Sardine Supply dinner shirt, courtesy Sardine Supply / Zebe Haupt
We’re pairing tinned fish tees with heirloom tomato clutches. Fashion houses are serving meals as well as looks. And chefcore is trending thanks to The Bear. Right now, food culture is the fashion industry’s flavour of the month. We sat two of our editors down to figure out why.
This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.
Audrey Payne: So the food world and the fashion world have intersected a lot lately. It’s a trend we’ve been seeing everywhere and it’s a bit of a hot topic around the Broadsheet offices. How did we get here?
Maggie Zhou: That’s a really good question, because food and fashion have been intersecting for a long time now, but we can point to a few specific moments in history that cement their love affair.
AP: Tell me about it.
MZ: There are a lot of beginnings I could point to, but a few that come to mind are the 1930s Schiaparelli lobster dress, featuring a massive print of the crustacean. Then ticking forward, we can see the Campbell’s Souper dress that was inspired by Andy Warhol back in the ’60s.
AP: In the ’80s Fendi did a lot of gold pasta jewellery.
MZ: Yes! I mean, they were expensive. Those necklaces were thousands of dollars, and they look like the pasta necklaces we all made in kindergarten.
AP: Maybe we should have kept the ones we made for the resale price.
MZ: This trend also reminds me of Karl Lagerfeld in 2014 – he did a runway for Chanel that was made to look like the inside of a grocery store, with models walking down the aisles.
AP: Did people have trolleys?
Courtesy Rachel Antonoff
MZ: Yes! Now, Audrey, you’re our food editor. Does your love of food translate to your wardrobe?
AP: I must admit I intentionally try to avoid food items because I feel like it’s too on the nose. And I came up at a time when those beaded Susan Alexandra bags were really big and people were wearing a lot of Rachel Antonoff puffers – it just felt a bit too much for me to be like, “Look at me – I work in food!” But I do have a few things. I’m wearing these earrings that look like little Malaysian cakes, and actually Raymond Tan from Dua gave them to me. But that’s about as far as I’ll go. They’re very subtle.
MZ: They are nice and subtle. From here, with my bad eyesight, they are giving quesadilla.
AP: I would love some quesadilla earrings! I could go there, but not much further than that. Do you have a lot of foodie fashion items, Maggie?
MZ: Well, I am wearing one today. This is a Marimekko sweater. And it’s a strawberry, right? It does kind of give stone fruit, but then it’s got this tuft here. It is very bold. It does give me vulva vibes, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Audrey Payne and Maggie Zhou at Dua, photo Camille Allen
AP: I feel like what we eat and what we wear, it’s so linked to how we perceive ourselves, or how we want people to perceive us. Does that ring true to you?
MZ: It’s obvious when it comes to fashion – like, you are what you wear – but it’s definitely extended into the food realm. Especially being in Australia; we take so much pride in our food. I read in Vogue Business that trends are no longer confined to strict categories – they can move through different aspects of our life. What you like can be reflected through fashion, through food, through decor, through beauty.
AP: It’s also like you have these little scenes – certain restaurants that will attract certain people. I don’t know if you’ve ever gone to a place and you’re like, “Everyone here is wearing the same thing.” I don’t know how that happened. I think it’s just part of this way you want people to look at you, or the way you think about yourself.
MZ: Do you think it’s kind of like wearing a band T-shirt?
AP: Yes! We’ve seen such a rise in restaurant merch in the past few years since Covid. It’s like you’re making a statement: “I shop at this store, I love this chef, I know what’s up in this world.”
Courtesy Loewe
MZ: It can also mirror our values and life experiences. So I’m thinking about Tomato Girl Summer that took over last year. Did you hear about this?
AP: I could not miss Tomato Girl Summer.
MZ: So that’s a good example. We saw that take over everything on our social media feeds: everything from the clothes that people were wearing to decor items. There’s also home and personal scent like all the tomato stuff from Loewe. Somebody even took a photo of an heirloom tomato and Loewe ended up making an actual clutch out of that!
Courtesy Nonna's Grocer
AP: I will say, every cool food fashion person I know has posted about that recently, and unironically really wants one. Tomato Girl Summer’s such an interesting one to me, because you have this thing – again after Covid – of everyone going to Europe for the summer and leaning into the idea of being a nonna. But also, tomatoes are such a beautiful natural object.
MZ: It’s funny because we’re not just eating a tomato. We are wearing tomatoes on our clothes.
AP: We’re smelling like tomatoes.
MZ: We’ve got the Loewe clutch. And here in Australia, we’ve got Nonna’s Grocer making beautiful tomato-shaped candles.
AP: I want one of those so badly. So what’s the appeal? Do you feel like it’s because tomatoes are so everyday?
MZ: Yeah, but I think there’s something alluring about the idea of a Mediterranean summer and taking things slow. When I think of a tomato, I’m picturing myself on a summer’s day with a big floppy hat, strolling along. And I feel like the tomato embodies that.
AP: It’s also about having time to go to a farmers market and – this sounds creepy – stroke the tomatoes and pick out the ones that look good. They’re kind of voluptuous. It’s a sexy fruit. Or vegetable. Whatever you want to call it.
Courtesy Sardine Supply / Zebe Haupt
MZ: Can we talk about tinned fish for a second? How did this “poor man food” take over everything?
AP: I met someone in 2019 who was like, “I only eat tinned seafood.” And I was like, that’s actually unhinged. But then in 2020 Fish Wife launched and I thought, “Oh, maybe he was onto something.” Do you know this brand?
MZ: No, tell me about Fish Wife.
AP: It’s beautifully designed tinned fish, with really bright colourful packaging. One of the co-founders, Caroline Goldfarb, is also behind the Official Sean Penn Instagram account, which is very pop culture-y, very meme-y. She has such a genius marketing brain. They started the whole “hot girls eat tinned fish” movement, and then that kind of turned into “hot girls drink whole milk”, and it’s just taken over all these different sections of the grocery store.
Courtesy Sardine Supply and Staud
MZ: And then somehow this tinned fish obsession swam its way into the fashion world, and it’s such a motif now as well. In Australia we have a local label called Sardine Supply. Pan After just launched a collab with Brigitte Tanaka making sardine pouches – they also have anchovies and caviar. And I also think about the Staudines beaded bags.
AP: Are they the ones that look like a tin of fish?
MZ: Literally yes. And what’s funny is sardines are quite an acquired taste, but now you don’t even have to like the taste to wear it.
AP: I bought Fish Wife and I really don’t even like canned fish. I was like, “I want this in my pantry.” I actually thought I would eat it but I just gave it away. That’s a little shame that I have to put out there.
Courtesy Moschino
MZ: Here’s a question for you, Audrey. Why are all the food motifs right now so nourishing and wholesome? I’m talking about the celery bags at Moschino. I’m talking about the Lemaire croissant bags.
AP: And Rachel Antonoff suddenly has rainbow chard on everything.
MZ: Yes, I love those sweaters.
AP: It’s interesting, isn’t it? Fifteen years ago it was all doughnuts and bacon and cupcakes. And now it’s all about “healthy food”, “natural food”. Really farm-focused, nourishing ingredients.
Courtesy Rachel Antonoff
MZ: My cynical take is that fashion is quite fat-phobic, so that’s why we’re uplifting these natural foods and what is usually deemed “healthy” as well. My less-cynical take is that fresh produce is really quite beautiful, right? We look to vegetables and fruits for their visual appearance, and there’s something really alluring about them.
AP: We’re back to stroking tomatoes at the farmers market! I do also wonder if there’s a new appreciation for ingredients that we gained over lockdowns when more people were cooking at home. You had more food influencers really taking off – more focus on natural things and doing things with your hands.
MZ: Yeah, I think there is more of a respect for artisanal goods and making things by hand. The allure of urban homesteading or even going into trad wife territory! But at its best, I mean, it’s really nice to honour the food and the ingredients that we have.
Courtesy Worktones
AP: You know what I think is really funny – and I’ve also fallen victim to a couple of times – is people almost cosplaying as chefs. I think we can blame The Bear for a lot of that, because it has created a lot of fashion icons. I’m thinking specifically of Tilit. It’s a chef wear brand based in New York, similar to Worktones or Cargo Crew here. They have these really cool jumpsuits, and I really wanted one for ages. But because I’m a food editor, not a chef, I was like, “Oh, is this offensive to chefs?”
MZ: You’d be cosplaying as a chef?
AP: I do have white clogs, which I wear a lot, which a bakery owner recommended to me, but I feel like that’s a bit more practical and less like “I’m a chef”, so it feels more appropriate.
MZ: I love that. It’s functionality meets aesthetic. I do think that there is the allure of a hospo uniform, and I think it is enticing. A lot of the time we’re seeing these simple and practical silhouettes. And when you have Jeremy Allen White wearing these clothes, I mean, of course it’s gonna make them look good.
Courtesy Corner 75/Michael Naumoff
AP: Workwear has always been a thing in fashion, right? So it’s not totally out of left field. But it does feel like it’s been bubbling up a bit more lately.
MZ: I’m also thinking of places like Sydney restaurant Corner 75 that’s actually collaborated with a local label, Song for the Mute, for their front-of-house uniform. So we can actually see, very explicitly, the fashion and food worlds colliding.
AP: There are a lot of fashion houses getting into the restaurant game too, right?
MZ: Yeah, so in the past five years or so we’ve got Gucci Osteria. We’ve got Prada restaurants in London and Shanghai. Ralph Lauren has a cafe. And even locally, in Melbourne, Mecca and Diptyque had a mini cafe pop-up last year.
AP: Which did crazy business.
MZ: So we’re seeing this more and more. Why is that? It’s like Breakfast at Tiffany’s in real life.
Courtesy Prada
AP: I wonder if retail stores are suffering and luxury brands need a different way to cut through and get people in the doors.
MZ: There’s also something nice about the idea of a meeting space between different industries. And, you know, we always say at Broadsheet that people eat three meals a day. Like, we need food and we also wear clothes. So it’s kind of a natural fit in some ways.
AP: I’m not sure people are going to these places for the food. Some of the pastries and things they have at these cafes, they’re very fussed over and very meticulously done, which has a place, but it’s not necessarily what’s cool in the food space right now.
MZ: You know what it reminds me of, is when there’s a new fashion store opening you’ll get people lining up. But you’re also getting that at a very cool, trendy bakery. Or there are lines out the door for the hip new restaurant that’s doing the rounds.
Courtesy Jacquemus
AP: That’s so true. And sometimes you don’t even know why you want to go, right? You’re just doing this because everyone’s doing this.
MZ: There’s something about trusting the masses and trusting other people’s opinions. And I think we see that with fashion trends. The more people catch on, the more people pay attention. And that’s the same in the food world. But look, when people are going to these luxury brand restaurants, I don’t think that they’re going there for a good feed. They’re going there to take pics for their social media feed.
AP: Oh, 100 per cent. I also think it’s interesting that both fashion and food are about taste, but who is dictating that? What is tasteful? Sometimes you’re just letting the algorithm or some brand dictate that.
Courtesy Chopova Lowena
MZ: Speaking of social media, food is often used as a shortcut to sensory marketing. Because if you’re trying to sell someone a lipstick online, they can’t touch it or smell it in person, they’re just looking at a photo of it. But let’s say with this lipstick, you put it next to a picture of honey.
MZ: Yes! So it’s a quick shortcut to say this product feels like this or it tastes like this. It’s enticing. I do remember a few years ago Jacquemus had their fashion week invitations done on a piece of toast and butter with their logo stamped on it.
AP: That would work on me. Also, did you see they just did a banana mobile for their LA store opening? And they had bananas with Jacquemus stickers. We see so many collaborations between food and fashion brands now. Have you seen that Chopova Lowena mayonnaise bag? It has a little compartment for Hellmann’s mayo.
MZ: And a little silver spoon that comes with each bag purchase!
AP: Then there’s the Kate Spade Heinz collab.
MZ: It’s a really good way for fashion brands to get quick media attention. Because if you’re saying “there’s a new bag” versus “there’s a new mayonnaise bag”, you’ll see what people put their eyes to.
AP: And it’s so easy for people to be like, “I love mayo.” You know, it’s a thing that people can latch onto.
Ellie Bouhadana for Cartier, photo Chege Mbuthi
MZ: On a smaller scale there’s also plenty of fashion labels using foodie people as ambassadors. Like Ellie Bouhadana for Cartier.
AP: Or food artist Laila Gohar repping Bulgari.
MZ: Erewhon – I want to talk about that. They’ve made such a name for themselves and done multiple collabs with Balenciaga as well. But for those who don’t know, what is Erewhon? Because we don’t have it here.
AP: Erewhon is a bougie grocery store chain in California that’s become a hotspot with celebrities. They have a smoothie bar and having a collab there is such an achievement. It’s kind of like getting a magazine cover.
MZ: Did Hailey Bieber have one that was very famous?
AP: That’s the one. It’s the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie – pink and coconutty and honestly not that tasty.
MZ: And can I say it sounds so creepy, because the name is Hailey Bieber Skin. It’s like you’re eating her.
AP: But you know, they’ve collaborated with Sabrina Carpenter. They have collaborated with Tyla. They have a bunch of fashion collabs; my sister got me a pair of their socks for Christmas last year. But they work with luxury brands, too.
Courtesy Balenciaga
MZ: And we’re seeing that trickle down to Australia as well. Looking at our grocery stores, Woolworths did a collaboration with Anya Hindmarch when they recently released a designer shopping bag. So it’s happening. They’re trying to be the next Erewhon.
AP: They’ve got a long way to go.
MZ: So I’ve got to ask, when it comes to Erewhon’s many collabs, who’s actually getting the main benefit? Is it them as a grocery chain, or is it Balenciaga as a luxury brand?
AP: You have to think it’s working for both of them. A brand like Balenciaga gets a kind of shock value from collaborating with what is essentially a supermarket, albeit a bougie one. And then Erewhon benefits from having this association with a really luxury brand. It’s only going to lift them.
MZ: And then for consumers you get to buy in and have a taste of a luxury brand you like, or a celebrity that you follow, at a cheaper price point. Even though it’s like 40 Australian dollars for that Hailey Bieber smoothie.
AP: It also reminds me of how a Starbucks cup used to be a fashion statement in the early 2000s. And now an Erewhon grocery bag is the thing.
MZ: You’re so right. I remember reposting Starbucks pictures on Tumblr. And it was such a status symbol. It was almost an “if you know, you know” moment, despite it being obviously a massive conglomerate. It was a way of showing you were part of some subculture or some sort of community.
AP: And then it goes back to that thing of identity. Like you have an Erewhon bag versus a Trader Joe’s bag, which has also become this weird fashion symbol in the States.
MZ: Or you have the Woolies bag!
Courtesy Ere Perez
AP: What do you think is the next big food thing in fashion? What are we going to have on our jumpers and handbags this season?
MZ: I’m glad you asked, because Vogue actually did the work for us. They’ve said that 2025 is the year of the cherry and the year of the pickle. How does that sit with you?
AP: I feel like we’ve had a year of the pickle pretty recently! I don’t want to go against Vogue, but I feel like we’ve already had those things. Maybe it’s coming back? It’s all cycles, right?
MZ: Yeah, I feel like there is a certain allure about both these food items that kind of make sense to me, both in the food and fashion world.
AP: Well, there was the Noma fermentation book that really put pickles on the map. And then I feel like a cherry on top of a sundae has always been a thing, but maybe it’s gonna be more like natural cherries?
MZ: I’m thinking also of the food influencer and cookbook author Condiment Claire, her rise to popularity. We’re talking more about Martinis, dare I say, which is not a pickle necessarily, but adjacent.
AP: What do you think the next food fashion trend is going to be?
MZ: I think it’s something in the pickle realm. I think they’re getting close there. I’m thinking about that Tiktok influencer, Logan the cucumber guy. That’s also pickle-adjacent.
AP: I think it’s still going to be fermented, but maybe like vinegars and drinking shrubs and things like that.
MZ: I don't know how good that looks on a T-shirt. But maybe a little jar of something?
AP: A little jam jar, like full Meghan Markle.
Loewe x Gelato Messina, photo Jiwon Kim
MZ: Actually, since Loewe ruled on tomatoes, I saw they just collaborated with Messina in Sydney and released a limited edition flavour: beetroot and dark chocolate.
AP: Do you think it’s gonna be like Hot Beet Summer?
MZ: I can see it! There’s something beautiful about its naturalness and its juices and its colour and how vibrant it is.
AP: We’ve had a big ube moment. I wonder if it’s another root vegetable trend.
MZ: You heard it here first: beetroot is the next big thing. Big beetroot energy.
This story is part of Broadsheet's special Fashion Issue, proudly sponsored by Mini, which lays down the new rules for Australian style in 2025.
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