Nicole Warne (born 1990) is an Australian fashion designer, blogger, consultant, and model. She founded the fashion, travel, and lifestyle site Gary Pepper Girl.
Warne has been on the scene championing fashion, style, and content creation. She launched the online vintage store Gary Pepper Vintage in 2009 when social media was still a bit of an enigma.
Nicole Warne made history as the first Australian blogger to ever land the cover of a major fashion magazine in 2015.
Quick Facts
Name:
Nicole Warne Shadbolt
Born:
1990 (age 34 years old)
Nationality:
Australian
Parents:
Robyn Warne Ian Warne
Occupation:
Fashion designer, blogger, fashion consultant, model
Years active:
2009-date
Company:
Gary Pepper Girl
Spouse:
Luke Shadbolt (m. 2018)
Children:
Sakura Peach
Early Life
Nicole Warne is half-Japanese and half-Korean. Her parents, Robyn and Ian Warne, flew from Australia to South Korea to adopt her. They already had a biological son but wanted more children.
Her biological mother was a single parent. She did not have the means of support for young Nicole but wanted a better life for her. She was only five months old when she was adopted.
Warne’s younger sister was also an adoptee from South Korea. She also has an older brother, her biological mother’s son. Although she has never met her birth mother, she had a happy, wholesome, and fulfilled childhood.
Career
Warne was balancing a job with two internships at Grazia and Harper’s Bazaar Australia in 2009. She later decided to quit them and run her blog, Gary Pepper Vintage, to sell vintage clothes full-time.
The fashion model registered it as a company within six months and was shifting 250 items a week. The e-commerce store continued to soar, and Warne quickly became a fixture at fashion shows. Her feminine sense of style became admired by many.
In 2012, Warne renamed her site Gary Pepper Girl and decided to focus more on more personal endeavours.
In 2013, Warne signed with IMG and has modelled for many top brands, including Roland Mouret. She has walked in and hosted Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.
Warne has appeared on the covers of many top magazines, including Elle Australia, Nylon, Miss Vogue, and Lucky.
Warne launched an online brand, Gary PepperVintage, in 2009 to sell carefully curated vintage threads. What started as a passion project rose to a fully-fledged career within six years.
Warne has collaborated with top brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Lane Crawford, and Chanel. She has also graced the cover of top glossy such as US Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and InStyle.
The fashion star has been named in the Forbes ’30 Under 30′ and Business of Fashion’s ‘The 500 People Shaping the Global Industry’.
Warne has bagged awards from InStyle and Elle Australia. She has also been a judge for the Forbes Asia and Asia’s Next Top Model. She was a guest judge for The International Woolmark Prize Australia, The Australian Fashion Film Awards, and The Australian BT Emerging Designer Award.
Personal Life
Nicole Warne is married to photographer Luke Shadbolt. The pair met through mutual friends at a Christmas party. She became engaged to Luke in Tokyo in 2015.
They tied the knot in front of 90 of their closest friends and family in Rippon Hall in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand. Her wedding dress was a custom Valentino Haute Couture dress and veil.
Warne shares a daughter, Sakura Peach, with her husband, Luke Shadbolt. She had announced in that she was expecting her first child and said she was 25 weeks along.
Nicole and Luke bought a 1970s beachside holiday house. The pair have been renovating it slowly to create their forever home.
Warne received backlash for her scathing review of the restaurant at the Hotel Grotta Palazzese in Puglia, Italy, in 2020. They had ignored her request for a vegan meal.
“For me, this place was the worst dining experience I have ever had,” she said of the restaurant. Many, including TV host Catriona Rowntree, criticised her for publicly slamming the eatery.
