• Jump to Matteau and Deiji Studios’ Favorite Spots in Australia

IN THE BRIGHT, aerial landscapes popularized by photographers such as Gray Malin — the kind that appear dreamlike, as screensavers and as stage dressing for short-term rentals promising escape — Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach is a neon paradise: all aquamarine waves and glowing sand, punctuated with fuchsia Neoprene and electric-lime umbrellas.

Matteau

Sisters Ilona Hamer and Peta Heinsen grew up in the halo of that magnificent flash of sunshine, spending weekends by the pool at their parents’ house in Sydney, and summers at nearby beaches such as Bondi, Clovelly, and Hyams. Since 2015, though, their brand Matteau has offered women a considered, alternative vision of a perfect day by the sea through a range of elegant swim- and resort-wear that’s less shiny than a postcard photograph but just as magical.

“Growing up in Australia is such a unique experience that I didn’t quite grasp until moving overseas,” says Hamer, who’s now based in California after tours as a Vogue Australia editor and stylist in New York City. Matteau was born when Hamer struggled to find neutral, flattering swim options for magazine shoots. “I was always looking for a really clean black swimsuit that was Australian-made and reflected my style. There really wasn’t anything on the market, so we started talking about how we could create something, then took our time sampling and testing out fabrics.”

They started simply, with just three tops, three briefs, and a maillot, in three colors. The designs were intentionally neutral, quiet so that the personality wearing them could be loud. Heinsen and Hamer were inspired by their mom, who grew up in Melbourne in the ’50s, spending her summers “walking to the river to jump off swing ropes and have picnics” with her brothers, Hamer says. The sisters say their mother taught them that with hard work and dedication, anything can be possible. It’s been their goal to pass along that confidence to their customers, with a slowly expanding range of reliable wardrobe tools for a life with fewer regrets. Durable poplin shirts offer sun protection at the beach and convey crisp attention to detail at a lunch meeting. A plunging one-piece in recycled nylon supports larger busts with the brand’s signature seamless silhouette intact; tiered dresses invite a morning breeze. “Everything is designed to work with things from previous seasons,” Hamer says. “It’s about finding pieces from the collections that take the anxiety away, so you can focus on your experience in life.”

A decade after the brand was conceived, the founders stay close with daily video calls and Hamer’s regular trips home to check in with local manufacturers. The sisters count on a network of friends and each other — risks are analyzed by Heinsen; every visual gets Hamer’s approval — as they work toward growing their retail offerings and B Corp certification, a top standard of environmental and social impact. “We are by no means perfect,” Heinsen says, “but we are always considering how we can do better and be better. We aspire to produce the best product we can, so it lasts, and to make the most sustainable decisions in every aspect of our business.”

A parent to three, Heinsen’s home on Australia’s Sunshine Coast backs onto the eucalyptus- and pine-scented paths of coastal Noosa National Park, “with the ocean to the left and the sunset to the right.” Like her mother before her, Heinsen gathers her family for weekends on the river and evenings by the bush, “listening to nature close down for the night.” In a recent photo, her eldest daughter celebrated a newly earned driver’s license in a shirred lavender Matteau crop top, matching skirt, and bare feet. It’s easy to imagine the skirt styled as a strapless dress for a first date, or the crop paired with shorts for a hike, each piece earning its keep from one milestone to the next. “As Australians, we have a beautiful connection with nature and water,” Hamer says. “It’s inescapable. My favorite things in life truly are free: sunshine, salt water, and family. There is nothing better.”

Deiji Studios

Near the end of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” one of the play’s two female characters, Ophelia, hands out flowers to King Claudius’ court. Grieving the death of her father and at a loss for polite words, the flowers are regarded as a safe way for Ophelia to let the king and queen know how she’s feeling. She passes around rosemary, pansies, and fennel, then sees a daisy, picks it up, and puts it back down. The coded message is that daisies, a symbol of innocence, are not suited for this court.

For Deiji Studios, the high-comfort brand based in Byron Bay and named after the cheerful flower, daisies represent not just the virtue “Hamlet’s” royals lacked, but the courage Ophelia showed in expressing herself on her own terms. “The daisy is strong and resilient, yet humble and soft,” says Emma Nelson, who founded Deiji with Juliette Harkness. “People can mistake softness for weakness.” Since 2016, Deiji’s range of airy sleepwear, cushiony bedding, and everyday separates seems to ask: why lead with white-knuckled grit when you could be gentle?

Harkness and Nelson met through mutual friends in 2015, when Nelson moved from Melbourne to sunny northern New South Wales. “We’re both strong-minded women and mothers, and we realized that we have the same goals and the same strong belief that our relationship with each other, ourselves, and our family comes first,” they say. They wove those values through their first loungewear pieces, crafted in French linen and stone washed “to have that extra-soft feeling. Otherwise it is too stiff and scratchy,” Harkness says. Pairing a one-size wrap top with wide-leg pants, the 01 pajama set approximates the experience of cocooning inside your sheets. The popular 03 set, an effortlessly draped boxy pocket shirt and mid-rise pocket shorts, can be worn to sleep or as a chic uniform outside.

Deiji’s experiments in tailored-but-cozy clothes now expand beyond linen: A new trouser in organic cotton is designed to be styled up or down, and a ballet-wrap cardigan and scoop-neck pullover were created from a subtly shimmering, sustainable knit blend that Deiji’s team developed “from scratch with our factory” to be as “environmentally conscious, washable,” and long-lasting as possible, Harkness says.

Along with Deiji, Harkness and Nelson have launched Juem, a line focused on intimates for maternity and beyond, and have cultivated a small and mighty operating team. “The people we have met and worked with have been by far the most rewarding. Not in a million years would we have thought we would have a team of 10 people who feel like family to us,” they say. “We have lots of laughs at the office, and we overcome challenges with open communication.” Together at home on the coast, they believe the right clothes can help people find a calmer sense of themselves and trust in the power of a good mood. “We like reading a book, yoga, and swimming in the ocean. Taking time for ourselves is really important,” Nelson says.