White Fox and the case of the copycat dress

0:07This episode of Stylish is brought to you by Bridgerton. Part one of the Masquerade Event of the Year is streaming now and part two arrives on February 26th, only on Netflix. This is Stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, lifestyle, brand and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan-Thaw. I am joined, I was going to say as always, but I guess we have a little bit of an update, just a temporary update before anyone panics. I am joined today as always by Joanna Fleming and Annika Joshi-Smith. Hi. But not for long. Dun, dun, dun. Look, as we know, Arnica is having a little baby. Yes. And rightfully so, she's going to take some time off to spend time with baby Plowman.

0:49Yeah. Who we are so excited to meet. I thought I was in labour last night, you guys. Like, I literally thought she was, like, coming last night. I know. And it's very hot in this room today. Yeah. And Arnica just asked if she had a sweat moustache before we started recording. I'm glistening. That is called a Sula, a sweaty upper lip area. A Sula. It's dangerously close to Sullivan, which I don't love. I love that. Well, I wanted to ask you guys a question because I think that you two will sympathise with this and I also think some of our audience will sympathise with this. Ooh, hit me. What is the maximum that you guys have ever been charged for excess luggage?

1:24Oh, you're going to die at this. I have to go last. I don't want to talk about it. Look, I had used all of my Qantas frequent flyer points to upgrade my flight. So I was not packing thinking about the internal economy flights I would be taking throughout Europe. I was just like, yeah, baby, let's go. That'll get you. Bougie, yet not so bougie on the internal. And they do very much not smile and wave when you are not turning left on the plane. So, yeah, I think it might have been, I think, from memory, it was€380. Okay. What was yours, Annika? Was yours a business write-off because it was for Sage or was it just you?

2:07It was a business write-off, thank God. It was not for me. Everyone would just be like sickened if they thought it was for me. But this has happened to me twice now. And it's actually the point where it's like sometimes I think I'm cursed. But every time I flow into Paris for work, I have been charged the most excessive charges when it comes to baggage. First charge,$21 ,000. I know. A-U-D? AUD because they charge my AMX twice. I was able to actually get half of it refunded. I know. I know. Like just if I actually. That's like a flight to Paris. I know. If I reacted right now, I'd actually probably give birth.

2:45I could have. No, I was flying business. But. Oh, my God. It's so hot that my brain has just actually started in my head. I'm like, she's saying 12 ,100. You're saying 21 ,300. 21 ,000. But I got half of it back. Oh, great. So it's only$10 ,500 now. Yeah. And then the second time was last year, again, on my way to Paris for work,$12 ,000. You could have taken me business class and I could have carried that luggage. Do you know what the most ridiculous thing was? So I was with my full Sage team and I was like, can I just upgrade the entire team to business? Yeah. And then everyone's baggage gets lifted.

3:24Like we all get more weight. And they were like, no. Do you think that's because they had no seats or because they were like, They definitely had seats because I was up the front while the girls were in cattle. And I was like, oh, my God, they could have sat here. That's not a great recruitment strategy for you. But you know what? Mama's got to eat. Mama was pregnant. Mama was very pregnant. Mama was swollen. Mama has needs. Yeah. Fair enough. Also, Mama's business. Sorry. There's that term. Well, this conversation made me feel a fuckload better about what happened to me on Friday then. Oh, my God, what happened?

3:52Pray do term. Well, I decided that Adrienne and I would share a large suitcase to go to Hobart. Yeah. Why would you do that? And well, I've done it on occasion and it seems to work well for me, but I didn't really think it through that I was really overpacking for the trip. Like it was three days. But it was your birthday, baby. And I really went overboard with the amount of outfits and we got to the airport and it was five kilos over. And so when we went to do the bag drop, I then had to pay 65 bucks for my extra five kilos. And I was like, that is an absolute rip. But now that I'm hearing that, honestly, they can take my money.

4:25And in total contrast, I was on a Qantas flight on Saturday coming home from Sydney. And the most beautifully put together cabin crew member, she just looked absolutely beautiful. Her makeup and hair was like so gorgeous. And just the best part was that she just had the personality to match. She was so happy to be there, so helpful. And everyone else is like grumpy on their flight home because they're leaving sunny Sydney for hot stifling Melbourne. And I said to her, you just look amazing. And she was like, you have made my whole day. And I said, oh, well, happy Valentine's Day, you know, spreading the love.

4:54She came back and she gave me a little bottle of bubbles. Oh, we love her. And said, well, happy Valentine's Day for you. And I was like, Qantas, despite the fact that I'm on a delayed flight because you couldn't get me off the night before, just know I'm back with my ample loyalty now thanks to your cabin crew on the flight from Sydney to Melbourne. I love that. I can't fault Qantas. If anyone saw me on the way home today with my plastic bag of shoes, you didn't, okay? You didn't see me doing that. Well, you look very sophisticated and classy now, Jojo. Thank you. Pleasure. Appreciate that. Don't know if you caught it because, as we've mentioned, Jo's just been having the time of her life on a little birthday extravaganza weekend.

5:32But Marc Jacobs showed over the weekend. And the reason that I knew Marc Jacobs showed was because I saw on Trend Mood that Marc Jacobs Beauty is back. I was a big Marc Jacobs Beauty fan. Those eyeliners I still stand by are some of the best I've used. Like I would say they go toe-to-toe with Victoria Beckham. then because obviously there was backstage teasing and all these things I saw visuals of the runway and it just was very different to what we'd seen from Marc Jacobs the last few years it was wasn't it yeah what did you think it was titled memory loss and something I loved about it was how inclusive the runway was like he literally looked at all the archives he looked at the 90s which I personally loved there was Helmut Lang there were different nods as well to Helmut Lang and Prada and so many looks that were very much achievable, I think, at home.

6:19And we talk about that a lot on the pod, how we can always look to the runway for aspirational looks but then make them ourselves at home. And pencil skirts were one that I loved, that very Prada-esque vibe coming back through and the pop colours. Yeah, I'm so glad you referenced Prada because I also saw a lot of Calvin Klein and I think there's a lot of synergies with that really clean, crisp tailoring and those sort of things like shirting and A-line skirts and pencil skirts, things like that. this is a stark contrast to Marc Jacobs though and I don't want to deepen it by bringing in the economic climate but I can't help but because I think we've seen such maximalism of colour and print and particularly form like big outlandish skirts and it's very avant-garde like it's not something that you're wearing to the wine bar with the girls like you're probably not even wearing it to the NGV Gala it's that kind of out there but it's you know beautiful when you're seeing it on the front covers of magazines and in editorial pieces but this is a very different pad back Marc Jacobs that does feel very wearable.

7:17Yeah I agree and I think it's something that we're going to see a lot more of like I think we're heading down a maximal route but I don't think we're there yet I still think the looks are very achievable looking at the collections past and how we can incorporate those back into our wardrobing and I think I really love as well how he actually was so playful with this. There wasn't like a cut copy kind of brief for the show. It was for everybody. It was so inclusive and so relevant to everyone, which I loved. Yeah. And I'm super excited to see what they do bring back beauty as well. It kind of feels like this new fashion direction, the beauty brand kind of coming.

7:49It really did shock the beauty community when they kind of evaporated into thin air because they did have a really healthy Instagram following. I think the account when I checked the other day was at 3.1 million followers. Oh, wow. They've really amassed this incredible following and really loyal base but clearly it wasn't translating enough to warrant it staying but I do think Marc Jacobs is a really credible name his licensing of his name in fragrance has performed incredibly well I don't see why makeup can't come back and make its mark again yeah be interesting to see how the brand goes second time around yeah anyway speaking of designers that is something that we're going to be discussing today, a local designer accusing White Fox of copycat behaviour, that awkward interview between Anna Wintour and Vogue's new editor, Chloe Marle, and something you've probably seen all over your TikTok feed, Ear Seeds.

8:39But first, let's do our swap. Annika, you're second last, but we are going to trickle in some guest appearances from you. You'll still be hearing from me. I've got a lot to say. Go on then. Okay well speaking of fashion week this one just spoke to me on so many levels and I have to talk about this show you guys. Did we see the Seven for All Mankind show? No. Oh my gosh like honestly you have to have a look tonight. It was literally the definition of messy chic which I freaking love. It's kind of like if Jenny Humphries and Georgina Sparks from Gossip Girl had a baby. Like we're talking disheveled girls on the runway.

9:18More is more is more. It was like modern indie sleaze and pure chaos, but in the best way possible. Like think cute little bubble hem dresses, thick black tights, pointed stilettos, sunglasses. The whole vibe was like you had just left the club in New York City. You're on your way home, but then you're like, wait, do I go home or do I just go to work? And everyone had sunglasses on because they had a smudgy eye, obviously. Do I go to Joe's Pizza before going to work? Absolutely. Obviously, the answer is always yes. And even like the best accessory, the girls had like gloves on and then they had like their club bands over the top.

9:52Oh my God, stop. Such a vibe. Like it took me back and it's like millennials are cool again. Guys, we never left. We can literally dress like this again. Like Gossip Girl was like my heyday. I've watched that show so many times. But my favorite look from the runway was actually one of the models. Her name is Summer Dierks and she brought so much attitude to the runway. Like she just kind of pulled the whole thing together. She strutted. This wasn't like a really like stunning catwalk. It was like a strut. And she had so much attitude. You guys have to take a look because millennials are absolutely cool again.

10:24We never left the building. We're so back. I love a club wristband. Like I loved them when I was like 18. I was like, yeah, I went there. Like didn't want to wash the stamp off. I would never wash the stamp off. I was that girl. I also was 18 very early in year 12. So I was like, oh, you bitches don't have your ID and aren't overage yet. Sorry. Don't mind me on a Monday. Still got it on my wrist. I was the opposite to you. I was 18 the following year. Oh, my God. I thought you were about to say I was a goody good. And I was like, I'm not surprised. I mean, I was a goody two-shoes. I was going to the clubs when I was 18.

10:57Oh, my God. I was so illegal. I was going to the clubs before I was 18. But I probably shouldn't say that on a podcast. I guess that's not really. That's kind of frowned upon. No, what do we love? We love a character arc. Yes. There you go. Well, we have a new podcast producer helping us out today, Mike, who's sitting to the left of us. I'm like so excited to have someone new in the room. We love Fresh Blood, but I'm also like you don't know what our favourite dinner party games are, which is usually asking, what's your most unexpected character arc? You're going to learn a lot about us at that corner, Mike.

11:29Do you know what, guys? I actually had three things I wanted to swap, which is so funny because usually on the drive here I'm like, what am I loving this week? And I'm like so greedy I don't know which one. I want to do. So I'm like, I'll ask you guys, do you want a book? Do you want an article that I read and loved? Or would you like a product? I'd like a product, please. I'd like a book. Okay, great. Ding, ding, ding. The first is Violet Eye Paints. I know that I always talk about the Mecca Max Zoom shadow stick in caramel, but I think, no, I don't think. I'm going to say with my chest. For the last six months, I have been using this product religiously and I'm obsessed with it.

12:04I think it's Trump Mecca Max shadow stick for me. It is the Violet Eye Paint. Look, it's not cheap. It is$55. So it is playing in a different price category to Mecca Max. But what I will say is this is showing no signs of hitting the bottom. Like this, I feel like this will be the beauty product, like a lip smacker. It just like goes with me to the grave. It is, I'm not even going to pretend I can pronounce the name because I dropped out of French in year nine it is t-o-u-x space d-e-u-x to do to do to do yeah that sounds good to do and let me tell you it is easy to do do that with either a black or really dark chocolate liner like the victoria beckham deep chocolate cocoa shade beautiful or with the you know what i'm gonna say the charlotte tilbury pillow talk eyeliner that is it okay you did ask for the book so i'm gonna give it to you in a rapid fire way.

12:56So the book is Manifest, Seven Steps to Living Your Best Life. The irony that I haven't put this book down, but can't tell you the name of it is not lost on me. This was a gift from a girlfriend, Georgia, who I will say I'm a work in progress in a lot of ways. But one thing that people dearest to me have been saying to me recently is I know that self deprecating is a really big part of your DNA, but your self talk sometimes is not nice. So we don't like you talking about our friend like that. So she dropped it off at my house, just moved house and she left it at the door and she was like, we're going to do a manifestation mood board night, which I've done before and actually worked really well.

13:28I love that. Most of the things on the list, except Jacob Elordi came off. So you know what, there's still time. Chuck him back on 2026. Who's going to stop me? Go on, I dare you. Anyway, she was just like, this is so that you can start speaking kinder about my friend. And I'm really enjoying the book. It's not, I'm not woo-woo. I would say I'm like dabbling in woo-woo. A lot of my friends are woo-woo-y. Say woo-woo one more time, go on. but it kind of measures the magic and the science, which I like. I love this. Okay, so each week we're going to make sure we're going to check in with our friend and see some posi things that she's been saying about herself.

14:02Yeah, like I'm not going to say on mic what I said to Georgia that obviously ignited her to buy the book, but it wasn't nice. I'm a big believer in this like positive talk kind of manifests into things. You manifested Adrian. I did, but I also have something that I do with Adrian all the time. We say it to each other. if one of us is getting like negative and we're in a situation where we need things to go our way we'll say to each other like we're good people and good things always happen to us like anytime we're traveling we always say that to each other throughout the trip just so that nothing goes wrong oh I really like that yeah I really try and like manifest positive vibes I love that a lot and I do also think my friends calling me out I say it a lot to my friends but they're reverse foring it on me now which I'm not loving as much but it's hey don't talk about my friend like that.

14:48Yeah. I'm here. I'm like fiercely loyal. So I'm like, don't talk about my friend like that. You're like, I'm going to beat up you if you keep being mean to you. Literally. Jo, what have you got for us? Not how to pack. No. Don't do what I did. Take your own suitcase. So I discovered this tool actually over the weekend because Adrian took a couple of photos of me walking through a park wearing a checkered steel dress. Oh my God, I saw this. You look It was stunning. Thank you. I loved that little dress. It was very cute. And I love that he commented, like, we love JoJo and Red. Well, Maddie told me to wear more red, and so I wore more red.

15:25I think the whole audience, like, everyone told you to wear more red. Yeah, I'm really getting into it. I'm down for it. That video went off. Yeah, I'm doing it. I'm doing what I'm told. You're like, I fucking understand. Anyway, so he took these couple of photos of me in the park, and we went back and looked at them as we were sitting down at dinner and noticed that his arm was like in the shadow. And so his arm with the phone in it is like in the shadow on the ground. And then there's also like a big bin in the background. And I was like, oh, that's a shame. That's a nice photo. And he's like, oh, doesn't, don't they have this like tool now on your phone where you can kind of like circle things and it gets rid of it?

16:01And I was like, I think it might be. And so we pulled it up and it's called the cleanup tool. And so if you just go to edit, you can see the cleanup thing and then you can just circle things. Yeah. And I know that AI is like evil, but in this instance, it's fantastic. In this instance, we love the robots. Yes, so it got rid of his shadow with the phone taking the photo and I just circled the bin, got rid of the bin. That's amazing. Yeah. I found out about this because a girlfriend went somewhere in Europe skiing and she was on some deer sled. I don't know. This is getting all quite weird as I'm saying it.

16:34But they'd all peed on the snow and she was like, that's such a beautiful photo, but like there's pee and poop. Yes. She just cleaned up. That's how I found out about it. And so like if you had someone in the background of your photo and it was like a really beautiful photo that you wanted to frame or something and you wanted to get rid of something ugly or, you know, inconvenient in the background. An X. Exactly. I'm sure it can do that. But yeah, clean up tool on iPhone. I don't know if this is just new phones, by the way, because I didn't know that this existed. I feel like I vaguely may have known that it existed, but I'd never used it.

17:03I feel like it could be just new software, not necessarily a new phone. Because I have the new phone. So I didn't know if it was just me. Okay. I'm the boomer, so I've got no idea, but that sounds elite. Yeah, it is. I love that. That's a great hack. Yep, so that's my swap for tonight. Thanks, Jojo. Next, we're diving into the designer who's accused White Fox of copying his design, but that will be right after a word from today's sponsor. Fashion, drama and a romantic scandal. It seems Bridgerton season four has our name written all over it. Whether you're an OG Bridgerton fan or you're new to the series, let me first paint a picture of what you can expect from the latest season.

17:38This time, all eyes are on the second Bridgerton son, Benedict, who refuses to settle down until he meets a mysterious lady in silver at his mother's masquerade ball. Revealing herself as a maid, Benedict and Sophie spend the season navigating their predicament. We're here for this storyline and the costumes, obviously, but this season we can take our obsession with Bridgerton up a notch. The first installment of Bridgerton season four is currently streaming and you can catch part two on February 26th, only on Netflix. A huge thank you to Netflix for making this episode of Stylish possible. So the designer behind Annalise Dallin's brown low dress has accused White Fox of copycat behaviour.

18:13In a Herald Sun article published last week, Sam Olioloro and Paul Versace, the designer and stylist behind model Annalise Dallin's 2025 brown low red carpet look, said they believe White Fox has copy to Sam's design. Now, White Fox is an Australian fast fashion brand that's reportedly worth$2 billion, while Sam is a Melbourne-based designer whose label, Olioloro Couture, is known for bridal couture and has made dresses for the Brownlow for the past decade. Annalise, who is the fiancé of AFL player Josh Dacos, topped many of the Brownlow best dress lists last year and her look received significant publicity.

18:48And it was just one. Annalise looks like the most angelic, beautiful thing you've ever seen that's walked this earth. Every time I interact with her, I have to remind myself to remove gaze. I'm like, stop staring at her. She really is that beautiful she could wear a paper bag and she would look sensational but this dress was in my personal opinion one of her best looks it was a really structured sort of bodice with the boning that was visible it was this beautiful sort of what would I call it like a peppermint I think it's like seafoam oh yeah that's nice it was it was like this beautiful shade and it was made entirely of what looked to be a chool but they had boned the chool which is quite hard to do from all accounts, had a gorgeous drop waist and then sort of this pleating of the chul that kind of just took over.

19:35Absolutely ethereal and angelic. It hugged her figure. She just looked divine. It was probably the best dress that was at the Brown Lloyd that year and one of her best looks in my opinion. As I said though, she could wear the paper bag and look like, but it was the first dress of that design I'd seen from Sam and on Annalise. Yeah, well Sam the designer told the Herald Sun that he was shocked to see influences popping up on TikTok spruiking a similar turquoise strapless gown. So he called it turquoise to the one that he designed for Annalise. He told the publication, I know I'm supposed to be flattered, but come on.

20:07It's a little disappointing when they don't acknowledge. They've even used the same color lining. What got my backup is another Australian company has done it to me. The quote continues, I'd never heard of White Fox. They're run out of Sydney, but why would you do that to a fellow Australian? It happens around the world and I've got no problem with people wanting to make money, but it's a lack of respect to not acknowledge. The stylist Paul told the publication, there's a clear difference between being inspired by a designer's work and directly copying it. It's not fair for Sam who put hours and hours of work into his dress to then see it replicated almost identically.

20:37I also reached out to Annalise as well to see what her thoughts were around it, given that she was the one that wore the beautiful design, the original. She said seeing the design replicated so closely was definitely disheartening. inspiration will always be a big part of fashion but there's a clear difference between inspiration and duplication I really feel for Sam as situations like this genuinely impact the designer's livelihood a link for the dress is live on White Fox's website as we record but currently all sizes are showing out of stock so unknown whether it has sold out in all sizes or whether it has been removed from sale essentially do you think this is a clear copycat scenario or just a coincidence or I don't think it could be a coincidence personally but I personally don't really believe in coincidences so no actually I do just not in this regard this is a control C control V if ever I've seen that and I really liked when Sam said it was most disappointing because White Fox are Australian yeah I know we've spoken about dupe culture a lot on this podcast we all know how I feel about dupes particularly in beauty but for me I think what Zara McDonald and said it was one of our first ever episodes of Stylish and we were talking about Emco and she said, why do you feel differently if Tony Bianco or Elias may have a shoe inspired by a Kate boot?

21:56And I said, because it doesn't feel like they're punching down. White Fox being worth what they're worth and Sam working out of Turak Road, South Yarra, I have driven past that beautiful store for years. Like he handcrafts these beautiful wedding dresses and designer gowns for these moments to, you know, survive in this industry that is cutthroat and is hard. I was absolutely devastated for him. And I was really angry at White Fox for this. It's so frustrating, isn't it? Because I think it's so hard when you are in an independent designer and your livelihood is backed by your creativity. It's the craft.

22:32It's the time. It's the effort that goes into making these, honestly, like they're works of art. That dress was divine. You summed it up so perfectly, Mads. And it was one of a kind. And the fact that White Fox literally can come along and control, copy, paste that piece. A Teemu version of it, let's be clear. It didn't look anywhere near as good. It was a thousand percent. But the fact that they can go and do that, replicate it to the masses, and then just put it out there. I think it's also really hard and probably quite disappointing for then Annalise to see a lot of her peers proudly supporting that same garment.

23:06like when I went through TikTok and had a look at the number of girls actually backing that dress that also really upset me because I was like guys this is clearly a copy yes it's okay probably a bit more affordable and whatever but at the same time this dress was the Annalise dress and this dress I think has so much meaning because it was like a brown low dress for her for her special occasion with her and her partner such a moment for this designer and then to see other brands Australian brands come along and undercut that. I'm just not into it. Yeah. I will say I do want to give grace to some of the creators who wore it.

23:43I really do. And I know that everyone loves to grab their pitchfork and go straight for content creators or influencers, whatever you want to call them, influencers, if you will. But I'm like, you know, the brown low is a really big thing for probably Victorians because of how many AFL teams are here. Like no one in Queensland gives a shit about the brown low. Sorry. Like there are just some states that are like NRL until we die. Like so I'm sure there are some creators that thought it was a lovely dress that weren't thinking of that visual that we have in our mind because it was on the front page of the Herald Sun or because it was on news.com.au being served to us in Vick.

24:19So I want to give a little bit of grace to them. I'm giving no grace to White Fox. Yeah. But this is just the bread and butter of fast fashion, isn't it? Yeah. It's just taking something else and go, oh, well, how can we make this in a cheaper fabric and make it look exactly the same? Because if they look, a drop waste isn't groundbreaking. The drop waste is quite popular right now. But it's the fact that they've replicated it down to the finest details aside from it being a quality fabrication and gone. Yep, we're just going to put this up on site. You could have made it in black. Yeah. We see this play out on global stage.

24:56We see this play out in our own backyard. we see it when the punching goes down and when you know sometimes punching goes up more often than not I do feel it's punching down yeah and I think we probably need to like put an exclamation mark on that point because there may be some people listening being like well I can't fucking afford to have something yeah designed from scratch to wear to my formal or to my grad ball or whatever they have on and so they're like well I'm gonna buy what I can afford and having something made by a designer for me is not in my price range. Yeah, girl, I'm with you.