Soaring ceilings cascade over Jess Alizzi's impressive collection of designer pieces.
This Warehouse-Style Apartment in Melbourne is Home to a Fashion Icon
Soaring ceilings cascade over Jess Alizzi's impressive collection of designer pieces.
Welcome to The Makers. Each week, we celebrate innovators, artisans, and crafters of all types by taking you on a private tour of their creative spaces. For this instalment, we tour fashion and lifestyle content creator Jess Alizzi’s chic warehouse-style apartment in the inner-city of Melbourne.
If you – like us (and half a million others) – have liked, followed and saved Jess Alizzi’s style content for the past nine years, it will come as no surprise that the content creator’s warehouse-style home shares the same ultra-chic sensibilities as her outfits.
Located in Melbourne’s inner-city, Alizzi and her partner purchased their Abbottsford home in the thick of the Melbourne covid lockdowns in 2021. A time, she admits, made the process of buying a property significantly more difficult than it would usually be.
“We probably looked at around 60+ homes before we found this one.”
Still, the couple knew they found the right place after seeing what this home had to offer: “lots of natural light, inner city location, and close to nature were important to us – and we were able to get all of these and more with our apartment, so it was an easy yes!”
With sweeping ceilings and elements of mid-century, contemporary minimalism, and wabi-sabi design, Alizzi’s home now exudes the effortless cool synonymous with her brand – but it wasn’t always this way.
“We painted the walls with the help of Tint Paint, changed the curtains and blinds and swapped out the old black concrete floors for these light grey-white ones.
“Coming home to a space that is calm and minimal in nature gives my mind a chance to rest,” says Alizzi. The “blank canvas” is punctuated with wares from Sarah Elisson, Momu, and Akari – which, styled together, emanate a peaceful aesthetic.
“The only missing pieces from our home currently is artwork. We have chosen to really take our time with this as we want to invest in special pieces that we love and know we will have forever.”
-
-
Sage Placemats, and Olive Napkins.
One of the OG Influencers, Alizzi started posting fashion content from her blog, Jessica and Loves, onto Instagram “with the persuasion of my friends.”
“By the time I completed my degrees in 2017, I was working with brands and effectively running a small business.”
Highlights so far include “working with brands such as Chanel, Celine and Prada [and] going on some of the most incredible brand trips. I’ve experienced things I never would have dreamt would be possible.”
But Alizzi’s career journey hasn’t all been a highlight reel.
Coming home to a space that is calm and minimal in nature gives my mind a chance to rest.
- Jess Alizzi
There’s no doubt about it: fashion is getting faster. Weekly drops and fast-moving trends can make it hard to make ethical – not to mention affordable – fashion choices. Jess’ approach? Keep it timeless. Jess strives to find quality pieces from sustainable merchants that she’ll be able to wear again and again. “Versatility plays a huge role in deciding whether something is timeless or a trend,” she says. “Particularly when it comes to clothes, if an item feels like it can be worn many ways, using pieces I already have in my wardrobe, I’ll typically view it more as a timeless piece over something that is perhaps trending this season, but doesn’t really go with anything beyond the pieces or outfit that is also trending.”
This practical approach to trends and fashion has resulted in Jess curating a cohesive and classic style that always looks on point. “These days I focus less on if something is trendy or timeless, instead I will concentrate on whether it works for me, works in my wardrobe, and makes sense for my lifestyle.”
-
Recreate Jess' look with the Oatmeal & White Stripe Bedding Set, and Sage Sheet Set.
-
-
To keep up with the ever-changing nature of working in social, Alizzi has had to adapt her way of creating content to appeal to new platforms and audiences. “It is no longer about capturing the perfect, curated moment… now it’s more about connecting with your audience and sharing a common interest with them.”
And the interest here is her contemporary yet classic take on style, with a focus on sustainability.
Her advice? Invest in versatility.
“These days I focus less on if something is trendy or timeless, instead I will concentrate on whether it works for me, works in my wardrobe, and makes sense for my lifestyle.”
It’s not just fashion that Alizzi has made her business, though. Growing up in an Italian household where espresso was practically a food group for her and her family, she, like many of us, developed a reliance on caffeine from a young age. But, as she grew older, she started to develop escalating headaches and insomnia triggered by coffee – which was the catalyst for her quest to find the perfect alternative. It was here that she landed on the cool-girl drink of the moment: matcha – which she fell in love with on a trip to Japan.
In her pursuit for the perfect cup of matcha – which she documented across her socials via her “Matcha Diaries” series, Alizzi recognised a gap in the market: “Matcha that was naturally sweet, without bitterness and without the need for added sugar.” From there, her very own matcha brand HIKUU was born.
“HIKUU offers authentically sourced ceremonial grade matcha, meticulously crafted by highly skilled tea masters in Kagoshima, Japan.”
The burgeoning brand encourages its consumers to bring a moment of reprise and luxury to their daily routine and lifestyle. And, of course, is thoughtfully packaged and designed with intention – and looking at her home, aesthetic, and style point of view… What else would you expect from Jess?!
For more from Jess, follow her @jessalizzi & @hikuulife
Photography by Amelia Stanwix. Styling by Beck Simon.
