To discover more about a person’s professional achievements you can usually look them up on LinkedIn. When you search for Karen Batson’s page, however, there is just one word — Cookie. Yet that word alone speaks volumes and she has no need to advertise her skill set. Cookie has become a cult Melbourne institution since it opened its doors in 2003. Tourists mark it as a must-visit in their guidebooks, Melbournites flock there for an after work cocktail, and foodies bolt there to sample her innovative Thai cuisine.

I couldn’t find the clothes I wanted, so I designed them’, was the inspiration and then campaign slogan that launched Margaret Porritt’s iconic Melbourne fashion brand, Feathers. A giant in the business and fashion worlds, Margaret has seen many a retail storm come and go while Feathers has endured, standing tall with over 15 retail stores and Myer concessions both here and in Sydney. But while Margaret’s adapt and evolve approach to business has kept the Feathers brand #foreveryoung, it’s her unapologetically bold personal style, that has kept this fashion icon at the top of her game and influencer lists, into her 60s and beyond.

Retirement means different things to different people. For some older women, it can be the reward for a lifetime of hard work, the time for holidays, to explore new pursuits and spend time with family, while for others it can feel like a loss of identity, or simply too much time to think. One of the latter, Beverley Streater found that retirement, initially, offered more challenges than rewards.

Designer Leonie Struthers is the creative force behind limited edition, sustainable fashion brand lj struthers, thoughtfully realised and hand-made in Hobart. The timelessness of each lj struthers piece lying not only in its premium craftsmanship but it’s rebuttal of conventional stereotypes relating to ‘womenswear’ and ‘age-appropriate’ fashion.

We talk to the maker herself about the beauty of hand-made, the limitations of conventional fashion and how older women should embrace the opportunity to shape their lives and build their own idiosyncratic wardrobes, and inspire younger women to do so in the process.

Libbi Gorr is one of Australia’s most iconic broadcasters. Working across radio and television she is widely known for the creation of the 90’s it-girl and football tragic, Elle McFeast, and has been at the forefront of Australia political and social commentary ever since. Casey Rafferty caught up with Libbi recently to chat balance, ‘leaning-in’ and the Gen-X sandwich.