Kit Willow, Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton go back to basics
They were once at the top of Australia’s fashion scene. Now designers Kit Willow, Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton have reinvented themselves and tell Briana Domjen what they’ve learned along the way.
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Having cut their teeth with top-end classics that were feted as the coolest, most-glamorous looks in the nation, the designers that brought us the Sass and Bide and Willow ranges are mellowing with age.
Kit Willow, Heidi Middleton and Sarah Jane Clarke have reinvented themselves, all launching new and improved brands since leaving their original labels.
The three successful women have abandoned the ways of the past which saw an unrealistic number of collections launched each year, fabric wastage and burnout among employees.
They are instead choosing sustainability over commercialism.
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They are rewriting wrongs and are doing their bit to slow down the notoriously fast-paced fashion industry by tapping into the booming sustainability market.
According to Willow, the global fashion industry is broken and she is on a mission to do her part to fix it.
“The fashion system globally is broken,” Willow, who is stocked in David Jones, told The Sunday Telegraph.
“It is 100 per cent broken.
“We are discarding 13 trillion tonnes in America alone into land full. There is too much product and too much choice. It is all coming from the earth. It is resourced from the earth.”
Willow founded popular fashion brand Willow in 2003 before being pushed from her role as creative director in 2013 by The Apparel Group, which acquired majority shareholding in the business from 2011.
The label, which in its peak was estimated to be worth $20 million, folded three years later, unable to compete with fast fashion giants like H&M and Zara.
However two years after being ousted, the popular creative founded KitX, a conscious and mindful fashion brand.
The mother-of-two was among the first in the world to jump on the eco-friendly fashion bandwagon and has since gone global with her threads which uses zips made from recycled bottles, buttons from vegetable ivory and Lycra made from plastic rubbish from the ocean.
“No one was doing this,” Willow said.
“No fashion brand in the world was consciously sourcing fabrics but creating a desirable design aesthetic.
“There was no marriage between desirability and fashion and consciously sourced materials. Nothing. It didn’t exist.
“So I thought I can do this. I know how to design, I have my customer base and audience, I just need to do it with consciously sourced materials.
“I am not some angel. You have to do it. When you are presented with the statistics and information, you either take the forget pill and go on living or you do something about it.”
Willow now creates collections with an emphasis versatility and longevity, shunning fleeting trends and fashion fads.
Everything she designs will break down in earth when it is disposed and has had the most gentle effect on the earth in its creation.
“It is all about high frequency wear,” she said.
“It is not about trends. I hate that word. It feels different having a label this time around. I am doing it differently.
“I know what I am doing which feels great. I started Willow when I was 23 and had no idea. “And now I have the opportunity to raise awareness through fashion and can have a positive impact on the planet while doing it.”
Former Sass and Bide duo Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton have both ventured out and created their own labels since selling a controlling share of their multimillion-dollar global fashion empire to Myer for $42 million in 2011, before stepping down in 2014 when the department store acquired the rest.
While they’re separate brands, both have a focus on being both versatile and kinder to the planet unlike the trends-focused, eye-catching, wear-once style threads Sass and Bide fans are used to.
Middleton has spent the past few years living in France where she renovated a 1830s chateau with her young family.
It was there she gained a new perspective and has created a label which is virtually opposite to the brand she founded as a 21-year-old.
“We are doing almost everything differently with ARTCLUB,” Middleton said.
“The entire business model has been turned on its head. We are honouring our values without compromise.
“With age and experience, comes clarity, and I don’t feel the need or pressure to be anything else but myself.
“The last business model wasn’t sustainable both personally and environmentally. It was unrealistically demanding and suffocated creative spirit while contributing to global environmental damage.”
Her new brand ARTCLUB is a “modern, timeless, free” brand label which supports a slow fashion philosophy.
“I knew that I wanted to create in a new realm,” she said.
“It was clear that the conceptual / creative element was where the real joy lay, and it was essential that I create a model where I could impact people and the planet in a positive way.
“The traditional fashion business model that I had been in couldn’t and didn’t sustain this.
“The fashion industry is in an unsustainable position. It is one of the largest threats to the environment and with the knowledge that we now have, everyone has a responsibility to act.
“What I am doing differently this time is not allowing the pressure of commercialism to override my values.
Middleton too has shifted her focus from fast and wasteful fashion to encourage people to have a mindful approach to dressing.
The mother-of-two plans to hold quarterly clothes-swap night’s, won’t wholesale and will also reject the typical fashion business model which forced designers to launch multiple collections a year.
“It’s more than important, it’s crucial for the survival of the planet,” she said.
“Buy less, buy well. We need to shift our thinking around the way we consume. It is not rational to buy something you love and only wear it a few times, let alone once.
“I am designing pieces that I hope people will wear for years and pass on to children or swap with friends. If the quality is there and the design has strength, there is no reason that it can’t stand the test of time and trend.
Middleton’s best friend Sarah Jane Clarke’s eponymous brand is a “luxurious travel collection that transcends seasons, using the finest quality fabrics, and leaving minimal footprint on our earth.”
Clarke too has tipped the typical business model on its head and is learning from the mistakes made during her days with Sass and Bide.
While her former brand, which she founded at the age of 18, would have produced up to four or more collections a year, Clarke will focus on instead making timeless and classic pieces which are available all year around.
“By producing smaller limited editions capsule collections that drop twice a year, we have a softer footprint on the earth,” Clarke said.
“The old model of four seasons per year is fast and furious and I have seen first-hand the detrimental effects this has on the workers in the industry, the stress the burnout, and the effect this has on our planet.
“I think we are moving forward as an industry, we are becoming more educated on the effect that our choices have on our planet and we are embracing the sustainable revolution that is currently underway. We cannot ignore the damage that has happened. We need to be part of the solution.
“We are also making in Australia supporting fair wages, we use natural fabrics or repurposed fabrics, and we are going to trial pre-orders this season so we can make to order which means less excess stock in the world.”
Originally published as Kit Willow, Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton go back to basics
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