Their numbers are still swelling as more consumers turn from fashion’s trend-driven herd, splintering into myriad types with myriad personal and political allegiances. For small-fry brands, now is a perfect storm, as increasing numbers of opinionated and educated consumers, who are also highly engaged on social media, open up to clothes that express their three “Ps”: politics, passions and personality.
“You have to have a strong mission statement behind you,” says seasoned small-brand designer Erik Yvon. “People want to know who they’re buying from, what your story is – who are you, what’s your back-end narrative? They want to know who they’re investing in.”
“Its essence is joy,” says Erik Yvon of his Laffy Daffy collection.Credit:Prue Stent
As well as sustainability and ethical practices, most small brands embrace the tenets of woke politics, and especially inclusivity – some more pointedly than others. “For me it’s all about the queer community,” says Yvon. “I’m really selective about who I work with; who’s supporting the same ethos? I try and engage and interact with other queer makers here as much as possible and to collaborate with others, an illustrator, textile designer, photographers, make-up artists, all kinds of creatives who align with that ethos.”
Yvon is a graduate of RMIT and teaches design there now. “The ones starting out are creating their own little bubbles with their own narratives,” he says. “They’re about having a group of people like them around, so a strong image of their brand evolves and the customer will tap into that.”
Yvon describes his latest collection, Laffy Daffy, scheduled to show at Independent Runway, as a collaborative effort by members of his own like-minded tribe. “Its essence is joy,” he says of the collection’s sunshine and lollipops vibe and happy mash of vivid colours and textures.
Yvon based Laffy Daffy’s core theme and prints on work by Melbourne illustrator Lily Suwitra then collaborated with craftsman Sam Seary on toy-style beadwork and embroidery with artist John Brooks. “I started with Lily’s beautiful florals inspired by her (Indonesian) culture,” says Yvon. “Then I slowly added in other creatives.”
Like most of the tiny brands popping up like daisies across the world, Yvon says he eschews thoughts of global domination for his business and will keep production of his slow-crafted fashion limited and his supply chains short, if it means his core mission principles can stay intact. “People do think that if you (take production) offshore you lose control,” he says. “But very often the reason is because the skills and machinery just aren’t available here. I get a lot of my hand-knitting done in India for example, but by a beautiful company that is actually upskilling and training women who might be suffering some hardship. I am in contact with them constantly so would know if anything changed.”
A silk organza blouse over a puffed gingham blouse from mother-and-daughter brand Muse The Label.Credit:Thea Blocksidge
There are tricks to not winding up with horrors such as slave labour or cruel practices along your supply chains, and they usually involve keeping them as short, transparent and manageable as Yvon’s. “You can actually do great things if you’re sending off overseas,” agrees Sarah Kourim of tiny Melbourne brand Muse The Label, another one of Independent Runway’s 17 starters. “There are some great artisan projects. But I’ve also seen small labels expand because in the end, it’s all about scale and margins, and lose their values.”
Kourim runs Muse The Label with her mum, and somehow their different generational perspectives and shared fervour for sustainability (limited editions sewn with dead stock fabrics such as a current textured silk dupon are numbered by label until the last is cut) exquisitely entwine as their narrative in low-key quirky classics. “We have a made-to-order (business) model so we’re not overproducing, we’re not wasting, we’ve got personal connections with our customers, we’re happy with the process and it’s the right thing to do,” Kourim says.
“Keeping small, being a mother-and-daughter brand, we find, is a marketing tool in itself because of the way the industry is going. Because of social media though, we may be small but we still have a worldwide audience.” Proof that small definitely doesn’t mean invisible in fashion, Kourim’s social media posts have attracted requests from stylists for the smash hit pay-TV drama Euphoria and tidy life pop guru Marie Kondo.
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“We have thought about what we’d do if the opportunity happened to go huge,” Kourim says. “And there’s no need. Anything we did to expand, we’d still keep it local, keep that connection with our market and that limited edition kind of feel.“
It’s a business model even mass production mega-brands around the planet are keen to emulate on some level. Supply chains are being checked, crimes outed, waste controlled, kindness and human rights mingled into mission statements, creative collaborations similar to those among small-brand tribes proliferating. Up the fast fashion end of a paradoxical industry, in other words, slowlyslowly the “tanker is turning”. Up the other end, thousands of tinytiny brands are carpeting a new fashion landscape.
PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival, March 3-12, public precinct around Federation Square and ACMI, melbournefashionfestival.com.au
Independent Runway Thursday March 10, 8pm, Collingwood Yards, melbournefashionfestival.com.au/program/independent-program
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Small tribes and slow-crafted fashion
Source: Philippines Alive
