By Jenna Clarke
It is widely held that a 20-year-old up-and-coming model/actor must be in want of a huge social media following.
Hailey Baldwin may be the exception to that rule.
Hailey Baldwin in Sydney last week.
Sure, as daughter of Stephen Baldwin and niece of Alec she's one of Hollywood's blue bloods, but the emerging model is playing the long game of fame. She's decided to take a more old-school approach by shunning social media.
"Social media can take a lot out of you, it makes me really distracted sometimes," she told Fairfax Media last week while in Sydney launching her make-up line for ModelCo.
"I've recently come off of Snapchat, I'm not Snapchatting any more, I don't have Twitter on my phone. I have somebody that helps me with my social media management. If I feel like there is something I want to tweet or say I'll have someone put it out for me or I'll log in quick, say what I have to say and then get on out. I don't have an app for it on my phone. Just Instagram.
"I was getting so sucked into watching and reading and knowing things I just didn't want to know," she said hinting at the baptism of troll-induced fire she received when she flaunted her budding romance with singer Justin Bieber online.
Her last visit Down Under was with her now ex-boyfriend Bieber in 2015 for a five-day Hillsong Church Conference, but she's had a long connection with Australia after establishing commercial partnerships with sass & bide and The Daily Edited accessories.
Her latest project with ModelCo is not all illuminating cream and contouring kits, it's a commercial exercise that she hopes will inspire other women to forge ahead with business ideas. Famous besties get a special mention by having products named in their honour like the blush lipstick called "Bendo" after Kendall Jenner.
"The more women band together, support each other and empower each other and be consistent in doing that is only going to push the world in a positive direction," she said.
Pants devotees stride into Bondi market
Activewear is the new iron ore and Bondi is the new Pilbara.
The dramatic growth of fitness fashion has surprised the local Chamber of Commerce.
"Ten years ago there weren't any cafes in Bondi, now it's renowned for its cafe culture and is an iconic hub for a fit and healthy lifestyle," president Anne Marie Cronin said.
According to Roy Morgan research more than 1.6 million Australian adults purchase exercise attire every month, up from 1.3 million in 2011.
Lululemon executives Kyle Housman and Ben Jackson.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The value of the sportswear market has also increased. Australians spent $1.1 billion on sportswear between October 2010 and September 2011. As of September this year, they had already outlaid about $1.5 billion.
To capitalise on this boom, lululemon – the Canadian company famous for its yoga pants – will open its first concept store in the southern hemisphere, just a stone's throw from Australia's most famous beach.
The space will be part retail and part community hub, like a fitness-focused RSL where the only brews served are kombucha and sparkling water on tap at the "hydration station". There will also be co-working spaces and surfing accessories.
"It will take the traditional retail store and turn it into a connection point for the Bondi Beach community," the company's Australian and New Zealand vice-president Kyle Housman told Fairfax Media.
The initiative, lululemon Found In: Bondi, will be the sixth of its kind for lululemon and the first outside of North America.
Like Sydney during the summer months, the store, on Campbell Parade, will be focused on "sweat, sweaty opportunists and the water-obsessed," Housman said.
As well as selling a curated collection of the brand's leggings and swim wear, the "incubator" will conduct public activities that work on customers' "personal development and relationships" like yoga, swimming at Icebergs and running clubs.
The brand has a close affiliation with Australian surf. Swimwear design director Clare Robertson was born and raised in Sydney and according to Housman, lululemon's chief executive Laurent Potdevin "is a huge fan of the swell off Bondi, so don't be surprised if he comes out to visit more often."
The 125-square-metre store will be housed inside The Pacific, a development by Rebel Property Group's Allen Linz and Capit.el Group's Eduard Litver.
Bricks and mortar ath-leisure stores are becoming more prominent than cold-pressed juice jars in the seaside suburb. This week local sports lifestyle brand, First Base, will open a concept store in the same precinct, while Australian label Nimble Activewear opened its first store up the road on Hall Street in February. lululemon Found In: Bondi will launch in the coming weeks.