Best Dressed

Deni Todorović (they/them) is a queer content creator, activist, creative director, podcast host, former celebrity stylist and former fashion editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. They have worked in fashion for more than a decade, including at mastheads such as British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan UK and for luxury brands Net-a-Porter and Burberry. As a content creator they have also collaborated with local and international brands ranging from American Express, Fenty Beauty, Levi’s and Sephora to Kmart, Camilla, The Body Shop and The Iconic. They are proudly a part of the global movement to de-gender fashion, as was displayed through their work as creative and fashion director for the opening show of 2021’s Melbourne Fashion Week. Deni continues to carve out their own space on social media to inform, inspire and educate their audience around gender identity, pronouns and self-expression via fashion, leading always with the values of empathy, love and kindness. They also host a weekly fashion podcast for the Mamamia network, titled What Are You Wearing?

Gregory Ladner is one of Australia’s most enduring fashion designers, having produced for markets in his home country, Europe and Asia over a career spanning more than four decades. As a boy he designed outfits for his teddy and as a teenager he dressed his mother and the neighbours. He went on to study fashion at Swinburne University before starting his career working for the legendary Melbourne establishment, Le Louvre, at the “Paris End” of Collins Street. Having risen to become one of Australia’s leading couturiers, he was head-hunted to revive the failing fortunes of Hong Kong’s luxury fashion house Shanghai Tang. Today, Gregory is the creator and designer of the hugely successful fashion accessory company that bears his name, with his distinctive millinery particularly sought after by women. A Boy and His Bear is Gregory’s first book. He lives in Melbourne.

Carody Culver is the editor of Griffith Review. Her writing has appeared in Kill Your Darlings, Peppermint, Books+Publishing, The Toast and elsewhere. Her chapbook, The Morgue I Think the Deader it Gets, was published by Cordite in 2022. She’s interviewed writers and public figures including Grace Tame, Jonathan Franzen, Waleed Aly, Clementine Ford, Anna Funder and Cory Doctorow.