Who Is Macgraw? The Sydney Label That Draws Its Own Prints

Macgraw is an Australian womenswear label founded in Sydney in 2012 by sisters Beth and Tessa MacGraw. It is not connected to Ali MacGraw, the American actress, and it is not connected to the publisher McGraw Hill. If you have arrived here after a search that kept returning film stills from the 1970s, this is the other Macgraw: a small Sydney house that draws its own prints and makes its clothes in Australia.

The short answer

Beth and Tessa MacGraw are sisters. They launched the label in 2012 and still run it from Sydney, where the collections are cut and made. The house describes its signature as whimsical irreverence, which in practice means a hand drawn rose, a school crest embroidered onto a collar, and ruffles cut with more volume than the occasion strictly asks for. Macgraw releases two collections a year rather than a constant stream of newness.

Who designs Macgraw

Tessa MacGraw draws every print from sketch in the studio. That is the part of the business most labels outsource, and it is the reason a Macgraw jacquard looks like nothing else on a rail. The rose, the crest, the bird and the cat motifs recur across seasons, so pieces bought years apart still read as one wardrobe. Beth and Tessa develop most of the fabrics in house as well, working predominantly in silk, cotton and wool blends.

The sisters have said their childhood, spent dancing and making dresses for dolls, shows up in the theatrical ruffles and the saturated pinks. It is a useful way to read the collections. Nothing here is trying to be quiet.

Where Macgraw is made

In Australia. The label works with a close network of Sydney cutters and makers overseen by Tessa, and states that its collections are produced under fair and ethical conditions. It collaborates with local artisans including the Sydney knitter John Macarthur and the embroiderers of the Country Women’s Association. Low waste pattern cutting and the reuse of offcuts are part of the same commitment, and the two collection a year pace is deliberate rather than incidental.

Is Macgraw a luxury brand?

It sits in the upper contemporary bracket. Pieces run from around A$345 for a top to A$3,145 for the most heavily worked evening dresses, with most dresses landing between A$600 and A$1,200. The construction justifies it: hand beading, in house jacquards, full linings, and a merino lace the house developed itself. Macgraw is stocked by select luxury retailers internationally and shows at Australian Fashion Week.

The awards, briefly

Macgraw has won the Tiffany and Co. National Designer Award, the Regional International Woolmark Prize, and the Australian Fashion Laureate for Best Emerging Designer. In 2017 the sisters presented a Woolmark capsule in Paris built around a superfine merino lace they developed that does not crease. Natalie Massenet, the Net-a-Porter founder and an International Woolmark Prize judge, said of it that they had developed an entirely new way of producing wool. The label debuted at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and showed at New York Fashion Week in 2020 with a collection drawn from their parents’ love story.

Who wears Macgraw

Lorde, Kendall Jenner, Julianne Moore, Paris Hilton, Coco Rocha and Karlie Kloss have all worn the label, and it appears regularly in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

What to buy first

Three entry points, depending on what you already own.

• The tailoring. The Circa 72 Blazer in Black Crest and its matching trouser are the house suit, cut double breasted in the label’s own crest jacquard.
• The print. The Florence Dress in Porcelain print is the clearest introduction to Tessa’s hand drawn work.
• The occasion piece. The Poetry Gown in white and black floral sequin is the label at full volume.

Shop the full range at Macgraw on Luxury Shoes , and read our guide to how to wear Macgraw prints if the jacquards are what drew you in.

Frequently asked questions

Is Macgraw related to Ali MacGraw?

No. Macgraw is an Australian fashion label founded by sisters Beth and Tessa MacGraw in Sydney in 2012. Ali MacGraw is an American actress known for Love Story and The Getaway. They share a surname and nothing else.

Where is Macgraw made?

In Sydney, Australia. The label works with a local network of cutters and makers and states that its collections are produced under fair and ethical conditions.

What size am I in Macgraw?

Australian sizing matches UK sizing on this label. Macgraw publishes the conversion as AU 6 equals UK 6, EU 34 and US 2, running to AU 14 equals UK 14, EU 42 and US 10. Take your usual UK size.

What is Macgraw known for?

Hand drawn prints and jacquards developed in house by Tessa MacGraw, theatrical volume, and Australian made construction. The recurring rose, crest and bird motifs are the label’s signature.