AUSTRALIAN

LUXURY GOODS

producer

THE

HOUSE OF HANLON

CREATES AN EXCEPTIONAL

COLLECTION

INSPIRED BY THE FAMILY’S

OUTBACK HERITAGE

FROM A HUMBLE RURAL FARM

SINCE 1875

From spruiking farm fresh backyard beauty concoctions in recycled Vegemite jars at The Rocks and Paddington Markets, to his flagship boutique located on George Street Sydney (above) to right now. Retailing and delivering to 200+ countries internationally. This is the legend of CHRISTOPHER HANLON®. Australia’s FIRST Perfumer®.

OBSESSION

MAKE-A-MOVEMENT

Each small piece is intricately handcrafted in Australia by artisans and designed by CHRISTOPHER HANLON®. The foundations of the House of Hanlon® began in Sydney’s artistic underground during the early 1990s inspired by his family’s farming history. The bohemian lived in the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills and Darlingthurst working in a makeshift studio with a group of rebel students. Hanlon® became a mythical figure in the emerging movement they dubbed The Maker Movement. It was a D.I.Y youth reaction to a luxury landscape dominated by mass manufacturing. Hanlon was seen as an early pioneer in the Australian men’s organic skincare movement. His life was culturally enriched with 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 or that local make-up artist Cherie Laurent would transform into a singing cabaret sensation). The CHRISTOPHER HANLON® brand and its community represented symbols of change – a shift in culture. Championing artisan-made and opening the door for other maker-artists to follow. They were fresh, green and clean. This was the Maker Movement. These establishment photographs (above + below) are important because they illustrate how each flagship store located in Sydney’s premier retail precincts was bursting at the seams – with hundreds of the most exquisite, CHRISTOPHER HANLON® handcrafted luxury goods. Today the House of Hanlon® continues to endure with its exclusivity, innovation and rich Australian provenance. As the name quietly thrives, amongst a growing network of artists, perfume collectors and cultural iconoclasts. Artisan made and inimitable.

FEATURED ABOVE: THE STRAND ARCADE STORE – A MASTERPIECE. FASHIONED WITH [HE]ART AND SOUL IT ATTRACTED VISITORS FAR AND WIDE. BRIMMING WITH ARTWORKS, AROMATIC CONCOCTIONS, LETTERPRESS JAR LABELS, ILLUSTRATED SIGNS AND AN ELEGANT HAND DRAWN LOGO ON THE WINDOW. BUT ABOVE ALL, IT WAS FILLED WITH BLOOMING LOVE.

A WORK OF (HE)ART

Today CHRISTOPHER HANLON® GRACIOUSLY serves THE most refined, elite and chosen clientele. Select FROM a Bespoke service or a Limited Edition Signature piece.

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, scarves, jewelry, skincare 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 perfumer 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 artisan owned. Privately funded with a colourful Australian outback heritage. As a youth Christopher, an eccentric maverick and larrikin, defied 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.

The bohemian house has a devoted clientele of some of the world’s who’s who and has appropriately introduced Bespoke. However, no appointment is necessary for ready-to-wear artworks or the constantly evolving collection of limited edition signature goods. Experience a refined and sophisticated selection of authentic Australian pieces – some iconic, some lesser-known – at your leisure.

VEGEMITE JARS + SYDNEY FESTIVAL = LOCAL DYNAMITE 

HIS-STORY

To cut a long story short CHRISTOPHER HANLON® began with a spark of suburban ingenuity – the CH® monogram a humble college project, born in recycled Vegemite jars in Geelong. By the early 1990s, word of mouth carried the family’s formula – an elixir of fresh Australian aloe and native oils – from the backstreets of Surry Hills to the pages of Vogue Australia. A $5,000 first prize from the Sydney Festival Poster Competition launched his name onto TV as the graffiti-inspired doodle caught the eye of a generation. What began as an underground concoction quietly emerged as a symbol of handmade Australian luxury.

Hanlon’s first products were sold from market stalls in recycled Vegemite jars. Even at this early stage, he stumbled upon something companies could only dream of – a moisturizer that kept your skin looking younger. The botanical formula had been gifted to him by his mother, Delia Elizabeth Hanlon, known around Geelong and at Manifold Height’s Holy Spirit church as ‘The Wiz’. Christopher described it as a family recipe: ‘Similar to making a pot of fresh yoghurt for your face’, beginning with cold pressed Aloe Vera infused with rejuvenating oils including Calendula, Chickweed, Angelica, Frankinsence, Lemon Myrtle, Tea Tree, Manuka, Plantago Major, Eucalyptus and Centella Asiatica. News of the fermented concoction spread rapidly across Surry Hills, Kings Cross, Paddington, Bondi, The Rocks and Darlinghurst. As formulas evolved, so did demand.

VOGUE

Perhaps the deal breaker, was simply, much needed cold cash. And a gorgeous helping hand. A twenty-something beauty editor at Australian VOGUE, Jane Druker, took shine to his beauty products. Lady Luck had certainly presented herself, with the unexpected win of that first prize money. The award also brought a touch of street cred. His five dollar chalk doodle caught the attention of Australian artist Ken Done and the creative team at SAATCHI & SAATCHI. At a time when street inspired art was often dismissed by the corporate establishment, the Sydney Festival Poster Competition – chaired by Ken Done and produced with SAATCHI & SAATCHI, Channel Nine and The Sydney Morning Herald – catapulted the curly-haired, freckled-face Hanlon from the backstreets of Sydney into the glossy pages of VOGUE Australia.

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

MINIMALIST SILVER

By February 1995 VOGUE Australia Beauty Editor Jane Druker published an article on the Aussie miracle cream maker. Within months, media attention snowballed. George Bingham – the national cosmetics buyer for Myer and Grace Bros – spotted it in a four page editorial spread within the emerging men’s lifestyle magazine Metropolitan Style. The editorial exposure carried an estimated promotional value of $15,000. Sensing a cultural and consumer shift Bingham secured HANLON® for an exclusive men's grooming contract – with Australia’s largest department store.

By September 1995, Hanlon's repackaged and now professionally manufactured grooming collection was being sold alongside Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany & Co and Calvin Klein. What had once been Delia Hanlon’s neighbourhood beauty secret – crafted using backyard Geelong lemons from Ross Hanlon’s garden – had suddenly entered the national spotlight. By Christmas that same year, VOGUE Australia was championing HANLON® as a seasonal must-have.

FAMILY MATTERS

Today, CHRISTOPHER HANLON® remains a privately owned Australian luxury house with registered and pending trademarks spanning the globe – from Sydney, London, Paris and New York to Geelong. Quietly exported and collected, the brand’s pieces have earned a discerning following and growing industry recognition. MARIE CLAIRE Hong Kong described Christopher as a ‘trend leader in Australian cosmetics’, while Russian fashion authority L’OFFICIEL praised his celebrated formula as ‘the best lemon hand cream.’ Gentlemen’s Quarterly (GQ Russia), 2011, profiled Hanlon as ‘An Aesthete from Australia’, describing his creations as expensive ecological products valued by the Australian elite. The same period was later framed by GQ Russia under the banner ‘Independence Day’ – a celebration of independant brands challenging the conventions of the global beauty industry.

DELIA AND ROSS HANLON

Resisting fleeting trends and imitation Christopher Hanlon® draws from an unconventional background, backstreet beginnings and an Aussie heritage. Each creation is produced in homage to Delia and Ross Hanlon® and in memory of his Great Grandfather Tom Hanlon® – grounding the house in continuity, family and craftsmanship. What The Sydney Morning Herald once described as a dream in a cream has since evolved into an enduring Australian luxury name.

A discreet Sydney attraction whispered about among celebrities, fashion stylists and social luminaries, Hanlon® has reportedly attracted admirers ranging from Madonna and Kylie Minogue to Nicole Kidman. Yet despite international attention, the house remains intentionally elusive – an inside discovery passed between those seeking authenticity, artistry and a rare form of Australian homegrown luxury.

‘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?’

INTO THE GROOVE

SURRY HILLS | HEADQUARTERS

Without doubt, Hanlon® has always remained loyal to his roots. The reimagined house was founded in 1994 while Christopher was studying Art and Design with a family heritage tracing back to 1875. Long before polished studios and luxury boutiques, Hanlon® operated from an industrial makeshift perfume and skincare workshop hidden inside a disused concrete warehouse located at Room 13, 50 Holt Street Surry Hills Sydney. Far from glamorous with permanently locked windows, cold concrete walls and a rat🐁 in the wall made the warehouse feel more like a prison cell👮 than a fashionable design studio.

THE STUDIO

Yet within this unlikely underground Surry Hills environment, something culturally distinctive was emerging. Surrounded by a collective of of young creatives – students of Art, Hat Making, Photography, Acting, Architecture, Literature and Science – Christopher and his eccentric teenaged friends assembled a capsule collection of herbal products by night. By day, Christopher delivered orders throughout Darlinghurst, Kings Cross and Paddington on his black-and-chrome bicycle, quietly building a following. What emerged from his Surry Hills studio was not merely prototype skincare and perfumes, but a new form of Australian creative mastery – one blending underground art culture, handcrafted experimentation and aspirational design.

In 1995, the eponymous HANLON® brand was officially launched into Myer and Grace Bros. nationwide with four men’s skincare products and the signature fragrance. From this moment the trajectory accelerated. The Vegemite experiment, perfected inside the gritty Surry Hills warehouse, had finally entered the nation’s department store arena.

MYER | MY STORE

HANLON® entered the virtually untapped men’s grooming market at precisely the right cultural moment, alongside burgeoning global players Aramis Lab Series and Clinique for Men. Although Christopher himself was naive to the fact that the men’s grooming market was on the verge of exploding worldwide, the astute cosmetic and fragrance buyer at Myer was not. With an eye on the market’s pulse, George Bingham predicted what was to unfold. CH® looked revolutionary. Repackaged, in futuristic recycled spun-aluminium canisters and now professionally reformulated with Australian made organic ingredients.

ORGANIC GROWTH

In retrospect, the concept was innovative. Plus its department store counterculture appealed to a younger generation – the media dubbed ‘Metrosexuals’. Hanlon® created something for himself but it was exactly the type of grooming product a twenty-something health conscious male consumer was looking for. Modern, minimalist and masculine. The brand established a sales reputation and continued to be marketed with its signature: guerrilla word-of-mouth, graffiti posters and sporadic print coverage. As Lady Luck would have it again, the brand was later announced as the ‘Number one men's selling skincare line in Myer, Sydney’.

SPIN ME ROUND

DJS | THE $OUND OF MUSIC

Subsequently, Hanlon® was poached by DAVID JONES – one of Australia’s most prestigious department store groups – and then expanded its footprint into numerous stores with extended product lines during 1997-99. HANLON® negotiated an exclusive arrangement with celebrated retailer Paul Zahra (later CEO of David Jones) whose strong fashion credibility and cinematic personal style aligned naturally with the brand’s emerging image. Editorial support soon followed from influential figures including Jane Druker of VOGUE, Victoria Meppem, Karen Upton-Baker and Gavin Darling of HARPER’S BAZAAR and MODE, alongside coverage from The Sydney Morning Herald and Channel 9. Hanlon® was recognised by Sydney media as an authority in men’s cosmetics and contemporary grooming culture.

Retrospectively, Hanlon’s underground beauty movement was ahead of its time. The brand championed Australian organically farmed botanicals, minimalist eco-conscious packaging and artisan production values long before such ideas became mainstream consumer behaviour. Christopher Hanlon became associated with the emerging local ‘Maker Movement’, introducing countless younger consumers to ideas of provenance, craftsmanship, handmade production and ethical localism during a period dominated by multinational cosmetic conglomerates.

MADE IN THE BACKYARD

HANLON®’s grassroots ‘Made in the Backyard’ graffiti campaign evolved into a countercultural statement rather than imitating the polished language of international beauty houses. The brand openly celebrated D.I.Y energy, artisan pride, authenticity and Australian creative independence. Its trajectory – from Paddington market stall, to department store distribution and flagships on George Street – attracted public attention and press coverage, including features such as ELLE Hong Kong (2009). MODE magazine had described Hanlon’s success as rivalling international cosmetic giants within the Australian market. Hanlon’s social network included figures from Sydney’s fashion, nightlife, fitness, design and entertainment communities, whose organic word-of-mouth advocacy helped spread the brand name through Oxford Street culture, club scenes, creative circles and subcultures of the late 1990s and into the next century.

UP UP AND AWAY

His personal inner circle included super salesman Paul Rokobah, Alison Kallevh, make-up artist Julieanne Serhan and Miss Bolbierev, whose organic word-of-mouth advocacy with a sXXXy bend-and-twist helped propel the brand through Sydney’s communities. Products such as Bumper-Bar Lip Balm™, Taboo™, Petrol Head™, Anti-Gravity Wax™ and Bruiser Eye Shadow™ reflected a distinctly Australian interpretation of men’s grooming, nightlife, and urban identity. CH® launched men’s make-up in 1998. HANLON® challenged the conventions of cosmetic marketing during the period. While gym staples such as PolyVitamin Silk, Micro Exfoliant and Oxygene HydroGel appealed to tradies and gym enthusiasts (Metrosexuals) seeking cosmoceutical skincare – before it became mainstream.

LOCAMOTION

Above and 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, 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 cult symbol for the next generation using cheap-as-chips marketing and D.I.Y posters. It was street style pride. Local motion.

I HEAR MOTION

CULTURAL SHIFT

2000 – Having established a pioneering men's grooming department store brand Christopher opened his first prototype boutique and began exporting his Aussie made goods. Around the same time HARPER’S BAZAAR Australia declared to its following that the brand was ‘IN’. The self branded flagship with eco-conscious cosmetic and perfume products for men and women opened in the heart of THE ROCKS precinct at what is today known as the Cleland Bond and The Argyle stores. It helped to define a new era of eco-conscious prestige beauty in Sydney’s luxury landscape. It was accompanied by stalls at The Rocks market, Balmain market, the Brewery Yard and PADDINGTON markets.

THE STRAND ARCADE

Finally, recognised as an Australian lifestyle brand (with a cult following) Hanlon attracted the management at the STRAND ARCADE. He opened his second concept store, but first fully fledged boutique, at the Strand and personally greeted customers for over a decade. This cemented the foundations to an important international network of devotees as news spread through word-of-mouth. Clients included billionaires like Rhonda Triguboff, media stars like Evelina Khromtchenko, millionaires, gang-stars, pop stars, not to mention his mates the locals. Take for example gorgeous SHARON LEE. Australia’s Leading Brow Expert with her celebrity atelier (Hush, hush! Not to🤥mention: Kylie Minogue nor Russell Crowe). Hanlon’s® elegant Strand Arcade boutique was positioned with other fellow Australian designers including Alex Perry, Jayson Brunsdon, Leona Edminston, Dinosaur Designs, Zappacosta, Andrew McDonald, Terry Biviano and Akira.

At The Strand, Christopher introduced his Bespoke Perfumery line – it became a popular treat for locals and tourists. To ground the perfume, he would skip traditional oakmoss and turned to the smoky, resinous depths of native Australian grass tree resins and Western Australian Sandalwoods. These elite concoctions were noted by Time Out Sydney alongside contemporous local Bespoke craftsmen.

THE ROCKS

Ultimately Christopher opened a fifth Sydney boutique. Complete with an exquisite Australian made leather bag section – on George Street, The Rocks, neighbouring Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Young Korean superstar 송지효 (Song Ji-Hyo), known globally from RUNNING MAN soon became a client. What began as small town rumour gradually evolved into press reports linking Hanlon® to actors, musicians, television personalities, fashion editors and cultural insiders moving quietly through Sydney’s creative underground. Rumours spread that Linda and Paul Hogan (friends of JULIE McGREGOR of Hey Dad, A Country Practice and Son’s and Daughters) were devotees too.

At The Rocks, the boutique became the crown jewel of decades of dedication – a culmination of media acclaim and celebrity nods. Every scent and design was infused with the prestige of its heritage, offering visitors an iconic, bespoke experience overlooking Sydney’s historic harbour.

MEDIA – A WAVE

MARIE CLAIRE Hong Kong, under Art Director Angela Cheung, featured the Australian brand. Subsequently ELLE magazine mentioned NICOLE KIDMAN in its ELLE Hong Kong beauty issue followed by BELLE Australia, The Australian Financial Review, Women’s Weekly Singapore, GQ Australia, Time Out Sydney, Studio Magazines and The Sunday Telegraph. Behind the scenes, influential Australian creatives included David Novak Piper, Neale Whitaker, Melinda Ayre Beauty Editor and legendary Fashion Director Virginia van Heythuysen. The outback media frenzy continued with Kylie Minogue, VOGUE Russia and a Russian feature courtesy of L’OFFICIEL Russian Editor and influencer Evelina Khromtchenko. GQ Russia would later refer to it as ‘Independence Day’.

THE HOUSE OF HANLON EMERGED

Almost overnight, Hanlon® expanded beyond Australian shores into Hong Kong, where the brand spread virally through the fashion savvy, nightlife and underground scene. In retrospect, the period marked a milestone in Christopher Hanlon’s beauty movement – particularly into Russia and parts of Asia – driven not through traditional advertising, but through guerrilla word-of-mouth devotion, editorial intrigue and a distinctively Australian point of view. What began in the early 1990s as part ofThe Brat Pack evolved into a sophisticated symbol, defining CH® – an Australian luxury house. Part grooming house, part art project and part cultural phenomenon. At a time when global luxury was consolidated and mass manufactured, Hanlon® represented something fresh, vivid and green – an Australian artisan whose eponymous house rose to prominence from markets, boutique department stores, experimentation and genuine human connection. An Australian backyard legend was born🕸️🕷️

Iconic. IrONIC.

Story© CH®

30 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE

AUSTRALIAN MADE

AUSTRALIAN BORN