Lauren Sams

Sydney

Editor, Fin Magazine at Australian Financial Review

Fashion editor @financialreview.

Articles

Vapes are knock-off cigarettes. Fashion insiders should know better

1 week ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statementThe worst thing you can accuse a fashion person of is being unoriginal. Ripping off other people’s ideas – and even worse, doing a terrible job of it – is the stuff of nightmares for those who consider themselves at the coalface of creativity. So I guess I just don’t get how vapes – the ersatz cigarette, the pretend lung dart – have infiltrated fashion so thoroughly.
Tina and Michael Elias’ Upparel sparks recycling revolution

1 week ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statementTina and Michael Elias never set out to revolutionise recycling. When they started their first business, they had their sights set on one clear goal: to provide socks, every month, to a loyal membership base. It was the country’s first sock subscription service, and for the husband-and-wife team, it was a surprise hit business.
Sydney-based recycling start-up Samsara Eco signs 10-year deal with Lululemon

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Sydney-based recycling start-up Samsara Eco has inked a 10-year deal with leisurewear giant Lululemon to provide it with 20 per cent of its fibres for use across its collections. The agreement represents the most significant chapter in the emerging partnership between the Australian recycler and the Nasdaq-listed leggings specialist. Loading...
Frank Green CEO Ben Young’s secrets to morning success

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Jun 12, 2025 – 5.00amGift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginWhat time do you wake up? Around 5am. My wife Jane has never, to my knowledge, skipped a Pilates session. She wakes me as she’s leaving. Loading...
This elusive fashion designer is finally stepping into the spotlight

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statementRachel Gilbert doesn’t do the Sydney social scene. You won’t find her at long lunches or at the opening of a new bar. In fact, she’s barely been a presence at Australian Fashion Week, showing just once in the 20-year history of her eponymous brand. She rarely gives interviews and has a private Instagram account. Yet the Sydney-based designer is one of the country’s most successful fashion exports.
What’s the difference between $40 jeans and $400 jeans?

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statementQuestion | I recently splurged and bought myself an expensive pair of jeans. I really like them but I’m curious – why is some denim priced so high and some dirt cheap? In my local Kmart, jeans can cost as little as $15. Why – and how! – do some brands charge hundreds of dollars? Is it really better quality, and how do I know I’m getting what I pay for? – Denim DilemmaLoading...
Mecca Brands revenues up 25pc to $1.2b but profits stay flat

3 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Jun 5, 2025 – 12.35pm or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Mecca Brands, Australia’s largest cosmetics retailer, which has ambitions to build the world’s most beloved beauty destination, has reported a 25 per cent rise in revenues to $1.2 billion.
From Young Talent Time to Carmen: opera star names her style favourites

3 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Jun 5, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Melbourne-born Danielle de Niese took out Young Talent Time at nine. Now 45, she is hailed as the “world’s coolest soprano”. Holed up in her literal castle, England's Glyndebourne country estate and opera house, she is preparing for her first Australian role in seven years, in Opera Australia’s Carmen.
Why suits made of seaweed are the next trend in menswear

3 weeks ago | afr.com | Lauren Sams

Jun 4, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Matt Jensen says there’s “too much product” in the world – an intriguing perspective for someone who’s tasked with selling more of it. The founder and CEO of menswear company MJ Bale is on a mission, though, to create “a defensible mode for creation”. “I know I have too much stuff,” he says. “We all do.
Health and fitness habits of the wealthy including Cameron Adams, Bella Geminder, Vikas Rambal, Sam Kroonenburg, Lorna Jane Clarkson

1 month ago | afr.com | Yolanda Redrup |Lauren Sams

May 27, 2025 – 4.45am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Data from afr.com shows there are two types of stories that reliably draw you in, dear readers: what Rich Listers are up to, and anything to do with wellness.