Rack Off
Seafood. Booze. Fancy clothes. A little rock and roll…
In partnership with P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants’ Mike Bennie and Saint Peter’s Josh Niland, Sorry Thanks I Love You presented RACK OFF in November 2020.
A three day COVID blues-beating extravaganza, RACK OFF combined natural wines, gourmet food and a fundraising fashion sale. Designed by Jez Gordon (Dark Mofo, Big Day Out) as a high-end boutique meets stay-and-play wine bar, RACK OFF able to laze, graze and browse day and night.
Conjoining two mini warehouse spaces by way of a velvet-draped labyrinthine back passage, patrons were able to perch themselves at a sommelier-manned pet nat bar, play dress-ups with our collection of cutting edge fashion and handmade accessories (all available at significantly reduced prices) or simply recline with a bottomless glass of Radikon orange in Gordon’s 75-seat lounge which, quite frankly, looked rather schmick.
RACK OFF was centred around men’s and women’s collections from the likes of Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake, Veja, Rains, Rick Owens, Maison Margiela, Mykita, Hender Scheme and Sulvam, plus local talents like Lucy Folk and Bassike, all at heavily discounted prices - with a portion of proceeds donated to our long term partner: integrated cancer hospital Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
We’ve never subscribed to the idea that clothes lose their value after a ‘season’ so current season pieces were in the mix as well. Visitors also had the chance to take an additional 10% off already reduced prices by ‘rocking off’ at check-out with a game of Paper, Scissors, Rock. Winners got an extra 10% off, while losers donated 10% extra to the Lifehouse.
Mike Bennie and the P&V crew offered a heady array of natural and biodynamic wines by the glass and bottle all weekend.
“We’ll be pouring everything from good times pet nats through to intriguing orange wines and splashing around light, thirst-crushing, chilled reds,” said Mike. “It’s a repertoire that delivers a broad introduction to natural wines, all born from happy farms and good people making wine with no additives.”
This wide-ranging menu was complemented by snacks from one of Australia’s most innovative and best-loved chefs: Josh Niland from Saint Peter. Singled out by almost every international critic, foodie and chef to come across him (including most recently, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver), Niland and his Fish Butchery team served up delectable head-to-tail seafood morsels for the duration of the weekend, including one of his most famous (and possibly most ‘grammed) dishes of all: the sea urchin crumpet.
“This is the creative, cool, interesting event space I love playing in,” said Bennie. “The combining of STILY, Jez Gordon and our chef mate Josh Niland makes for a seriously potent and original experience. We’re grateful to be doing something unique here - in amongst fashion and creative culture, sharing the love of great wines.”
RACK OFF was held at 17 Oxford Street, Paddington on Friday 6 November – Sunday 8 November and was a COVID-safe event. It was the first of what we hope will become an annual event that gets bigger, better and slightly more raucous with every year.
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Read Broadsheet's coverage of RACK OFF here.
Read Delicious Magazine's coverage of RACK OFF here.