A Boy and his Bear

In this raw and hilarious memoir, a boy of humble beginnings in working-class Melbourne goes from dressing up his teddy to designing for Melbourne’s high society. Gregory Ladner lifts the lid on a world of gorgeous women, glamourous gowns and salacious secrets. It’s a rags-to-riches story – without the rags!  
A Boy and His Beartracks Ladner’s career as an Australian couturier, an international designer working in Hong Kong, and a creator of a hugely successful fashion accessory company. Beneath the glitz, it is also a highly entertaining mosaic of intimate and shocking confessions, both sensitive and brutal – a story of love, loss and social taboos in a society laced with contradictions.   Revealing in more ways than one, and illustrated by the author’s own exquisite pen drawings, the colourful retrospective is a vivid, no-holds-barred reflection of a bygone era.

Author Biography

Gregory Ladner is one of Australia’s most enduring fashion designers, with a career spanning over four decades across Australia, Europe, and Asia. From humble beginnings designing outfits and dressing his teddy, to studying fashion at university, Gregory has worked as an Australian couturier, for legendary Melbourne institute Le Louvre, as an international designer who once worked in Hong Kong, and was the creator and designer of the hugely successful fashion accessory company, Gregory Ladner, which is still available in major department stores around the country.