Out & About

SUITCASE Magazine's Creative Tour of Australia

The travel and fashion title give us the lowdown on the creative hotspots down under.

SUITCASE Magazine's Creative Tour of Australia

This month we're very excited to be setting up digital shop in Australia – launching a region specific website and printing Papier's personalised stationery and invitations down under. With a country brimming from coast to coast with artists, designers, independent magazines and style-led businesses, it was a perfect destination for us.

One bunch who are well-acquainted with Australia's creative hotspots are our culturally enlightened friends at travel and fashion publication SUITCASE Magazine. We asked them to select a few of their favourites from Perth to Brisbane.

alt textPhoto: Kara Rosenlund

1. Halcyon House, Cabarita Beach
This boutique Northern NSW hotel is one of, if not THE coolest place to stay in Australia right now. A faded surf motel that has been transformed into a palm-fringed beach-front hideaway, it combines breezy California vibes with Long Island nauticalia for a hotel that feels like an endless summer day. And it’s not just the rooms that are oozing creativity and style – the hotel’s restaurant, Paper Daisy, is headed up by one of Australia’s most promising young chefs and pulls a crowd every night of the week.


2. The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
Café, coffee-roastery, bakery, organic garden, children’s petting zoo, florist and event space – The Grounds of Alexandria is all of these things, and manages to be seriously Instagrammable to boot. Not the place to just duck into for a quick coffee, you need at least half a day to explore the grounds, not to mention eat your way through the creative café menu and food stalls.


alt textPhoto: @frankiemagazine, Instagram

3. Frankie Magazine
Our favourite Australian magazine, Frankie is for arty types, fashion followers, vintage hunters and music lovers – basically everyone who likes to sit down with a magazine and a cup of tea. It’s full of stories about seriously creative Australian people, as well as quirky illustrations and hilarious interludes, so finish it before you get back on the plane home or you’ll have to explain some very weird snorting noises to your seat neighbour.


alt textPhoto: experienceperth.com

4. Perth
In 2018, there will be a non-stop flight from London to Perth – but that’s not the only reason this city has reached global cool status recently. Apart from the endless sunshine and stunning beaches, the Western Australia capital is overflowing with hot new bars, restaurants, boutiques, hotels and art hubs, and it’s becoming a hip new destination for Australian creatives, who are flocking there in droves.


alt textPhoto: Nodo.com.au

5. Nodo Donuts, Brisbane
This tiny Brisbane cafe makes it onto our list for doing the unthinkable: reinventing the donut. Taking the sweet treat and turning it into a gluten-free baked version isn’t all we fell in love with them for though, there’s also their gorgeously designed location and packaging, healthy breakfast eats and super shakes.


alt textPhoto: Mona/Rémi Chauvin

6. Mona Foma, Tasmania
Australia’s cultural calendar is full of festivals and events, but for one that’s less shirtless blokes and more cultural experiences, Mona Foma is an innovative and experimental music and arts festival in Tasmania that’s as much about participation as it is about discovering new sounds. If you’re game, there’s also Dark Mofo, the darker, winter edition of the festival – but it’s not for the faint hearted.


alt textPhoto: No Order Market, Melbourne

7. No Order Market, Melbourne
Melbourne’s full of achingly hip boutiques, but No Order Market is the one we’d seek out first, combining two fashion forward stores under one roof that stock a curated range of international cult fashion labels and local talent that you won’t get anywhere else. You’ll just have to find it first.


Follow the travels of SUITCASE Magazine on their wanderlust-inducing Instagram