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 p...

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 sus...

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 wi...

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, name...

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 activel...

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 care...

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...

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 m...

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...

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...

The final episode of season 7 is a live broadcast of the season launch which I hosted at Dulcie’s Kings Cross in conjunction with the Potts Point Partnership and The Glittering Mile Festival . In keeping with the colourful, camp theme of the season, the night was a joyful celebration of self expression and included an interview with local drag queen, and wig & make-up artist extraordinaire, My...

In episode 5 of season 7, I chat with self-proclaimed “creative slashie” Maggie Zhou, who credits the jobs of Writer, Producer, Podcaster and Influencer to her mulit-hyphenated portfolio career. Despite being an influential Gen Z (at the tender age of 22) Maggie’s voice strikes a different chord as she applies an honest, considerate tone to all she does including her clothes. While Maggie may stil...

In episode 4 of season 7, I chat with Nikita Majajas , owner of Doodad and Fandango , the plastique fantastique jewel in the Australian wearable art crown. Nikita’s cult accessories label exudes the essence of camp, with witty quips and subversive icons perfectly placed in flamboyant forms adored by the most fanciful and fiercest of fashionistas. And while Doodad & Fandango may straddle the bl...

In episode 3 of season 7, I chat with Kim Bishop, Costume Designer and relative royalty in the world of Australian theatre. Whilst Kim has worked behind the scenes on all the big shows to grace our stages, think The Boy From Oz, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, it’s Kim’s attention to detail and careful consideration of the subject that makes him the star. When it comes to his charac...

In episode 2 of season 7, I chat with Tim Nicol-Ford, Arts Historian and Creative Director of Nicol & Ford, a demi-couture label they co-direct with their wife Katie-Louise. Tim is a thoughtful, intellectual soul who both in their work and their wear actively seeks to break down understandings of gender as a binary construct. For Tim fashion is a powerful vehicle for self-expression and it’s their...

In episode 1 of season 7 I chat with Deborah Leser , Fabric Artist, Textile Designer and Printmaker. Despite being the daughter of Bernie Leser, the original founder of Vogue Australia, Deborah’s fashion influence stands in her own right with her acclaimed work widely exhibited across Australia, London and New York. Deborah likes to run to the beat of her drum and has a rebellious, full of life sp...

As we step out of lockdown and isolation and we cast the athleisure wear aside, we come into a moment in fashion that celebrates colour and joy. It’s time to express ourselves, it’s time to be seen. So this is Style Stories Series 7, a series which continues to share stories of creative people with a strong sense of style, but with a celebration of colourful and camp styles that asks bigger questi...

This season as we were forced to sit still, I wanted to travel through the stories of people in other places and explore how they were stepping out with a renewed sense of style. But like everyone else I really wanted to step out too! After a difficult socially distanced year the natural extrovert in me was desperate to socialise, interact and experience life outside my own home. So this is the St...

In episode 12 of Style Stories: Stepping Out , I chat with Georgia Macmillan , an Australian Textile Designer living in Dubai. While Georgia’s roots in country Queensland remain proudly close to home, it’s taken a move to the Middle East to see her step into her mother’s footsteps and take her hand to art. Her career otherwise saw stints in news journalism and luxury PR and while she maintains she...

In episode 11 of Style Stories: Stepping Out , I chat with Anna-Lisa Yabsley , Global Digital Strategy Lead & Executive Director of Content Strategy for US Vogue. While Anna-Lisa grew up in Australia and is now based in New York, it’s her parent’s heritage that had the greatest impact on her style. From vintage concert tees to Cary Grant and Slim Aarons references, Anna-Lisa may have turned to...

In episode 10 of Style Stories: Stepping Out , I chat with Celia Dragouni , a Greek fashion designer, whose eponymous fashion label has achieved international success and been seen on the likes of Dree Hemingway, Australia’s own Jess Hart, and even Lindsay Lohan. Celia offers a point of difference to her designs by embedding the performative sparkle of Greek fashion culture to a natural, bohemian...

In episode 9 of Style Stories: Stepping Out , I chat with Juliette Foxx , London-based fashion influencer and designer who is as famous for her pastel pink hair as she is for her vibrant content and character. While Juliette’s London upbringing may have tailored her style, it’s her birthplace of Cameroon that lies at the heart of her story. While she colours her influence with a generous joy for l...

In episode 8 of Style Stories: Stepping Ou t, I chat with Malene Malling , Danish publishing powerhouse and founder of Copenhagen fashion label La Bagatelle. At the tender age of 26, Malene saw herself as  Editor-in-Chief of Elle magazine and has since led the helm of several fashion titles including Costume and her own publication, Cover. Practically Danish royalty in the design and fashion...

from Brooklyn, New York and was literally at the airport about to step on to a flight when we recorded this interview. Eman and I met 5 years ago at New York Fashion Week and I was immediately struck by her strong voice, her generosity of spirit and her iconoclastic style (to give you an indication of what that means - at the time she had paired her hijab with a leather harness). Eman’s style may...

In episode 6 of Style Stories: Stepping Out , I chat with English actress, model and influencer Sophie Porley , best known for her role as Ellie Nightingale on the popular British soap Hollyoaks. Sophie may hail from Essex London, a place where white high heels and fake tans have been typecast as style but there is nothing fake about her. Instead Sophie keeps it real, whether she’s wearing a white...