Fashion Week is rarely glamorous in the way people imagine.
Most days begin early, end late, and involve moving across the city with a camera roll full of runway looks, half-drunk coffees and a rapidly collapsing schedule. Which is exactly why where you stay matters.
This year during Australian Fashion Week, The Old Clare Hotel became our base for the week – somewhere to reset between shows, upload galleries late at night, and meet with creatives in between the chaos of the schedule.
Set in Chippendale, the hotel feels closely tied to Sydney’s creative scene. The area is packed with galleries, cafés, bookstores and design studios, offering a quieter alternative to the city’s more polished luxury precincts. During Fashion Week, it made sense that so many people from the industry naturally gravitated there.
Architecture is central to the identity of The Old Clare. Spread across two heritage-listed buildings – the former Clare Hotel pub and the old Carlton & United Breweries administration building – the space retains much of its original character. Exposed brick, steel-framed windows, concrete textures and restored timber details give the hotel a distinctly industrial feel, while contemporary interiors soften it with warm lighting, custom furniture and thoughtful styling. It strikes that difficult balance of feeling design-led without becoming overly polished or impersonal.
There’s also something refreshingly unpretentious about the atmosphere. While many hotels can feel disconnected from the city around them, The Old Clare feels embedded within its neighbourhood. Staff know the area well, the dining spaces stay busy with locals, and there’s a sense that the hotel is part of Chippendale’s wider creative community rather than separate from it.
Throughout the week, the lobby and shared spaces became unofficial meeting spots – editors taking calls between shows, buyers regrouping over coffee, publicists arriving with garment bags in tow. Fashion Week naturally spilled into the hotel without it ever feeling overly branded or performative.
The rooms offered exactly what was needed after long days out: calm, spacious interiors with thoughtful details and enough room to properly unpack – something anyone attending Fashion Week will appreciate. The design feels considered without trying too hard, balancing warmth with the industrial architecture of the building itself.
One of the more memorable moments from our stay came courtesy of The Old Clare’s in-room dining experience, the “Boujee Box” – a limited-edition offering designed for nights when leaving the hotel feels impossible. We experienced it after a particularly long day of shows, and it felt perfectly aligned with the mood of Fashion Week: equal parts indulgent and low-effort.
The box includes burgers, potato gems and a DIY mini martini set, with the option to add caviar for an extra touch of excess. Somewhere between room service and late-night ritual, it managed to feel both playful and genuinely well considered.
And while Fashion Week brought its own energy to the stay, The Old Clare Hotel works just as well outside of the industry calendar. Even without runway shows and backstage appointments, it’s the kind of place that encourages you to spend time in the neighbourhood, discover local spots and settle into the pace of the area.
In a week built around constant movement, it was the perfect place to come back to.