Pip Edwards: ‘There are bigger things to talk about than the circus’
She made headlines for the drama surrounding her break-up from Michael Clarke. Now Pip Edwards has revealed how she handled the aftermath - and the private battle she has been facing.
Stellar
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When Pip Edwards enters the Sydney headquarters of P.E Nation, the activewear brand she co-founded with designer Claire Tregoning in 2016, she is pulled into a hive of activity. From forecasting and financial meetings to reviewing sketches and fabric samples for upcoming collections, the nuts and bolts of running a company is as much a part of Edwards’ high- energy days as fronting a label that represents both her name’s initials and the phrase “physical education”.
For Edwards, 42 – whose career has skyrocketed through her design and marketing work over the years with clothing powerhouses such as Ksubi and Sass & Bide (where she met Tregoning) – creating P.E Nation was a way to put forward progressive ideas about functional fashion without pulling focus on herself.
Her label, she figured, would do the talking. But the social circles in which she ran meant she would no doubt find herself the subject of media gossip and constant headlines, thanks to the parties she attended, the friends she made, the outfits she was wearing or – most crucially – the men she was dating.
Then, in January, it all went into overdrive. On a night out in the Queensland resort town of Noosa, her ex-boyfriend, former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke, got into an altercation with his then-girlfriend Jade Yarbrough and Jade’s brother-in-law, Today co-host Karl Stefanovic. A video filmed by a bystander appears to show Yarbrough accusing Clarke of cheating on her with Edwards; when footage of the fracas went viral, Clarke lost a lucrative commentating gig, and Edwards gained a lot of unwanted attention.
Now, in a deeply personal sit-down with Stellar, Edwards says she is over the gossip and is revealing for the first time that she has been dealing with something far more consequential than her relationships with men.
Almost three years ago, she explains, she began experiencing health issues that were eventually diagnosed as early menopause. “I’m a real woman, doing real things and going through real sh*t, and I feel sometimes I don’t get to share that real side to me,” Edwards says. “But the time is right to do that.”
When the hot flushes first started, Edwards says she ignored them. Given that she led a fast-paced lifestyle and the weather in Sydney was humid, she simply turned on the airconditioning. “Like so many women, I’ve juggled being a mum and a business owner, had trouble sleeping and maintained a clean and lean diet,” Edwards says.
“And in the midst of it all, what I didn’t notice were the changes taking place to my female reproductive health. I never really thought to consider it.”
It was when she attended a basketball game to cheer on her teenage son, Justice, that she found herself so overheated and overwhelmed that she ended up in tears. “I didn’t know what was going on,” she says.
“I had to take myself outside and literally was in a frenzy of trying to take my clothes off. I was like, this is not right!”
‘I WAS IN ABSOLUTE SHOCK’
Appointments with doctors and tests of her egg supply soon revealed that Edwards, then 39, was in perimenopause. When delving into her family history, she discovered that her own mother had experienced the same thing at 40.
Although Edwards wasn’t trying to have another child at the time, she was forced to plan for the future.
“I went quickly to [a fertility clinic] to freeze my eggs just because I wanted the option,” she says. “But then Covid hit and it was deemed elective surgery, so it was put on hold.”
However, the perimenopausal symptoms Edwards was experiencing were so intense, she couldn’t prolong the start of her hormone replacement therapy.
At that point, she had to process the fact that she wouldn’t be able to carry another child.
“I was in absolute shock because I would never consider that not being an option,” she says. “I’m healthy. I’m fit. I’m in the prime of my life. If I knew my family history better or had conversations, then maybe in my early 30s I would have started preparing my options for whatever life I choose.”
Now, to combat the stigma of talking about women’s reproductive health, Edwards has teamed up with Australian fashion label Witchery for its annual White Shirt Campaign, during which profits from the sales of the wardrobe staple go to funding ovarian cancer research.
While there is no suggestion from Edwards that early menopause leads to cancer, she wants women to break taboos and have conversations about their wellness.
“You can look at my body and we can talk about fitness and exercise, but it means nothing,” she says bluntly. “I wish I knew more about female health before my diagnosis. I simply didn’t make it a priority. Honestly, I do have regret around my unawareness, but unlike so many other women, my diagnosis was not ovarian cancer. This, however, was my wake-up call.”
As part of her outreach, Edwards has designed this year’s signature white shirt, infusing the garment with her trademark blend of masculine and feminine styles. “It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever been asked to be involved in,” says Edwards, adding that she hopes its sales will add to the more than $15 million that Witchery has already raised in its partnership with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
“I’ve put my heart and soul into this, which is why I’m talking about all these things. In fashion, where I influence from a certain aesthetic, this is possibly the most monumental moment that I can use my voice.”
To counteract her perimenopause symptoms, Edwards altered her fitness and health regimen away from high- intensity resistance training and towards yoga and Pilates, while also learning to prioritise rest. As a result, following a trip to the beach on Australia Day in January, breathless speculation arose that she had conjured up a “revenge body” in response to the video scandal involving Clarke. “The hardest thing was the distraction,” Edwards says.
As to whether she has spoken to Clarke, or if he apologised to her for what happened, she won’t say. “It’s just not relevant,” she adds.
“There are bigger things that are more concerning, that have more meaning, that should be talked about other than the circus that was. It took [the focus] off the bigger picture of life and what’s actually real – and that’s my business, and work, and my son.”
Now 16, Justice (Edwards’ son with her ex-partner and Ksubi co-founder Dan Single) is well aware of the headlines written about his mother, but Edwards says the teen not only ignores the noise, he also encourages her to do the same.
“He’s so strong and he teaches me. He’s my true north,” she tells Stellar. “He’s got a knowing and a sensibility and a sensitivity. He says to me, ‘Let it go.’ He does a lot of reading around mindset and he’s a very well-rounded kid. He reminds me that it’s the simple things in life that actually matter, and they’re standing right in front of me.”
Ultimately, Edwards says, her diagnosis has only made her more grateful that she was able to give birth to a child in the first place.
“I’ve raised a beautiful, stunning, sensitive, gorgeous man and that’s a great achievement,” she says.
“It doesn’t matter that I’ve got this certain profile, or who you think I am. This is real. I’m a real mother going through real-life situations. Reproductive health is a common denominator that can affect every woman. It does not discriminate.”
So now, Edwards is prioritising investments in her health, her son and her business. “Sitting with myself and really dissecting everything that has gone on in life, [I’ve realised] the only person who’s going to help me is me, and I’m going to hold my own hand.
“There were times it wasn’t easy, and I am by no means a master at it,” she continues.
“But, to be honest, when you’re in the public forum – you’re the face of a brand, you run a brand [and] you’ve got all these front-facing obligations – you have to be rock-solid underneath. And I just really feel I’m on my way. That’s why I can keep going.”
The 2023 Witchery White Shirt will be available to shop online and in-store from April 11. For every White Shirt sold, Witchery will donate 100 per cent of gross proceeds to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Originally published as Pip Edwards: ‘There are bigger things to talk about than the circus’
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