Style icon, fashion editor Maggie Tabberer dies aged 87

Ms Tabberer is the two-time winner of the prestigious Gold Logie for her television work.

Journalist Andrew Hornery broke the news on social media on December 6 writing he was "bereft" with grief.

"Legend. Icon. Champion. There are not enough descriptors to truly encapsulate what she represented over a seven-decade career." he wrote on Instagram.

"She enjoyed a little tittle-tattle and had a wonderful sense of humour - self-deprecating but always positive.

"What a life. Vale lovely lady."

Sydney restaurateur Rupert Noffs said Ms Tabberer was a "trailblazer in Australian fashion and media".

"Maggie defined Australian style with her elegance, sophistication, and grace, inspiring countless others along the way," he wrote.

Editor Melissa Hoyer described her as a "pure class act" on X. "An extraordinary woman, my icon, my influence, a person with an innate sense of style (& humour) that money can't buy."

She is survived by her daughters Brooke and Amanda.

In August 2023 Ms Tabberer graced the front cover of the Australian Women's Weekly.

Her daughter Brooke proudly wrote at the time, "My darling mummy, cover girl at 86!!"

Ms Tabberer was born in Adelaide in 1936 and began modelling as a teenager before being discovered at 23 by German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton.

She became a panellist on TV show Beauty and the Beast in 1964, and would go on to host her own daily chat show Maggie.

In 1981 she launched a plus-size clothing label called Maggie T and began working as the fashion editor of the Australian Women's Weekly, a position she held for 15 years.