Vale Lincraft stores: How White Fox and Anko won the fashion war

June 24, 2026 — 7:00pm

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I love a crisp sausage as much as any Australian, but last week’s announcement of the closure of 32 Lincraft stores hit home harder than the collapse of Barbeques Galore.

Growing up in the beige brick suburbs of Melbourne in the ’70s, our barbeque was a cast-iron sheet on bricks assembled by Dad, but Lincraft was a magical gateway to glamour and style.

There is plenty about the ’70s that doesn’t warrant nostalgic reverence, such as the lack of women’s rights, racism, heroin, homophobia and the music of the Bay City Rollers, but the escapism offered by Lincraft was unrivalled outside the CBD.

For people who only entered the doors of luxury stores such as David Jones, Georges and Buckley & Nunn for emergency bathroom breaks, Lincraft was a safe and affordable starting point in changing the way they – or their home – looked.

Long before farm-to-table restaurants made the food chain fashionable, aisles filled with rolls of fabric, spools of cotton and tubes of buttons did the same for clothing.

‘We were........

© The Age