Not easy being green: Another sustainable Australian label says goodbye

Sustainable fashion label Arnsdorf’s minimalist designs were featured in promotional images for this year’s Melbourne Fashion Festival, but the clothes won’t make it onto the runway.

Arnsdorf founder and designer Jade Sarita Arnott is closing the label she founded in 2006, along with its Brunswick Street, Fitzroy store, following a challenging period for the retail industry.

Joslin designer Elinor McInnes (far right) will be taking part in the Melbourne Fashion Festival sustainability-themed show.Credit: Justin McManus

The surprise move comes after Nique, another Australian label with a sustainable focus and stores in Sydney and Melbourne, entered voluntary administration last month.

“Arnsdorf had been ticking along, so for me this is a personal decision rather than a financial one,” Arnott says. “I’m ready to explore other things.”

Arnsdorf on the runway at last year’s Melbourne Fashion Festival in March.Credit: Wireimage

Arnott, who won the sustainability prize at the 2019 National Designer Award, has found new roles for the four staff members in her Melbourne studio.

Many sustainable fashion labels have struggled with rising costs of materials, while customers face cost of living pressures.

Former investment banker Joanna Dai’s sustainable British womenswear brand Dai closed its doors in December, despite investment from two former LVMH chief executives from Thomas Pink and Donna Karan.

“The macro environment we and many young brands are facing meant that our path forward became a near-impossible challenge,” Dai said in a closing message to customers.

“Upon reflection, was my vision too ambitious? Can a business truly do better for people and planet and achieve commercial success?”

James Bartle, founder of Outland Denim, the sustainable Gold Coast label favoured by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, remains optimistic but is still looking for answers to Dai’s question.

“You wouldn’t be in this game if you weren’t optimistic,” Bartle says. “We are up against the destruction of culture with fast fashion. A $4 T-shirt from Shein is eroding our humanity.”

In October Outland acquired Nobody Denim, after the Melbourne business went into liquidation with debts of $3.6 million.

“There’s no question that if you want to harness sustainability in its truest form its harder and has higher costs,” says Bartle. “But there wouldn’t be any brand that doesn’t have challenges currently.”

“That’s why collaboration is so important. To survive you have to get big or stay niche. To be profitable at a small size, with small margins is hard.” Last year, Outland collaborated with sass & bide co-founder Heidi Middleton’s label ArtClub on a denim capsule collection.

“Acquiring Nobody was about trying to find a better way forward.”

Outland Denim founder James Bartle who acquired Nobody Denim in October. Credit: Pete Wallis

With Arnsdorf no longer on the runway, Nobody Denim and Melbourne-based sustainable womenswear label Joslin will appear in the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s green-themed Thread Lightly runway show.

Joslin, which won the sustainable prize at the 2022 National Designer Award, is growing its international profile and weathering economic challenges through founder Elinor McInnes’ focus on international markets.

“Our international wholesale business is a lot bigger than our Australian business,” McInnes says.

Being sustainable impacts Joslin’s business costs but with each romantically tiered dress and organic cotton broderie smock McInnes remains committed to the green cause.

“In any industry polluting is the cheapest form of doing business,” McInnes says. “Ethical manufacturing comes at a higher market price. We do a lot of customer education so that people understand why our fabrics come at a higher price.”

“We have had to make some very tough decisions in the past 12 months, including restructuring our team, closing our first boutique in Brighton and contracting our Australian wholesale offering,” McInnes says. “I have become a stronger business owner.”

“As a sustainable brand it is important to stay relevant and commercial. What really keeps us going is our keepsake pieces and signature collection.”

Arnott remains adamant that a sustainable approach is the only way forward for the planet, as she says goodbye to her business.

“I truly believe that you need to be an ethical, sustainable business to survive,” Arnott says. “Yes, the costs are higher because of your expenses, but it balances out because you have a product that is worth so much more.”

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