Rebecca Donaldson is in her element
In partnership with
Model and entrepreneur Rebecca Donaldson walks us through her wardrobe and personal style ahead of the F1 Melbourne Grand Prix, in Sydney.
Shop Rebecca Donaldson’s looks from meshki.com.au
The first light of morning slips over the crescent of Bondi Beach, gilding the water in silver. It’s the kind of morning that feels unhurried, cinematic. For Rebecca Donaldson, it feels something like returning to a former version of herself.
“Sydney feels like a second home to me,” the Scottish model and entrepreneur tells Vogue Australia of the city she once lived in for three months for work. “Sydney has this relaxed, positive energy, and it always feels refreshing being back here. Coming back here helps me reset.” Donaldson lived by the sea, built routines along the sand, and folded the city’s rhythm into her own. Now, years later, she has touched down again—first Sydney, then onward to Melbourne—for the opening race weekend of the Formula 1 season.
Fittingly, reunion is also the name of the moment she’s stepping into. Created in collaboration with Australian label Meshki, founded by Natalie Khoei and Shadi Kord, the the brand’s ‘Reunion’ collection revisits signature silhouettes from sharp tailoring and sculptural dresses to fluid textures and two-pieces, reimagining them for the tail-end of summer. For Donaldson, making her way through Sydney in the collection feels instinctive.
“I used to love the early mornings,” she continues. “Grabbing a coffee, walking around the city before I headed to work.” Replicating that routine today demands clothes that keep pace with her day, but also enhance it: a contrast collar jacket over jeans; a button-down under funnel-neck outerwear; an oversized white double-breasted jacket and skirt set.
“How do I pull a look together?” Donaldson muses. “I like choosing pieces that make me feel most confident and true to myself. I’m looking for something elegant, but quietly sexy. I’m considering shape, colour and how it will fit. To me, being in your element is about being completely unbothered by what you’re wearing because it just works. It’s effortless, it’s intentional, and it’s ready for whatever the day throws at it.”
That philosophy sits at the heart of ‘In Her Element’, a partnership between Vogue Australia and Meshki timed around International Women’s Day and the AusGP race week in Melbourne. Conceived as a celebration of women across sport, business and culture, the project places women squarely at the centre of the motorsport story, from Filipino racing driver Bianca Bustamante, one of the event’s key panellists, to Donaldson herself.
Lounging in the hotel suite calls for comfort creatures, like a quarter-zip knit over chocolate micro shorts, while an evening out has Donaldson reach for dresses that nod to her personal taste: simple, straightforward and ’90s-leaning silhouettes with a touch of playfulness, in a keyhole back or a puffed sleeve.
When she leaves for Melbourne, these are the very same pieces that will see her through the long days and nights. Trackside fashion demands practicality, but in serving function, no-one should have to compromise on style
Ultimately, being in your element, as Donaldson demonstrates, has very little to do with where you are. It’s about how you arrive, and how you move forward from there.
Shop Rebecca Donaldson’s looks from meshki.com.au