What do your favourite clothes mean to you? How connected are you to most of what's in your wardrobe? If you had to start from scratch, what would you prioritise?

This interview is the third in a mini series of four about made in Made in Melbourne. This time, it's actually made in Ballarat, which is about 120 ks from the Victorian capital, but you get this idea. We're talking thriving in your own community, local production and pushing back on the idea that to make it in fashion you have to rush off to Paris or New York.

For my guest this week, designer Saskia Baur-Schmid, it's sustainability and zero-waste pattern making. It's the fabric choices that she makes for her label Hyph_n, her beautiful sewing, and the way she communicates all this to her customers - each garment carries its own 'Eco ID'. But more than that, it's about crafting a sartorial identity, what makes us connect with our clothing, and how that ultimately plays such an important role on tackling overconsumption and waste.

It's boils down to meaning, where we find it, and why it matters.

Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis.

Find links and further reading for this episode at thewardrobecrisis.com

Read Clare's columns & support the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.com

Tell us what you think. Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress

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In the second of our mini series on emerging designers based in Melbourne, my guest this week Singaporean-Aussie designer Jude Ng.

Jude started out selling at design markets, and we talk here about how some people might view that as not elevated, somehow not fashion enough. And what rubbish that is!

As Jude says, it was having these direct relationships and conversations with potential customers that helped him build his business. To this day, he's set up his workshop on view in his Fitzroy, Melbourne store, so that people who are interested in his work can actually see him do it.

In his own words, he offers: "ethically Melbourne made, zero waste slow fashion production and in-house bespoke mending". His pieces are unisex, and he talks about: "a different perspective in the realm of fashion by playing with a signature asymmetry and a relaxed, gender neutral sense of tailoring... using an artisanal approach and respect for the traditional craft techniques."

And it works. It's beautiful and people love it. Six years in to his independent business, he's proving you can thrive as a directional designer outside of the obvious fashion capitals.

Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis.

Find links and further reading for this episode at thewardrobecrisis.com

Read Clare's columns & support the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.com

Tell us what you think. Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress

Got recommendations? Hit us up!

And please leave us a rating / review in Spotify/ Apple & help us share these podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new generation of fashion designers is rejecting the current system, but what are they building in its place?

In the first of our mini-series, Made in Melbourne, Isabelle Hellyer, the designer behind All Is Gentle Spring, discusses her vision for small-scale, skills-based fashion trade we can be proud of.

These stories are Australian, but relevant wherever you are - exploring universal themes of staying small in a Bezos-world, backing the authenticity of true craft, resisting the rise of ultra fast fashion and the unethical systems that underpin it.

Thank you for listening to Wardrobe Crisis.

Find links and further reading for this episode at thewardrobecrisis.com

Read Clare's columns & support the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.com

Tell us what you think. Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress

Got recommendations? Hit us up!

And please leave us a rating / review in Spotify/ Apple & help us share these podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.