Eco-friendly fashion just got hotter with new Sydney label Monkey & the BrownMan. Whilst the name may confuse you, their threads won’t. Collections consist of a range of unisex basic tees, kids wear and accessories. Inspired by surf culture and contemporary design, Monkey & the BrownMan create all their clothing from 100 percent organic cotton.

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New Eyes Open, sponsored by We Are The Image Makers and Semi Permanent, will feature new work by thirty Australian artists, the majority of whom are emerging artists, with an aim to reinvent and open your eyes to contemporary Australian art. Amongst those showing are Kareena Zerefos, Ben Frost [above] and Jirat James Patradoon. New Eyes Open runs between April 1 and 9 at the aMBUSH Gallery in Sydney’s Waterloo.

Australian designer Ruby Smallbone takes us into the chill of Winter with clockwork pieces and sharp cuts. This Sydney-based label is fast becoming an international hit with its distinct mix of European tailoring and street-inspired style. Ruby Smallbone’s Winter 09 collection proves there is a fine line between art and fashion, creating the perfect fusion of luxury fabrics within a creative and unexpected aesthetic.

These antler pendants are hand-crafted, made in sterling silver, and brought to you by the talented kids at Fuzz Design. They are revolutionizing the way we view hunting and taxidermy: it just got a whole lot more fashionable! Why not wear a piece of reindeer around your neck this Christmas?

Australian street stylers General Pants Co, have come up with their own mentoring project, The Bubble. The Bubble encourages creative souls, from filmmakers to fashion designers, to showcase their talent through the General Pants Co site. From here, the public votes on their favourite work which then has a chance to be featured in General Pants stores, at exhibitions, gigs or readings.

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The Nobody Was Thirsty project is a collaboration between Ivan Kane’s Café W as charity — water — and Australia’s own denim label, Nobody. The campaign aims to sell a signature, not-for-profit T-shirt, with all donations helping to fund the world’s water crisis. The sale of one T-shirt alone can provide two people in Africa with clean drinking water for twenty years, something the majority of us take for granted.

MyPetsQuare loves you, and you will love them too. Two Sydney girls with a desire to design and create form the basis of this label. Vicki Lee and Angelique May-Bennett play with the idea of individualism and the longing to stand out from the crowd. MyPetsQuare can be found lurking in inner-city streets and on the backs of kids dancing the night away. This label is easy to wear (I mean, in the sense that you can throw it on and look good without trying) and it is taking over the Sydney fashion scene one pet lover at a time.

Abstracted geometric forms, peculiar clockwork pieces, and a sense of childhood play; I can’t quite pinpoint why I love the jewellery designs of Sydney creative, Elke Kramer, but I do know that her jewellery is unique and off-beat, yet widely accessible and wearable. Her collections focus on the quirky and undiscovered pockets of society, and Kramer clearly insists on the use of quality materials and craftsmanship. These designs may leave you with puzzled, fascinated expressions as you wonder ‘what exactly am I looking at?’, but be assured that they represent the idiosyncrasies and ideas behind a very creative mind. Elke Kramer’s jewellery is so sought after right now, her collections are gradually being sold around the globe to brighten up any outfit. Each new collection makes me feel like a kid on Christmas day: too many goodies and not enough time!

I breathed a sigh of relief when I first discovered menswear label, Saint Augustine Academy. Since its inception in 2002, the Sydney-based team have risen to cult-status amongst individuals with a keen eye for sophistication and intelligent design. Playing on the lifestyle of a modern rock and roll star, the designers at Saint Augustine Academy are heavily inspired by the rock nouveau ethos that surrounded bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain. Designers Alvin Manalo and Adrian Amores met in the mid-90s whilst studying economics at Macquarie University (not exactly feeling destined for fashion design). As chief designer, Alvin had no fashion design skills before beginning the label, but has since created consistently contemporary and sought-after designs each season.

Abstracted tees with off -centered cuts, tailored tuxedo jackets and skinny denim are key staples of the Academy’s aesthetic. Saint Augustine Academy focuses upon an underlying elegance with a strong emphasis on sharp cuts and unexpected prints. The limited colour palette that the label uses insists upon maintaining the rock star lifestyle in darker, night-life tones. The latest collection to come from the Academy is Psycho Candy 08/09. All I can say, is boys beware; this could change your outlook on fashion, in a very good way.

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