WELCOME TO ‘Bite-sized style news’, a monthly dispatch where we discuss the news, rumours and conversations that are dominating the men’s style discourse, and therefore, our Esquire water cooler chitchat.

Scroll on for this week’s edition.

Save the date: the Christian Kimber archive sale is coming

We all have our Christmas rituals. For anyone lucky enough to be in Melbourne over the holiday period, theirs should include heading down to Christian Kimber’s flagship store for their annual Boxing Day archive sale.

This summer, the once-a-year event is taking place at their Exhibition Street location in Melbourne’s CBD, kicking off on 26 December and running until stock is exhausted.

Unlike the churn of perpetual discounting elsewhere, this is the only sale Christian Kimber holds annually, and it carries the weight of that restraint. Inside, expect a curated selection of archive and sample pieces drawn from past collections: tailored coats, soft-shouldered jackets, shirting, trousers, footwear, and accessories.

“This is the one moment each year when we open the archive,” Kimber notes. It gives the whole venture the feel of an invitation as opposed to a “sale”. An opportunity to engage with the depth of the brand’s craftsmanship, design language and material intelligence, without compromising its values.

Doors open daily from 9.00am to 5.00pm, and with quantities limited and no further sales planned until next year, early arrival is advised.

Christian Kimber Boxing Day Sale
From 26 December until sold out
242 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Words Benjamen Judd

Hermès brings Country to Sydney’s CBD

Image: courtesy of Hermès

At Hermès Sydney, the windows have been handed over to Country.

For its 2025 theme, Drawn to Craft, the maison invited Bundjalung artist Shaun Daniel Allen, known as SHAL, to create a new artist window installation that unfolds across the heritage façade of their King Street boutique. Titled Of Water, Of Earth, the work draws on a journey to the Northern Territory and SHAL’s time working alongside Aunties Nanuk and Regina Wilson at the Durrmu Art Centre in Peppimenarti, southwest of Darwin.

Inside the glass, dyed and painted textiles ripple through a sculptural rockscape. Small water-filled rockpools cradle Hermès objects. The reference point is both locative and expansive: Sydney’s geology, its proximity to water, and the deeper presence of Country beneath the city’s streets. SHAL’s installation sits in deliberate conversation with the building itself, acknowledging the Gadigal land on which the Hermès Sydney Trust stands.

Image: courtesy of Hermès

“It’s been a major project, a bit terrifying to be honest,” SHAL says. “Once I knew I was getting the window and could spread out, the idea came pretty quickly – of the landscapes of Sydney, the colours, the rock formations and most of Country as a source of inspiration”.

Words Benjamen Judd

And the BOSS Award goes to . . .

Image: courtesy of BOSS
Image: courtesy of BOSS

New York-based Moroccan artist Meriem Bannani has taken home the inaugural BOSS Award for Outstanding Achievement during Art Basel Miami. Known for her video, sound, animation, sculptural and installation works of humorous pop-cultural references, Bennani was celebrated at the art fair for her socially relevant and purpose-driven practice that’s influence extend beyond the art world.

Conferred by BOSS CEO Daniel Grieder and Hugo Boss creative director Marco Falcioni, Bennani shared on the evening, “Supporting artists is vital to fostering creativity and amplifying new or emerging voices, and I am grateful for this platform to further explore the power of art in sparking dialogue and connection. This recognition inspires me to continue creating work that challenges perspectives and celebrates the beauty of collective experiences.”

Words Tyler Dane Wingco

Montblanc wants you to write in its new Chadstone store

montblanc chadstone
Image: courtesy of Montblanc

Writing instrument and leather goods maker Montblanc has built its new Chadstone space around its digital paper. At The Desk, designed by creative director Marco Tomasetta, clients are invited into the interactive writing area to put their pens to the test on the tablet or paper. Other specially designed areas include the leather and gifting wall, a curation of gifting ideas surrounding their elegantly industrial backpacks, satchels, briefcases and accessories to go with their celebrated writing instruments.

Image: courtesy of Montblanc

A staple in their Sydney store, the Collector’s Corner arrives in Chadstone, a library-style space spotlighting niche and rare pens and timepieces. On the wall, a mountainscape by Australian artist Oliver Watts. For the VIPs walking in, fret not, the space is also fitted out with a room just for you, featuring commissioned artworks by First Nations artist Charmaine Davies.

Montblanc Boutique, G208, Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Road, Malvern East VIC 3145

Word by Tyler Dane Wingco

Vaucluse Studios takes Ivy

Photography: Mathias Alexandrou
Photography: Mathias Alexandrou

American style in the ’90s – think baggy silhouettes of the music scene and minimalist, clean lines of the New York fashion world – has been the bread and butter of founder and creative director Keanu Verden’s Vaucluse Studios. Now, for his spring/summer 2025/26 collection, the Brisbane-based designer is looking to the Ivy League schools, specifically the style icons that came out of them, like John F. Kennedy Jr. “I’m drawn to this subculture of native New Yorkers, who inevitably went to Ivy League schools, and their nonchalance of layering a shirt and tie with a polo or rugby knit,” said Verden on his inspiration.

In a new campaign styled by menswear specialist Patrick Zaczkiewicz, the collection features preppy staples you’d see around Ivy League campuses, like polos, ties, and denim, all layered with a nonchalance Verden speaks to. The pieces aren’t simply reproductions, but reworked with the boxy and cropped silhouettes Vaucluse Studios has become known for globally. They aren’t all Americana either. Made in time for the Australian summer, new pieces introduced, like the new VCL emblem short-sleeve shirt in black nylon make for a light layer to keep the fits interesting and versatile this season.

See the full collection on vauclusestudios.com.

Wynn Hamlyn resort 26 just dropped

Image: courtesy of Wynn Hamlyn
Image: courtesy of Wynn Hamlyn

We here at Esquire have been eagerly awaiting Kiwi label Wynn Hamlyn’s return to menswear since showing his Resort 2026 earlier this May during Australian Fashion Week. The wait is finally over as the collection arrives this month, just in time for the Australian summer. So if you’re having trouble sifting through what to move from your wishlist to the cart, some of our favourite pieces include the woven windbreaker, striped shirt and tie set, and the Rue Sweater.

See and shop the full collection at wynnhamlyn.com/man.

Charlton’s “narrative layering” for Resort 26 takes you to Egypt

At a time when menswear is all about vibes, few nail the core tenets of fabrication and fit. Paddington-based brand Charlton’s Resort 2026 collection is a breezy reminder of that. For the collection, designer and founder Henry Cousins visited the fabric mills of Japan, where the brand has been getting its textiles for core pieces, to get a feel for the materiality. But it wasn’t until another trip to Egypt that Cousins found the rich, jewel-tone colours for his shirting, and easy tailoring for seersucker suits.

Enchanted by his surroundings, Cousins has bolstered the collection with what he describes as “narrative layering”, chiefly with the brand’s new limited edition fragrance, Tangerine Palisade (named after the collection), made in collaboration with Raconteur. With top notes of the bright citrus fruit, bergamot, and black pepper, shifting to papyrus, pine, and fig, until the base of jasmine, frankincense and myrrh, it evokes the dry desert winds and opulent spices that have blown against the immovable pyramids for millennia. It’s the final touch on a splendid summer fit.

Discover the collection here.

Learn more about Tangerine Palisade here; $295.

Image: courtesy of Charlton
Image: courtesy of Charlton

Related:

Ralph Lauren will serve style again at the 2026 Australian Open

Orlebar Brown rewrites the resort code