In this raw and hilarious memoir, 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 Bear tracks 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, this colourful retrospective is a vivid, no-holds-barred reflection on a bygone era.

Gregory Ladner is one of Australia's most enduring fashion designers, having produced for markets in his home country, Europe and Asia over a career spanning more than four decades. As a boy he designed outfits for his teddy and as a teenager he dressed his mother and the neighbours. He went on to study fashion at Swinburne University before starting his career working for the legendary Melbourne establishment, Le Louvre, at the "Paris End" of Collins Street. Having risen to become one of Australia's leading couturiers, he was head-hunted to revive the failing fortunes of Hong Kong's luxury fashion house Shanghai Tang. Today, Gregory is the creator and designer of the hugely successful fashion accessory company that bears his name, with his distinctive millinery particularly sought after by women. Gregory lives in Melbourne.

A Boy and his Bear

a memoir by Gregory Ladner

Hardie Grant Publishing

RRP: $45.00

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