ICONIC AUSTRALIAN

LUXURY GOODS

producer

THE HOUSE OF HANLON

CREATES AN EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTION OF GOODS

INSPIRED BY THE FAMILY’S COLONIAL HISTORY

FROM A HUMBLE RURAL FARM

SINCE 1875

From spruiking farm fresh, non-toxic backyard beauty concoctions in recycled Vegemite jars at The Rocks and Paddington Markets, to a multimillion dollar flagship store located on George Street Sydney (above) to right now. Retailing in 200+ countries worldwide. This is the legend of Christopher Hanlon®. Australia’s FIRST Perfumer®.

Every small piece was intricately handcrafted and designed by underground cult figure Christopher Hanlon®. Christopher’s story and mythical journey was set in the early nineties in Sydney Australia. The bohemian lived in the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills and Darlingthurst working in a makeshift studio with a group of fellow rebel artisans. Hanlon® became an underground cult figure in a movement they dubbed The Maker Movement. It was a major D.I.Y youth reaction against an oppressive global corporate production of luxury goods that had taken over the retail landscape. His life was culturally enriched by the companionship of what were deemed outsiders to mainstream society from teenaged poets to industrial designers (no one then could have imagined that young BELINDA ALEXANDRA would later become an international Best Selling Author). The Christopher Hanlon® brand and its followers represented beacons of modern change. Together they shifted the status quo and subconsciously opened doors for thousands of other Maker-Artists to follow. They were fresh, green and clean. This was The Maker Movement. These rare historical photographs (above + below) are important because they illustrate how each flagship store located in Sydney’s premium retail precincts was bursting at the seams with hundreds of the most exquisite, Christopher Hanlon® luxury goods. Artisan made and inimitable.

FEATURED ABOVE: THE STRAND ARCADE STORE WAS TRULY SPECTACULAR. FASHIONED BY CHRISTOPHER HANLON® WITH [HE]ART + SOUL IT ATTRACTED INTERNATIONAL VISITORS FAR AND WIDE. BRIMMING WITH ARTWORKS, AROMATIC CONCOCTIONS, LETTERPRESSED BOTTLE LABELS, ILLUSTRATED SIGNS, ELEGANT VISUAL DISPLAYS AND A HAND DRAWN LOGO ON THE WINDOW. BUT ABOVE ALL THE STORE WAS FILLED WITH BLOOMING LOVE.

EACH PIECE IS A WORK OF (HE)ART

TODAY CHRISTOPHER HANLON® exclusively serves A most refined, elite and chosen clientele. SELECT FROM A BESPOKE SERVICE OR A LIMITED EDITION SIGNATURE PIECE FOR THAT QUINTESSENTIAL AUSTRALIAN GIFT

Distinguish yourself from the crowd. Inspired by a heritage of early Australian pioneers. Christopher’s family standards of workmanship, diligence and sense of business community carry this 145+ year old brand name into a new century of Australian history. Ross Hanlon®, President of Hanlon® Luxury Goods explains (Sept., 2017): "Our family heritage informs our standards and drives my son to create his finest in handcrafted luxury: perfume, leather bags, hand printed scarves, alloy and leather jewelry, Australian herbal skincare preparations and that treasured objet d'art.”

Today Christopher carries the family’s torch. Each piece is painstakingly designed by the House of Hanlon® with a team of dedicated artisans: a leathersmith, a fabric printer trained in screen and digital print, a jeweller specialising in alloy and an organic cosmetic chemist. Master artisan CHRISTOPHER HANLON® produces a limited range of eponymous Australian luxury goods. His artistic style and prized perfume notes are manifested even in the finest, most delicate of aromatic pieces. The company is still family owned. Completely privately funded with a colourful Australian outback heritage. As a youth Christopher, an eccentric maverick and larrikin, defied mainstream Australian fashion convention becoming a modern day pioneer in his own right (following the footsteps of his Great Grandfather Tom Hanlon® and Great Great Grandfather Daniel Hanlon®) albeit in the field of men’s organic cosmetics.

Today this bohemian art house has a devoted international clientele of some of the world’s who’s who and has appropriately introduced services for these private clients. However no appointment is necessary for ready-to-wear artworks and the constantly evolving collection of limited edition signature goods. Now you can experience his refined selection of classic Australian cult icons anytime.

VEGEMITE JARS + SYDNEY FESTIVAL = LOCAL DYNAMITE 

PREHISTORiC HIS-STORY

To cut a long story short CHRISTOPHER HANLON® designed the CH® monogram as a college design project. He sold his first products at a market stall in recycled Vegemite jars. Without doubt, even at this early stage (1994-95) Hanlon stumbled on what many companies could only ever dream of – a nontoxic moisturizer that kept you looking younger. It was gifted to him by his mother Delia Elizabeth Hanlon, who was known around Geelong and at Manifold’s Height’s Holy Spirit church as ‘The Wiz’. Christopher called it his family recipe. ‘It is similar to making a pot of fresh yoghurt (for your face) except you start with cold pressed Aloe Vera to which you add the miracle oils. Calendula, Chickweed, Angelica, Frankinsence, Lemon Myrtle, Tea Tree, Neem, Plantago Major or a touch of Eucalyptus and Centella Asiatica,’ he says. News of the concoction spread quickly via word-of-mouth networks especially through the local suburbs of Surry Hills, Kings Cross, Paddington, Bondi, The Rocks and Darlinghurst. As his formulas began to improve so too did sales soar.

Perhaps though the deal breaker was some much needed cold cash. And a gorgeous helping hand from a twenty-something beauty editor at Australian VOGUE (Jane Druker) who took shine to his beauty products. In addition Lady Luck presented herself in 1994, when Hanlon® serendipitously won $5,000 first prize for the Sydney Festival Poster Design Competition. It brought the youngster a touch of street fame with a spot on the six o’clock Channel 9 News. His five dollar graffiti style chalk doodle (pictured below) caught the eyes of Australian artist KEN DONE and Creative Director of SAATCHI & SAATCHI. The time was early 1990s. A time when it was more common for street artists to be shunned by the corporate sector and their official inner art sanctum. Nevertheless, it was this SYDNEY FESTIVAL POSTER COMPETITION chaired by Ken Done and produced by SAATCHI & SAATCHI with CHANNEL NINE and the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD that catapulted the curly haired, freckled face Hanlon from the gutter into the glossy pages of VOGUE Australia. Hanlon cracked the jackpot.

THE $5,000 FIRST PRIZE MONEY ENABLED THE DEVELOPMENT OF HANLON’S COSMETIC PROTOTYPES INTO A DEPARTMENT STORE READY RANGE USING GREEN COSMETIC TECHNOLOGY

By February '95 VOGUE Australia’s Beauty Editor Jane Drucker ran with a story about the Ozzie Miracle cream maker. By April 1995 media coverage had snowballed. George Bingham (the national buyer for luxury cosmetics at Myer/Grace Bros) spotted it in a 4 page, full colour photographic spread in the hot new men's magazine 'Metropolitan Style'. This free space had an estimated street value of $15,000. Bingham pounced on the brand and had Hanlon sign up🖌 for an exclusive men's cosmetic contract with Australia’s largest department store chain. By September '95 Hanlon's repackaged and now professionally manufactured grooming line was selling next to the likes of Chanel, Gucci and Calvin Klein. The skincare formula (using Ross Hanlon’s backyard Geelong lemons🍋) was no longer just his mother’s Delia Hanlon’s best kept neighbourhood beauty secret. By Christmas 1995 Hanlon® was being touted by the team at Australian VOGUE as a Christmas must. Although Christopher's foray into the beauty business was in the most part by accident, he was also in retrospect (and unbeknown to him) a pioneer in the exploding men's skincare business. He was, by all measures, lightyears⚡️ ahead of time.

ICONIC CULT-FAVES

Today CHRISTOPHER HANLON® is a worldwide registered/pending trademark privately exporting finely crafted artisan products throughout the world – Sydney, London, Paris, New York to Geelong🌎. Hard won industry plaudits have gained momentum. MARIE CLAIRE Hong Kong has described Christopher Hanlon® as a ‘world trend leader in Australian cosmetics’ while the Russian fashion bible L’OFFICIEL described it as ‘The best lemon hand cream.’ Distancing itself from fleeting trends Christopher Hanlon® draws inspiration from his own bizarre artistic life and backyard Aussie heritage. Each piece is entirely made in homage to Delia and Ross Hanlon® and in memory of his Great Grandfather, Tom Hanlon®. What was featured in THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD as a ‘Dream in a Cream' is now an iconic Australian luxury cult brand.

A secret Sydney attraction of which celebrities, fashion stylists and social luminaries have been reported to be fans. Did WE mention MADONNA, KYLIE MINOGUE Or NICOLE KIDMAN?

SURRY HILLS : THE DOG BOX + HEADQUARTERS

Without doubt Hanlon® is still loyal to his roots. The company was founded in 1994 while studying at Art + Design College in Australia with a family heritage dating back to 1875🗓. Hanlon® began operating an industrious makeshift perfume and skincare company when he moved into a giant disused concrete warehouse located at Room 13, 50 Holt Street Surry Hills Sydney. The place had permanently locked windows, a rat🐁 in the wall and felt like a giant prison cell👮 rather than a fashionable design studio. Christopher with a posse of nerdy friends (students studying Art, Hat Making, Photography, Acting, Architecture, Literature and Science) hand mixed a capsule collection of herbal products by night; and by day Christopher would drop off orders to locals in the surrounding Sydney neighbourhoods of Darlinghurst, Kings Cross and Paddington on his black and chrome bicycle. The eponymous brand was officially launched in Myers with four men's skincare products and one perfume, nationwide in 1995. From that day on it was full steam ahead (onto the Rocky Road🍫).

MYER : MY STORE

Hanlon® coincidently entered the virtually untapped men’s mass grooming market with two burgeoning players: Aramis Lab Series and Clinique for Men. Although Christopher was naive to the fact that the men’s grooming market was about to explode, the astute cosmetic and fragrance buyer at Myers was not. With an eye on the market’s pulse the spotlessly groomed Mr George Bingham accurately predicted🔮 what was about to unfold. CH® was revolutionary. It had been packaged in futuristic recycled aluminium canisters sporting 100% Australian made organic🍎 contents. Therefore in hindsight it was innovative. Plus it appealed to a new younger generation – the media dubbed ‘Metrosexuals’. Hanlon® created something for himself but it was exactly the sort of product a twentysomething health conscious🏄🏼‍♂️ male consumer was looking for. The brand established an excellent sales reputation. It was marketed via word-of-mouth🙄🤔😧, with graffiti posters and sporadic print and television coverage. As hard work and luck would have it, Christopher Hanlon® was later announced as the ‘Number 1 Men's Selling Skincare Line in Myer Sydney’🎖.

DJS : THE $OUND OF MUSIC

Subsequently Hanlon® was poached by DAVID JONES (another prestige Australian Department store chain) and expanded into thirty additional stores🛒with added product lines in 1997. Hanlon® negotiated an exclusive deal🖌 with debonair Paul Zahra (who later became the CEO of David Jones with his movie star good looks). The brand grew exponentially while it was supported by editorial staff like Jane Druker at VOGUE; Victoria Meppem, Karen Upton-Baker and Gavin Darling from HARPER’S BAZAAR and MODE; plus the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and CHANNEL NINE. Hanlon® was seen by local media sources as the rebel authority in men's cosmetics. Retrospectively his eponymous Sydney underground art movement was revolutionary because it utilised Australian organicaly farmed botanicals and eco-conscious minimalist cosmetic packaging years before mainstream. Christopher became a member of the Maker Movement and his brand promoted the sociopolitical marketing term to its young flock🦆. Although it was a time when billion dollar companies dominated the market, Hanlon’s® grassroots approach with their ‘Made in the Backyard’ campaign became a much loved ❤️ counterculture parody. They emphasised qualities of D.I.Y, artisan pride, ethics, handmade, provenance, authenticity and traditional craft techniques.

The impact (from market stall, department store, to a flagship on George Street) was seen by many and captured by the press (eg., ELLE Hong Kong 2009). By September 1997 one of Australia’s most influential fashion magazines MODE described the brand in terms of ‘Hanlon’s skincare has become so successful it’s rivalling sales in Australia by the big international companies (edited).’ Hanlon’s® sales team consisted of Paul Rokobah (City Gym Weight Lifter), Alison Kallevh (Bondi Beach Teenaged Beauty Queen + TV Actress), Julie Maree Serhorm (Make-up Artist💋) and Miss Bolbierev (a Multilinguist Blonde Bombshell) who touted their edgy story with a sXXXy bend-and-twist🤸‍♂️. This struck a subliminal cord with Sydney’s hipsters, the underground scene, connoisseurs, fellow design students and Oxford Street teenaged disco-queens🌈. Dawn O’Donald, prominent Sydney entrepreneur and supporter of the Sydney LGBT community was a huge fan. The brand broke with the tradition of a cosmetic company being a commodity of an international conglomerate. Hanlon® and his gang-stars challenged these established companies with their youthful kid-powered marketing strategies and were one of the first-off-the-rank to flog their Bumper-Bar Lip Balm™ and Concrete Foundation™ to Sydney men. Importantly the brand began to acquire pop star appeal.

ABOVE + RIGHT: Poster artwork from the outré ‘Made in the Backyard’ campaign. These instant-art-style posters and stickers were stuck to local telephone poles, street bins, public toilets🧻, inside fanzines📚 and popular venues at: Kings Cross, Oxford Street, Crown Street, Victoria Street, City Gym, Darlinghurst, Mardi Gras, The Phoenix, Graeme Aitkhein’s The Bookshop, The Shift, The Oxford Hotel, Darlo Bar, The Kirketon, The Arq, Kinselas, The Orient at The Rocks, Surry Hills and Paddington. CH® became an underground symbol for next-gen using word-of-mouth guerilla marketing and D.I.Y posters. They called it street style pride.

SHOP 'TILL YOU DROP

2000 - Having established a men's grooming🪒 department store brand Christopher opened his first prototype boutique. At the time HARPER’S BAZAAR Australia declared to it’s following that the brand was ‘IN’. A self branded store with eco-conscious cosmetic products opened in the heart of Sydney's THE ROCKS precinct, at what is today called CLELAND BOND stores. It was accompanied by pop-up stalls at the ROCKS Market, BALMAIN Market, the BREWERY YARD and PADDINGTON MARKETS. Subsequently recognised as an Australian lifestyle brand (with a cult following) Hanlon was approached by the management at the STRAND ARCADE. Hanlon® opened his second concept store, but first fully fledged boutique, at the Strand Arcade where he personally greeted customers for over a decade. This cemented the foundations to an international network of devotees🧘🏻. Clients included billionaires like Rhonda Triguboff, millionaires, gang-stars, pop stars and his mates the locals. Take for example gorgeous SHARON LEE ‘Australia’s Leading Brow Expert’ with her A-list following and celebrity atelier. (Hush, hush! We did not mention: Kylie Minogue, Serena Williams, Beyonce, Leonardo Di Caprio, Russell Crowe nor the Kardashians). Hanlon’s® prized Strand Arcade boutique was positioned with other Australian designers ALEX PERRY, JAYSON BRUNSDON, LEONA EDMISTON, DINOSAUR DESIGNS, ZAPPACOSTA, ANDREW McDONALD, TERRY BIVIANO and AKIRA. Ultimately Hanlon® opened a third boutique. Complete with an exquisite Australian made leather bag section – on George Street, The Rocks, neighbouring Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

Young and beautiful Korean superstar 송지효 (Song Ji-Hyo) aka ’JI-HYO of RUNNING MAN' television fame became a client (with a fan base of millions). What had spread as small town rumour quickly manifested into reports that LINDA + PAUL HOGAN (mates of television actress JULIE McGREGOR of 'HEY DAD', ‘A COUNTRY PRACTICE’ and ‘SON’S & DAUGHTERS’ fame with 4 million weekly views) were devotees. More reports🎤 began to appear in the press. Next was MARIE CLAIRE Hong Kong, penned by Art Director ANGELA CHEUNG. The fashion glossy name-dropped NICOLE KIDMAN. Others would follow including high circulation: ELLE HONG KONG, BELLE AUSTRALIA,  AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, WOMEN’S WEEKLY SINGAPORE, GQ AUSTRALIA (hugs LIVIA SHARP, Fashion+Beauty Editor), TIME OUT SYDNEY and THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH. There were also behind the scene insta-influencers like dynamic duo DAVID NOVAK PIPER and NEALE 📺 WHITAKER as well as the exceptional Australian Fashion Director VIRGINIA VAN HEYTHUYSEN.

Seemingly overnight the Hanlon® brand launched into Hong Kong and the underground bomb blast spread like wildfire amongst a fashion savvy jet set. In retrospective terms, the era was the beginning of his beauty export business, particularly to Russia. Christopher became an unspoken🤐 status symbol for a well healed fashion elite, an underground art scene and the rebellious youth of a nation: seeking ethically made products. The outback media frenzy continued like a local bushfire🔥with smouldering KYLIE MINOGUE and a STOP THE RUSHEN campaign courtesy of L’OFFICIEL Russia Editor (and influencer) EVELINA KHROMTCHENKO. Kaboom! 💣 The Great Australian backyard legend was born. Iconic. Ironic.

THE BIRTH OF A BACKYARD LEGEND

Above: How peddle power🚴‍♂️ makes cents. From a market stall⛺️ at Sydney’s Paddington Markets to a multilevel million dollar flagship store on George Street Sydney. Hanlon® had the get-up-to-go! Christopher’s products were developed in support of local cottage industries, the under-and-unemployed and Australian farmers. 'Artisan not Industry driven' became their secret beauty catchcry – to the youth of a nation🇦🇺.

25+ YEAR RETROSPECTIVE

ECO-CONSCIOUS | SUSTAINABLE | VEGAN | ARTISAN

AUSTRALIAN BORN