About
Croatian born Tanja Gacic is a Sydney based blogger, writer, stylist, photographer, creative director and online contributor at myempiricallife.com and vogue.com.au. Tanja moved from Croatia to New Zealand with her family at age 14 before being discovered by a modelling agency while shopping for shoes. Soon after, she caught the eye of Australia’s Chic Management and moved to Sydney where she quickly became known as one of Australia’s top models and a regular on the runway during Sydney and Melbourne fashion weeks. She appeared in magazines such as Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and Oyster as well as in a diverse number of fashion campaigns, TV commercials and runway shows for such clients as Cue, Levi’s, Jigsaw, Oroton, Colette Dinnigan,Gucci, Ksubi, Seafolly, Zambesi, David Jones , Myer, Zimmerman etc.
She moved to New York at the age of 18 and lived there for 5 years appearing in magazines such as Japanese Vogue, V magazine , The Face and Spanish Vogue and shooting with photographers such as Jurgen Teller and Terry Richardson while regularly flying to London and LA for advertising work. Time in New York in the late 90s and early oughties was very special – Tanja lived a photogenic life filled with amazing people and incredible talents that influenced her aesthetic and attitude. Her boyfriend at the time, Australia’s renowned photographer Simon Lekias , introduced her to the magic of taking pictures, Zac Posen was her neighbour, she danced with Duran Duran till dawn and got catwalk tips from André Leon Talley. As she moved around the globe, seing the world for the first time , she understood change as an opportunity to create.
In 2004 , Tanja met Stephen Pavlovic, owner of Australia’s Modular records and in 2007 they had a beautiful daughter, Coco Valentine. With Coco in her life Tanja became passionate about leading a holistic lifestyle, cooking with organic ingredients, yoga, meditation and natural skincare while renovating their home by Sydney’s picturesque Bondi Beach.
My Empirical Life was born as an outlet for her creative passion for writing and photography . Initially, M.E.L was created as a hobby that utilised her love of travel, food and music until she was approached by Australian Vogue to become a regular online fashion contributor at the end of 2012. Since then Tanja has collaborated with such clients as, Alexander McQueen, Tiffany & Co, SK-II, Swarovski, Longines, Tommy Hilfiger, Thomas Saboo, Jets swimwear, Clinique, Witchery, Wella, Cartier, Woolmark, Seed, Gucci, Bec & Bridge, Maybelline, Dyson, Toyota, Magnum, Coach and Louis Vuitton. Tanja was the Australian ambassador for the global shopping site Farfetch for the entire duration of their Global Ambassadorship program 2014-2017. She celebrates 23 years in the fashion industry this year.
Tanja works with several charities close to her heart , appearing in and supporting the Witchery Ovarian Cancer Campaign and also endorsing initiatives for Plan For Girls , Greenpeace and WWF.
She maintains a wanderlust affair with travel, french champagne, vintage clothes, wildly expensive cheese ,estate jewellery, and pinot noir while lamenting the fact she was too young to audition for the TV show Dynasty.
For inquiries, please contact pr@myempiricallife.com
Michael Whitmore
September 27, 2011I simply LOVE reading your stories! Your photos and tales transport me to other worlds and I live vicariously through your experiences – so well written and so enjoyable. Love MONA xxx
peter king
June 20, 2012love ya work doll xxx
fabliha
July 17, 2012You are so beautiful and inspirational. I can’t believe I just found your blog! I remember reading the feature on you and your home in rush and finding you absolutely amazing. I definitely share your love of good food, travel and fashion
xx
Rigon Headwear
May 2, 2014Hi there, we would love to work with you and have you feature some of our beautiful, stylish designer hats. Please contact me so I can send you lookbooks and samples.
Many thanks!
Sally Hainey
Marketing Chic
Rigon Headwear Australia
Maria, Beauty Box Australia
June 11, 2014Hi Tanja,
We would LOVE for you to see this product we have brought from the UK – it’s called ‘GLITTER LIPS’ and it is a fantastic, very exciting new lip product – You CANNOT buy this anywhere else in Australia!!!!!!!!!!
We would LOVE to work with you – please contact me so I can send you some samples.
Kindest regards,
Maria McDonnell
Director
Beauty Box Australia
Georgia Lee
July 29, 2014Hi Tanja,
I am writing from GoodFit PR an agency dedicated to health and fitness. We would love the opportunity to send you a goodie bag full of exciting new products from a great client of ours.
If you could provide us with your best possible mail address we can send these gifts straight to you.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Kind Regards,
Georgia
http://www.goodfitpr.com
tanja
July 30, 2014Hi Georgia,
I love your clients and holistic vibe.Please email me on pr@myempiricallife.com. Kindest
Tanja
Martha
April 21, 2015Hello Tanja,
Just wanted to let you know that we mentioned you in an article we wrote (with a link to your site)
http://www.buffalohunter.com.au/article/what-we-learnt-about-australian-style-during-mbfwa
Please feel free to share.
Kindest
Martha
tanja
May 11, 2015Thanks so much for your generous write up Martha!
Kindest,
Tanja
Pony
June 7, 2015Koje iznenadenje vidjeti ovako fantastican blog od nekog iz Hrvatske!
Sve pohvale!
Saljem ga svima koje znam 🙂
puno pozdrava
kisses
Bree Alegre
June 30, 2017Good Day Ms Tanja,
I am writing to you as we would like to gift you with a dress of your choice from our SS17 and Transeasonal 2017 collections. Our head designer, Pia Gladys Perey will also be presenting our new collection in Sydney on July 17-20 as we celebrate our 10th year anniversary and she would very much like to meet you.
I am more than happy to send PGP’s Brand Profile as well as our current lookbooks.
I look forward to hear from you and have a wonderful day ahead!