The Australian designers putting a unique spin on a tried and true classic

Denim is a saturated category, but there’s still room for innovation say these Australian designers.

The Rebecca Vallance Aviator midi-dress is part of the brand’s new denim capsule.

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If you were to look at what most fashion designers wear themselves, it almost always includes that most hardworking staple: denim.

Indeed most designers probably wish they’d invented it.

As Yves Saint Laurent famously told New York Magazine in 1983: “I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all that I hope for in my clothes.”

Which is not to say many brands haven’t tried to put their own spin on denim, including – this year – a slew of Australian ones.

For Gabriella Pereira of Beare Park, who showed on schedule at Australian Fashion Week on Tuesday evening with a “see now, buy now” collection, denim has always been a goal when it comes to category expansion.

“We’re finally launching denim. It’s a year late. Good things take time. And I love jeans. I am a big denim person,” says Pereira, who is typically the guinea pig for all of her brand’s new designs.

A denim skirt from Courtney Zheng.

A denim dress from Courtney Zheng.

Denim is also a new category for Rebecca Vallance too, who this year launched a 15-piece collection that includes straight-leg and tailored flare jeans, fitted dresses and aviator-style jackets. For Vallance it is a natural evolution of the brand. Also, her customers – of which there are many around the world – her been asking her for it.

“Denim had been on our radar for some time – we wanted to launch at a time that felt right for the brand,” says Vallance.

“Over the years we have continued to grow and strengthen our categories, including the launch of our existing ready-to-wear and bridal, along with our Essentials range that offers tailored suiting and tops and blouses to pair back with. The next step for us had to be denim, our customers were looking for sophisticated everyday pieces and our new denim collection speaks to that.”

Byron Bay-based designer Laura-May Gibbs, who made her official Fashion Week debut on Tuesday, also expanded into denim in a way she says feels true to her brand. Dubbed “Return to Earth”, the denim pieces are made with organically grown plant dyes and aside from the (recyclable) metal trims and waistbands, are biodegradable. Denim, says Gibbs, was always the “missing piece” for the brand, which focuses on knitwear and activewear.

Beare Park denim bemuda short

“But we knew we had to do it the Nagnata way – infusing it with colour, culture and purpose,” she says.

“We’re not trying to be a traditional denim brand. We’re offering something more fashion-forward, expressive and elevated – a new take on a classic, grounded in natural fibres and sustainable innovation.”

Creating a new take on denim – a busy category – was something Courtney Zheng paid careful attention to with the denim pieces she showed as part of Tuesday’s buzzy group Frontier show.

“Denim is really important to me, and it’s a category that a lot of new brands don’t do because denim is notoriously a tough part of the market to enter,” she says.

The Rebecca Vallance Gisele flared jeans.

“There’s a lot of established denim brands out there, and they kind of have a monopoly in the industry.

“But to me, it’s really important that I have that category in every collection that I do because my family were predominantly denim manufacturers.”

Zheng has taken inspiration from her family’s manufacturing business in how she’s produced her denim too, including experimenting with different types of washes and techniques such as sandblasting, stone-washing, acid washing and fraying.

For Zheng, doing denim in an interesting way also meant including pieces such as bias panelled denim skirts and mermaid silhouettes with belted details.

“I try to do denim in a really inventive way … really atypical styles made in denim that are definitely more fashion pieces than they are every day.”