THE FEMININITY OF FUTURISM BY MIA RANKIN, FREDDIE FREDERICKS AND BIANCA FARMAKIS
Inspired by women who embody a femininity and attitude that exists outside the bounds of earth, Photographer, Mia Rankin and Stylist, Freddie Fredericks capture the otherworldliness of futurism and mythology championed by female icons of popular culture.
TRUE TO FORM – A PROJECT WITH BASSIKE BY DAN GOODE
When Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan co-founded Bassike in 2006 their intention was pure and without precedent - high-quality basics, honestly made. The brand name’s creative play on ‘basic’ would set the tone for the product; an offering that added interest, and integrity, to everyday essentials.
PAPER SHOP BY DANIEL GOODE
Daniel Goode takes us inside the eccentric and chaotically beautiful paper shop run by Augustine Muela Peres’ in Newtown, Sydney. Bianca Farmakis unpacks some of his ideas for 2022 and beyond.
THE ENDURING ALLURE OF THE SHIMMERING SILVER SCREEN
There’s a cathartic feeling watching a film affords. Be it the promise of unparalleled creativity, a sweet story that boasts enduring emotional impacts, or the simple joy of being bathed in the technicoloUred lights of a fantasy world that we somehow relate to, escapism and human intrigue has be transfixed by the cinematic world for decades. Bianka Farmakis reviews the best of Melbourne International Film Festival.
COME TOGETHER – A PROJECT WITH AJE BY LUKE SCHUETRUMPF
Inspired by the notion that the best creative pursuits are born from the melding of creative forces, nuanced with sentiments of opulence and eccentricity, Aje partners with SIDE-NOTE to honour 'Provenance' and the ritual of the dining table, a centrepiece for the meeting of minds. To mark the launch of the Colombe d’Or inspired, Provenance collection, Karla Clarke catches up with co founders Adrian Norris and Edwina Forest.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: JILLIAN NGUYEN
With a feature film and hit TV series already under her belt, and several more projects in the pipeline, Melbourne based Jillian Nguyen is a powerhouse performer. Ted Min captures Nguyen on the streets of her hometown for SIDE-NOTE’s PEOPLE OF NOTE series.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: MEG MAC BY ROBBIE FIMMANO
Emerging from her self-imposed hiatus with one buried album, one new album, and a fresh sense of direction, Mac finally feels back in control. SIDE-NOTE caught up with Meg Mac as she prepared for her Sydney Opera House performance, the final of her sold out national tour.
COMING OF AGE BY ANNABEL NEWLAND
Annabel Newland unpacks the idea of a coming of age and romanticised nostalgia, questioning if these youth milestones really hold the same gravitas that we are conditioned to believe.
“IT” BY DAPHNE NGUYEN AND ISABELLE TRUMAN
“Throughout history, certain women have captivated society, influencing artists, designers, musicians and the masses long before Instagram created an economy out of it. But defining exactly what it' is about these It Girls is no easy feat”, writes Isabelle Truman. Daphne Nguyen shoots New Zealand born Ch’lita in “IT” for Edition N°15, IDEATE.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: MEGAN MACKENZIE AND CATHERINE VĂN-DAVIES
Commercial surfing has long been epitomised by a masculine bravado and an air of nonchalance. Theatre veteran Catherine Văn-Davies, and newcomer Megan MacKenzie inject new life to the story of 70s Australian surf culture in ABC’s Barons. Lensed by Julian Schulz, interview by Annabel Newland.
BASKING IN THE SUNROOM BY BIANCA FARMAKIS
Bianca Farmakis sheds light on Sunroom, a female-led, sex positive subscription-based platform that explores the freedom of sexually liberated content and the resulting empowerment of previously censored conversations and careers.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: BOYS OF BARONS BY ROBBIE FIMMANO
Exploring 1970s Australia, a time categorised by fluidity, free-love and rebellion, Barons is a television series that charts the tension between two friends on the precipice of billion-dollar success, and the idea of a chosen family. SIDE-NOTE sits down with Lincoln Younes, Ben O’Toole, Alexander England and Kick Gurry - friends, former house mates and co-stars.
A FRESH TAKE BY NICOLE BENTLEY
There is something energising about discovery, the sheer thrill of the new that breaks from the norm and ushers ideas out of thin air. Nicole Bentley captures fresh faces Evie Ashby and Eva Hardwick and talks to Tatiana Farley on the genesis of her process.
CONSCIOUS SELF – A PROJECT WITH CHANEL BEAUTY BY DARREN MCDONALD
A departure from excess and artifice, a feeling for the future and a reverence for the au naturale — CHANEL sets its sights high as its cultivates a change in atmosphere with the new, enduring beauty of No.1.
THE PURSUIT OF EASE BY GRACE O’NEILL AND HOLLY GIBSON
For the last two years we haven’t been in the throes of war, but at times it’s felt close. The idea that in amongst that chaos we should still spend time seeking out pleasure for pleasure’s sake
LAST ONES STANDING BY DAN ROBERTS AND ANNA VIDOVIĆ
Fast fashion is not sustainable. In truth, our perpetual pursuit of the new is about as sustainable as coal. However, many of us are using this knowledge to make more virtuous choices about how and where we shop. Our future is hardly bleak or unexciting. Quite the opposite. It is hopeful. It is honest and full of integrity.
MIND YOURSELF BY JACQUI LEWIS
A key aspect of evolution relevant to our modern world and the current digital landscape is the often missed art of being present. Our conditioning in modern society comes from workaholics addicted to social media, who fail to prioritise their emotional, physical and spiritual health. However, we can individually change this, increasing our capacity for clarity, creativity and joy, and finding a more sustainable way of being and doing.
LOST ROMANCE BY JAMIE HEATH, ADY NESHODA AND ISABELLE TRUMAN
‘90s nostalgia is more prominent than ever. But, more often than not, rewatching the rom-coms that permeated our culture in our most formative years leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Stories matter—and the way they’re told and who’s telling them influences our society more than we realise.
EN ARRIÈRE, EN AVANT- A PROJECT WITH THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET AND CHANEL
With exclusive access to the company’s archives—established with the assistance of Chanel—Side-Note and Darren McDonald travel through the last six decades of The Australian Ballet.
A BROKEN SYSTEM BY ISABELLE TRUMAN
If a young woman isn’t safe in the very building created to house those entrusted to keep young women like her safe, it’s clear there’s a huge systemic problem. Now that Brittany Higgins has opened up the Me Too conversation in Australia, where do we go from here?
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Gretta Ray
To call Gretta Ray’s career charmed would do a disservice to the years of effort she has exerted in pursuit of her goal. But magic? Well, there’s a certain dose of that present, a dash of pixie dust she carries around on her shoulder and let’s find its way into every encounter.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Chanel Contos
Chanel Contos is taking on Australia’s antiquated approach to consent education—and winning. Side-Note catches up with a true woman of note.
PAS DE DEUX – A PROJECT WITH CHANEL BY DARREN MCDONALD AND GRACE O’NEILL
In celebration of Chanel’s living heritage partnership with the Australian Ballet, Side-Note joins forces with prima ballerina Amber Scott and photographer Darren McDonald.
RETURN TO COUNTRY BY CHARLEE FRASER AND NICOLE BENTLEY
Model and First Nation Fashion + Design ambassador Charlee Fraser discusses her poignant, transformative journey of cultural discovery.
WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE BY ISABELLE TRUMAN
When it comes to the way we view and respond to cases of violence against women, our response is overwhelmingly influenced by the way the story is told to us through media and the language used to describe the occurrence. For too long, words have discretely shifted the blame from the perpetrator onto the victim. But used correctly, words can be a political force.
MALLORCAN YOUTH CULTURE BY BEN MORRIS
Ben Morris documents Mallorcan youth culture, exploring with Nina Cohen, what it is like growing up in and being in that stage of life where all ideas are exciting and possibilities are endless, on an island with such a schizophrenic personality.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Gabrielle Penfold in partnership with Emma Lewisham
A modern woman in many ways (Penfold’s break, and subsequent momentum has been helped along by social media), the 27 year old is quick to affirm her reverence for tradition, preferring to sell her work by way of galleries rather than DM’s. Instagram has proved a seminal and ongoing asset to her commercial success, and yet, Penfold is adamant “I don’t want to be an influencer, I want to be an artist.”
SEX, LIES, AND RED TAPE BY GRACE O’NEILL
Instagram’s increasingly strict “community guidelines” have been slowly pushing sex workers and sex educators off its platform. It’s the latest Silicon Valley scandal to call into question who gets to decide which voices we see and hear online.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson Jr
When we catch Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson—breakout stars of the breakout Australian dramedy Bump—they’re on the Pacific Highway, headed back from a four-day short film shoot on New South Wales’ South Coast. In person, the pair mirror the same easy chemistry that has made Bump such a blockbuster success. The series—a Stan original created by Australian TV veteran Claudia Karvan—broke viewing records within days of its January release. It was quickly renewed for a second season. The story hinges around a ‘will-they won’t-they’ love story between teenagers Oly and Santi (Morris and Sanson), who are in their final year of high school when their lives are upended by Oly’s cryptic pregnant—a phenomena in which women don’t know they are pregnant until they give birth.
STAND FOR SOMETHING – ZIGGY RAMO BY VANESSA SWEDÉRUS, RHYS RIPPER AND GRACE O’NEILL
Ziggy Ramo recorded his year-defining album, Black Thoughts, in 2015 — but he held on to it for five years, told by the music industry that an Australian public so in denial about their own racist past (and present) couldn’t handle its contents. On May 25th, as a global race reckoning began to take shape, he uploaded the album in full —it’s gone on to be dubbed the most important Australian album of 2020. Grace O'Neill spends an hour in conversation with the magnanimous rapper.