Is Christopher Esber a Good Brand? Quality, Price and Value

Short answer: yes, with a caveat about which part of the range you buy. Christopher Esber sits in contemporary luxury, roughly 600 to 1,500 USD for ready-to-wear at Luxury Handbags with eveningwear above that. The construction and the fabric justify it on the tailoring and the knitwear. On the simpler jersey pieces you are paying for the cut and the hardware, which is a fair trade if that is what you came for.

What the industry has said

The awards record is unusually strong for an independent house of this size, and it is the part of the answer that does not rely on opinion.

• Woolmark Prize, 2014. Won the regional round. In the same year Vogue Italia named him its most talented designer for the Asia-Pacific region.
• Australian Fashion Laureate, 2023. Designer of the Year.
• Paris Fashion Week, September 2023. Showed on the official calendar at the invitation of the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. The calendar is curated and Australian labels rarely appear on it.
• ANDAM Grand Prix, June 2024. First Australian to win it, with a 300,000 euro grant and a year of mentoring from Anthony Vaccarello of Saint Laurent. ANDAM has a long record of backing designers before the wider market catches up.

How it is made

Production runs through an in-house atelier in Sydney together with specialist craftspeople in France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. Two things follow from that which you can check yourself on any product page.

First, the hardware is solid brass, not plated trim. The orbit rings, prongs and clasps are handcrafted and some styles set a natural stone into the metal. Plated hardware is where a contemporary label usually saves money, and it is the first thing to fail.

Second, the fibre content is stated in full on every piece, main fabric, lining, contrast and trim separately. A 100% cashmere knit is described as one. A viscose jersey is described as one. You are not guessing.

Where the money actually goes

Not every price in the range is equally good value, and it is worth being straight about that.

• Best value: knitwear and tailoring. This is where the fabric spend is visible and where the pieces date slowest. The Cashmere Knit Polo and the Bennett Silk Pant are the pieces we would defend on cost per wear.
• Buy for the design: the jersey. A ruched viscose dress is not an expensive fabric. What you are paying for is the pattern cutting and the hardware, and on Esber that is genuinely the point rather than an excuse. If you want fibre value, buy the knit instead.
• The considered spend: eveningwear. The lace and embellished pieces run to the top of the range. They are made in small numbers and the handwork is real, but they are occasion pieces and should be bought as such.

What you should know before buying

The label is cut on Australian sizing and AU maps straight onto UK, so an AU 8 is a UK 8. That is covered in full in our Christopher Esber size guide. The house publishes no blanket sizing correction, so take your usual UK size.

On care, most of the range is dry clean. The brass hardware should be stored so the metal does not press into the cloth, and the lace pieces are worth keeping flat rather than hung.

One practical note on returns at Luxury Shoes : ready-to-wear can be returned unworn with the security tag intact, but swimwear and jewellery are final sale. Worth knowing before you add the swim.

Is it worth it compared to the alternatives?

Against Toteme you are paying for more design and getting less of a neutral basics wardrobe. Against Khaite the prices are lower and the aesthetic is warmer and more resort-leaning. Against Magda Butrym the construction is comparable and Esber is usually the cleaner choice. We went through the full field in brands like Christopher Esber.

Common questions

Is Christopher Esber a luxury brand?

It sits in contemporary luxury rather than heritage luxury. Ready-to-wear mostly lands between 600 and 1,500 USD, above contemporary labels and below the large European houses.

Is Christopher Esber good quality?

Yes. Solid brass hardware rather than plated, fibre content stated in full on every piece, and production through an in-house Sydney atelier with specialist craftspeople in France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain.

Why is Christopher Esber expensive?

Small independent production, handcrafted brass hardware, and pattern cutting that takes more pieces to build a garment than a plain equivalent would. The label is not part of a luxury group, so it does not have group manufacturing scale to price against.

Which Christopher Esber piece should I buy first?

The jersey if you want the signature look. The knitwear and the tailoring give the best cost per wear.

Browse the Christopher Esber collection at Luxury Shoes , and read who Christopher Esber is.