ensures there’s always something unique to see and always an interesting story to tell.

If my objective was to venture Style Stories into more visual and event-based mediums, what better than to land a place in the Vivid Sydney festival.

Honoured to be hosting Fashion’s Flash: Back to the Future as part of the festival, Season 8 shares the style and stories of the forward-thinking talent who have joined me on the journey of producing this event which will take place on June the 7th at the UTS Great Hall in Sydney.

This series will continue to share stories of creative people with a strong sense of style, but with a vivid team of talent who are united by their can-do stories and dream-big styles.

I hope these stories help seek change, spark a new idea or just inspire you to shine.