Gregory Ladner is a dear friend and the designer behind my chosen range of hair accessories, so that connection deserves to be acknowledged at the outset. My review remains honest, impartial and unbiased. Five stars reflects my opinion of the book, and I’m very happy to recommend it.
A Boy and His Bear is wonderfully entertaining. Gregory has an eye for the telling detail and a wicked sense of humour, both of which serve him beautifully as a memoirist. There's considerable pleasure in following someone who can recognise the absurdity of a situation and knows exactly how to tell the story.
His earliest fashion client was his teddy bear. From those small beginnings in working-class Melbourne, he went on to design for society women, work internationally and establish the accessories business that carries his name. It's an extraordinary career, and the childhood scenes give it a particularly affectionate starting point. You can already see the imagination at work.
Having spent much of my own working life around beauty, fashion and styling, I loved the glimpse into the people and personalities behind the clothes. A finished gown can conceal an enormous amount of work, negotiation and human drama. Gregory brings that world to the page with the confidence of someone who knows it intimately and has plenty to say about it.
The humour was a particular pleasure for me. His observations have personality, and his willingness to be candid makes the memoir feel companionable. There's the enjoyable sense of being in the company of someone with excellent stories and very little interest in polishing away every awkward detail.
The personal history gives those stories their emotional weight. Love, loss and the expectations placed on a creative boy sit alongside the professional adventures. I found the connection between that child and the accomplished designer especially moving.
There's something lovely about seeing an early fascination develop into a lifetime of making things.
Gregory’s pen drawings deserve a mention of their own. They add wit and character to the book, extending the pleasure of his storytelling into the illustrations. For a memoir by someone whose life has been so thoroughly shaped by visual imagination, they feel entirely at home.
I also appreciated the opportunity to look back at a particular era of Melbourne fashion.
The clothes, clients and social conventions make this an absorbing account of a world that's changed considerably, told by someone who helped dress it.
I finished A Boy and His Bear with enormous affection for the book. Gregory is excellent company on the page, and his memoir offers humour, openness and a fascinating creative life. A very well-deserved five stars.
🔎 Read this if you enjoy candid and humorous memoirs
📚 Fashion and behind-the-scenes stories
💭 Creativity and finding your path
👥 Family and lasting relationships
💞 Childhood dreams becoming a career
⚠️ Includes bullying, family difficulties, grief and loss.
Book Details
A Boy and His Bear by Gregory Ladner
Paperback ISBN
978-1743798959 — Hardie Grant Media Australian trade paperback published on 5 October 2022.
Hardcover ISBN
No hardcover edition or ISBN could be verified.
eBook ISBN
978-1743589465 — Hardie Grant Books EPUB edition published on 5 October 2022.
Audiobook ISBN
No audiobook edition or ISBN could be verified.
Genre
Nonfiction; Memoir; Autobiography; Biography; Fashion.
Subgenre
Fashion Memoir; Illustrated Memoir; Australian Memoir; Humorous Memoir; LGBTQIA+ Memoir. These descriptive classifications reflect the book’s form and subject matter.
Tropes / Literary Threads
Working-class childhood; creative ambition; childhood teddy bear; unconventional interests; gender expectations; family relationships; professional success; couture fashion; Melbourne society; international career; personal revelations; lasting partnership; love.
Publisher
Hardie Grant Media — paperback. Hardie Grant Books — eBook.
Series
Standalone memoir; no series designation is listed.
Formats Available
Trade paperback; eBook. No hardcover or audiobook edition could be verified.
Audiobook Narrator
Not applicable — no audiobook edition could be verified.
Audiobook Length
Not applicable — no audiobook edition could be verified.
Original Release Date
5 October 2022 — Australian paperback and eBook.
Australian Release Date
5 October 2022 — listed for the Australian paperback and eBook.
Page Count
392 pages — listed for the Australian trade paperback and by the publisher for the eBook.
Where to Buy A Boy and His Bear by Gregory Ladner
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Danielle Robinson is a literary critic and writer whose work explores literature through the
lens of atmosphere, memory, culture, and emotional experience.
Holding a double degree in philosophy and theology, she combines academic insight with a deeply refined aesthetic sensibility shaped by more than three decades working across the creative industries as an internationally published, multi-award-winning makeup artist, fashion stylist, and interior stager.
She reads widely and rigorously, reading and reviewing more than 200 books each year as both an ARC reader and commissioned critic. Through Silk & Sentences, Danielle approaches literature as something immersive and lived with — not simply stories to consume, but works that shape the way we think, feel, and move through the world.
She writes from her semi-rural Queensland home, where she lives with Alex, her husband of 33 years, their dogs Oscar and Paige, and an ever-growing library of books.
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