We can’t review the lavish new monograph about fashion designer Toni Maticevski without a hint of bias. Our editor-in-chief Mitchell Oakley Smith wrote it, after all. So here it is by numbers: 240 pages, over 200 images and illustrations, 20,000 words, 20 interviews… this is undoubtedly the most in-depth and beautifully curated book to be dedicated to an Australian designer. But that’s to be expected, of course, for over the past 20 years, Mr Maticevski has built a respected reputation for his unique blend of haute couture craftsmanship and creative innovation to become one of the world’s leading contemporary fashion designers.

As actress Abbie Cornish says in the book: “Toni has a way of working with fabric that is fluid, sculptural and artistic. His designs accentuate the female form in the most beautiful way.” We couldn’t agree more. Tying in with his forthcoming retrospective exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery (opening 13 August 2016), Maticevski: The Elegant Rebel traces the concepts that inform and inspire his collections and the techniques and processes that underpin them, drawing connections between the designer’s various collections and projects.

Maticevski: The Elegant Rebel, by Mitchell Oakley Smith, is published by Thames & Hudson.