Picture this: It's the first day of the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne and Georgia Danos is rocking a Rag and Bone felt Fedora. Only today Danos isn’t at the races, she’s on the floor of her Hawksburn boutique, Grace, pulling outfits for customers from the racks of Carven, A.P.C, Rutzou and the in-house Grace line. It’s not a ditch-the-fascinator protest; she just hasn’t had time to wash her hair.

Since opening Grace with business partner Ilana Moses five years ago, Danos, 30 – who travels to New York and Paris biannually – barely has time to breathe. “It’s hard work in amazing places,” she cautions. She has a “gut instinct” for what Australian women want to wear.

On Derby Day she favours a black and white Rag and Bone printed number. For summer she favoured “prints, herringbone and lots of colour”.

Scouring the globe for new and exclusive labels is surely every woman’s dream. Danos is no exception. At this year’s New York Fashion Week she rubbed shoulders with her own style inspirations including “knockout” Taylor Tomasi Hill and Leandra Medine a.k.a. The Man Repeller.

To discover gems for the store Danos and Moses take to the streets. “I have no shame, I go up to people all the time,” she says. The trendsetters also look to Danos for inspiration. Glamour magazine snapped her on a NYC street.

Danos’ Australian designers fit with the Grace aesthetic (see full label list here). Sydney based label Secret South stood out for their artist-designed silk shifts. Grace doesn’t stock “fads”. Neon is “so for five minutes”. Metallic is another story. “It’s classic and pervasive in jewellery, glasses and leather.”

Whilst not a member of the fashion police, drop waisted harem pants baffle her. Danos’ own “moment” occurred during her cords and fleece uni days (the horror!). The photos have been deleted.