From Bianca Spender to Bec and Bridge: Meet the stars of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week

As the Australian fashion industry’s most glamorous annual event gets underway, these are the runway stars you need to know. See the photos.

Afterpay Australian Fashion Week has officially started, with a runway show from Alemais (pictured). Read the full interview in Stellar. Picture: Getty Images for AAFW

Ahead of the start of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week tomorrow – and on the occasion of Mother’s Day – Stellar speaks with some of the country’s leading designers who are raising families while running fashion empires.

They reveal how they do it all, as well as the changes they’ve witnessed over the years around how the business supports the demands of motherhood. As Acler co-founder Kathryn Forth tells Stellar, being a mum in such a dynamic industry is a balancing act: “You’re running from a day that was perfectly scheduled into total chaos”.

BEC + BRIDGE

A pair of white rollerskates and a ’90s-esque skateboard wouldn’t usually feature on

a Bec + Bridge runway – but on the set of Stellar’s cover shoot, it was a completely different story.

As the brand’s co-founders and creative directors Bec Cooper and Bridget Yorston took time out from finetuning their upcoming AAFW collection, they reflected on how being mums is as much of an influence to their brand as the prominent “it girls” they are dressing.

“I think [motherhood] helps give a perspective on what we’re doing – not that we don’t take what we do seriously,” Yorston says of raising her three children Tommy, 12, George, 10, and Matilda, 7. “Having other things going on means we have to be much more decisive, because we don’t have time to not be.”

Bec Cooper and Bridget Yorston of Bec + Bridge. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Cooper – whose sons Max, 8, and Teddy, 6, sported football jerseys and kicked soccer balls around the set of Stellar’s shoot – expands on Yorston’s words: “Pre-kids, you have time to know what’s going on and travel more – we were always in the fashion magazines and looking at different sources of inspiration.

“And we still do that, but it’s in a different way,” she continues. “You have a fresher set of eyes, you haven’t seen everything that is going on. You’re not in the trenches with it, I guess.”

So what do all of their children think about being part of the Bec + Bridge family?

“I don’t know that our kids really understand,” Cooper says with a laugh. “They have come to Fashion Week before – I’m sure it’s quite full on [for them].”

As for how the Australian fashion industry helps women balance work with family life, Yorston tells Stellar: “Since we were 21, we have always been able to manage our team and manage that aspect of things ourselves. The benefit of [now] being mums, yes, we can employ mums and have the benefit of empathy and understanding of what they’re dealing with and going through. It means that people, I guess, know that we know.”

Bec + Bridge’s show at AAFW will be fun, Cooper says, and is set to deliver “unexpected colours and silhouettes”.

And don’t be surprised if the brand’s A-list fans, such as Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, are soon seen wearing the clothes out and about.

“We have quite a big US market and having an international celebrity like those girls [wear our designs], it goes global,” Yorston says of Bec + Bridge’s success in LA and New York. “It’s a huge win for us, when that happens. We get just as excited to see them wearing it.”

ACLER

It was a complete coincidence that Acler design duo Kathryn Forth and Julia Ritorto had babies two months apart. Forth’s daughter – Jeanie, 7 months – was born just weeks before Ritorto’s daughter Sasha, 5 months (Ritorto also has son Lewis, 3).

“We definitely didn’t plan it at all,” Forth says with a laugh. “We’d obviously talked about having kids, over many years. And given each other our blessing, however it comes about, that we’d make it work [with the business].”

While the co-founders and creative directors were busy putting the finishing touches on Acler’s resort ’24 collection ahead of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AAFW), which kicks off tomorrow in Sydney, they found the time to join Stellar – bubs in tow – for a special photo shoot.

“[Jeanie and Sasha] have been on many a set, they’re not that foreign to the world

of photo shoots,” Forth says. “They [have] the starring roles on my iPhone reel. They’ll come along with us and they certainly lift morale around the office.

“Jules and I oversee the creative evolution of every [Acler] collection, from the design

to the fittings process. It does mean having a baby in the mix is quite challenging. You’re running from a day that was perfectly scheduled into total chaos.”

Kathryn Forth and Julia Ritorto of Acler. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

The pair – who describe Acler as “our first baby” – will showcase their new collection at AAFW. “I was doing a million things the night before I had my C-section because I wanted to do everything down to the 11th hour,” Forth remembers.

“I had a couple of weeks off – I think it was about four weeks after having [Jeanie] … and then I was straight back into it. [The Fashion Week show] is going to be a really special presentation, it represents such an important time in our lives. [We’re] managing to juggle home and work, somehow, harmoniously.”

Reflecting on life as a working mum, Ritorto has observed a “significant shift” over the past 15 years to more supportive workplaces.

“There is now widespread recognition for the flexibility required to balance work and parenting,” she explains.

“This change has enabled parents to return to the roles and industries they love much sooner than before, which is a big step forward.”

As for the fashion side of things, expect to see couture-inspired pieces and bright colours on the Acler runway. “We’re a global brand, we export more than we sell in Australia,” Forth tells Stellar.

“There will be lots of texture, pleating and crushed fabrics. A big part of our DNA is soft suiting and [the] movement of strips and ties to offset the really bold, soft, fun, textural pieces.”

BIANCA SPENDER

“Would you like a tea?” asks designer Bianca Spender’s youngest son, Florian, 11, on

the set of Stellar’s shoot, as her eldest Dominic (who she calls Domo), 14, is styled into an outfit.

“They’re always teaching me. It’s amazing seeing that curiosity in kids that I think just opens our eyes,” Spender says.

When asked what lessons her sons have taught her, she takes a moment and then laughs. “To be on time! They teach you to be playful … whether it’s basketball or Bananagrams, they teach you to be the change you want to see.

“I’m a born dreamer and I have always been someone who needs to carry that. Motherhood made me want to dream even more.”

Bianca Spender with her sons Dominic (far left) and Florian, far right. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Spender witnessed first-hand how the fashion industry evolved to the demands of motherhood during the pandemic.

“You were allowed to have a kid coming into a Zoom call, being like, ‘Hi!’ You could work from home if your kids were sick. There was a total shift around this expectation that you had to be in an office 9-5, five days a week. And that’s a game changer for women.” This Fashion Week marks the 15th anniversary of Spender’s eponymous label.

“The summer collection is called Fifteen – it’s been 15 years since I launched Bianca Spender,” the designer says.

“I was really thinking about what women need at the moment … I felt it was important to create this feeling of softness and ease, with the state of the world [how it is].”

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, Spender also reflects on the enduring influence she takes from her late mother, the iconic designer Carla Zampatti.

“Mum really led by example and that is something I’m always thinking about. Whether she was empowering women or working really hard, she showed us how much hard work went into everything.”

Read the full interviews with the stars of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week inside Stellar today.

Read the full interviews with the stars of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week inside Stellar, out today. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Originally published as From Bianca Spender to Bec and Bridge: Meet the stars of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week