Petta Chua, Sydney-based stylistCredit: Gavriel Maynard
Sydney-based stylist Petta Chua honed her keen eye for fashion during stints at Vogue Australia, GQ Australia and homegrown brands including Ksubi, Perks And Mini, Camilla and Marc.
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Sydney-based stylist Petta Chua honed her keen eye for fashion over an eight-year stint on Vogue Australia, where she started out as a fashion assistant before being elevated to contributing fashion editor. She was later appointed fashion director at Vogue’s stablemate men’s title GQ Australia, before returning to freelance styling. She has a great love for Australian fashion and has worked as a stylist for homegrown brands such as Ksubi, Perks And Mini, Camilla and Marc, Bianca Spender and Dinosaur Designs. Here Petta shares her take on Sydney style, and reveals the Sydney designers and craftspeople whose creations she most cherishes.
Where do you take friends who are visiting Sydney? “I'm a total Sydneyphile and love to share my city with travelling friends. I think the best treasures in Sydney are the less obvious ones: hidden local rock pools, pho in Bankstown, Lebanese sweet shops in Lakemba. There is plenty to discover off the beaten track.
“But you also have to head to the beaches when you’re in Sydney, right? If you go to Bondi, you should check out Albus Lumen’s Societé store on Glenayr Avenue — it’s beautiful [book an appointment here]. It really encompasses the idea of Australian luxury. Albus Lumen’s pieces are breathable and there’s attention to sustainability. The clothes are well made, elegant, easy and relaxed; you can dress them up really easily and dress them down really easily.”
What would you say sums up Sydney style? “I think it’s just the feeling of being sun-kissed after a day at the beach, stepping fresh out of the shower and putting on something that makes you feel confident in your skin. The key to ‘Sydney style’ is being able to go from the beach to dinner, and brands like Sir, Bassike and Matin do that transition so well.”
What is your favourite backdrop for a fashion shoot in your home town? “The magic of living in Sydney is that the world’s best set of beaches are only a 20-minute drive from the city centre. I grew up in Sydney’s west and I’d previously always lived in inner-city suburbs, but I moved east to Tamarama after a couple of years of intense travel at Vogue, when being away gave me the chance to fall in love with Sydney all over again. So when I returned I moved closer to the beaches, and it’s where I also end up shooting. It’s not out of laziness: you can’t live in a place like Tamarama or [neighbouring] Coogee and walk down to the beach at any time of day and not feel inspired.”
Albus Lumen’s Societé store Credit: Jiwon Kim
Australian fashion label Albus Lumen’s Societé store in Bondi.
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Albus Lumen’s Societé store Credit: Jiwon Kim
Australian fashion label Albus Lumen’s Societé store in Bondi.
Tamarama Beach Credit: Andrew Gregory; Destination NSW
Tamarama Beach, Eastern Suburbs Sydney
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Tamarama Beach Credit: Andrew Gregory; Destination NSW
Tamarama Beach, Eastern Suburbs Sydney
Do you have any favourite stores in the city centre? “Andrew McDonald Shoemaker in the Strand Arcade [a Victorian-era shopping arcade between Pitt and George streets in central Sydney]. Andrew hand-makes shoes and boots — he’s brilliant. There is ready-to-wear, so he does have shoes you can just walk in and buy straight off the wall, but I think the full experience is to see the lasts, choose the leather, choose your laces and your colour. [The process of making bespoke shoes or boots takes from six to 10 weeks; you can have your measurements taken at the store and have the finished shoes shipped to you.]
“In terms of buying something that you’re going to hold on to, a pair of his shoes or boots is such a keepsake of Sydney. I have three pairs, and they’ve aged incredibly well — or not aged at all.
“I also love Feit for handmade shoes — they have a great focus on sustainability and their vegan leather sneakers are my favourites.”
And outside the city centre? “The Intersection precinct [where Glenmore Road meets Oxford Street in Paddington, in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs] is a good little trip to do. You can spend a couple of hours here and get a broad stroke of what Australian fashion looks like. You’ll find the boutiques for local labels such as Camilla and Marc, Dion Lee, KitX, Gorman, Zimmermann and many more here.”
Are there any cult Sydney stores you recommend seeking out? “[Melvin Tanaya and Lyna Ty’s men’s and women’s label] Song for the Mute is such an incredible space. The label has a cult following internationally, and its headquarters are tucked away in a street a couple of blocks off Broadway in Glebe [a 10-minute drive from the city centre in the Inner West], so you would never really know it was there unless you specifically went. And people do specifically go there: it’s the darling of so many rappers. People in music, in K-pop, they all love Song for the Mute.”
Where do you go to spot great street style? “The Inner West — Marrickville and Newtown — is where you’ll find the best Sydney street style. A lot of people say Bondi, but you see more unique style in Marrickville and Stanmore. There is an organic food market on Sundays where creative upcycling organisation Reverse Garbage is [at the Addison Road Community Centre complex in Marrickville], and you get a broad taste of Sydney style. I love Reverse Garbage. I spend a lot of time there with Jordan Gogos, the industrial artist, because he can turn anything into something magical; he’s a creative genius.”
When you want a break from the city, where do you go? “You can drive two hours down south from Sydney [to the South Coast] and be in the greenest rolling meadows, and a short distance from that would be some of the best NSW beaches. They have such good fresh food markets around there, too. Now when I’m with a friend in Sydney, they ask me what to do and I say we have to take a day trip to the Kiama Farmers’ Market [on Wednesday afternoons in Kiama] — they’re insane!”
The Intersection, Paddington Credit: Destination NSW
The Intersection shopping precinct, Paddington
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The Intersection, Paddington Credit: Destination NSW
The Intersection shopping precinct, Paddington
Kiama Farmer's Markets, Kiama Credit: Destination NSW
The Kiama Farmer's Market held every Wednesday at Surf Beach, located on Manning Street.
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Kiama Farmer's Markets, Kiama Credit: Destination NSW
The Kiama Farmer's Market held every Wednesday at Surf Beach, located on Manning Street.
More Inspirational Stories
The Fall Guy Credit: Universal & UPI Media
The Fall Guy in Sydney with a spectacular Glebe Island Silo Stunt
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Action-comedy film The Fall Guy explodes onto Australian screens on 24 April, and along with Hollywood superstars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Sydney also plays a starring role. But the city isn’t just a backdrop to many of the action-packed scenes in the film, it also offers real-life action experiences to get your heart pumping. Here’s our guide to high-octane experiences in Sydney.
On-the-water adrenaline
Just like Ryan Gosling blasting around Sydney Harbour in a high-speed boat chase, you too can feel the wind in your hair, the sea spray on your face and your heart in your mouth on an Oz Jet Boating experience. These bright red, shark-faced jetboats fish-tail, spin and slide under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past Dawes Point Park (where we meet Jean Claude the kelpie in the film) and the iconic Sydney Opera House, leaving you breathless and somewhat damp. Turn it down a notch with a two-, three- or five-day course from EastSail, with classes on the calm shores of Rushcutters Bay, or go five-star by hiring your very own superyacht from the fleet at Sydney Harbour Luxe Charters – Ghost II was featured in the film.
Get locked in an escape room
A bolted door, a countdown clock and a series of fiendish puzzles – outsmart the bad guys and challenge your friends in one of Sydney’s best escape rooms. Award-winning The Cipher Room, with locations in Newtown and St Peters, offers immersive, expertly designed rooms. Choose from a film noir-style hotel, a mysterious abandoned toy shop or a dystopian French bunker. Entermission Sydney has virtual-reality rooms, with themes like Alice in Wonderland, a pirate ship or space station. While not strictly an escape room, the one-of-a-kind Hijinx Hotel is a fun escape-like challenge set inside a quirky 15-room hotel.
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
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Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
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Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Find your need for speed
It’s not an action movie without a car chase, and while you can’t speed through the CBD streets like Ryan Gosling and Jean Claude, you can still challenge your friends to race via go kart at Hyper Karting Moore Park. At the 410-metre indoor track, the electric cars offer plenty of exhilarating straights and corners, with a high-speed function to help you overtake your mates. True petrol heads should make a pitstop at Luddenham Raceway in southwest Sydney, where the go karts are fuelled and the 600m outdoor pro circuit offers 12 high-speed corners and even nighttime drives. Want to do the real thing? Trackschool has half-day passenger or driving experiences in a Porsche 911 Carrera also at the raceway.
Have an adventure up high
A high-stakes, sky-high chopper scene is an action flick essential; recreate the experience (minus the stress) on a flight with Sydney HeliTours. The 20- or 30-minute tours take in jaw-dropping views of harbour icons like the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Or live out your Hollywood star dreams onboard the luxury Sydney Seaplanes. If free-falling from the sky like Ryan Gosling does jumping from a multi-story building is the heart race you crave, get the thrills without the spills at iFly Downunder: fully accessible, all-ages indoor skydiving that will make you feel like a superhero. Or take a day trip to the Blue Mountains for a ride on Scenic World’s 270m-high glass-cased Beyond Skyway for that soaring feeling while safely enclosed in a cable car.
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
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Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
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Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
Scale walls and cliffs
Action heroes need to be agile and spider-like; flex your skills scaling rock walls at one of Sydney’s top indoor rock-climbing centres. Climb Fit in St Leonards has beginner and high-tech climbs using augmented reality, while Ledge is a smaller centre in Camperdown perfect for beginners, and BlocHaus in Marrickville focuses solely on bouldering. If you prefer to climb surrounded by waterfalls and forests, make the extra leap to the Blue Mountains, and challenge yourself on an abseil or rock-climb under the expert guidance of the Blue Mountains Adventure Company.
Spots to refuel
After all that adventuring, you’re going to need a spot to refuel and cheers to a big day. Make it a meal with a view at Aster Bar on top of the InterContinental Sydney – with uninterrupted views of the harbour. The rooftop bar featured in the film is the Ivy – which is a local favourite for big nights out. Partake in Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s love for spicy margaritas at Centro 86, a new underground tequila bar in the CBD, or taste award-winning cocktails at Dean and Nancy on 22. Finish up with a feast at one of the restaurants located around Jones Bay Wharf (you’ll spot this area in the film as Ryan Gosling hides on his boat from the bad guys) or snack in the late-night dining havens in Chinatown: try Japanese izakaya Nakano Darling, xiao long bao from Nanjing Dumpling or Mamak’s legendary roti.
Rest your head
Even heroes need their beauty sleep. Rest up like an A-lister at the Kimpton Margot, a recently opened CBD hotel with Art Deco touches, and featured in the movie (ask Kevin for the fruit plate). Compact yet comfortable, the Little National Hotel is located in the heart of the city near Wynyard (also a major filming locale for The Fall Guy). And for a boutique hotel suitable for everyone from film stars to stunt crew, stay in the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, with unique in-room features like guitars, record players and locally made custom robes.
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
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Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
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Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.