"One of my earliest memories was cutting up a pair of jeans and making it into a jacket,” muses Australian designer Therese Rawsthorne. “Where I lived, in the country, we didn’t have a lot of fashion, so it was exciting being able to experience it by doing it yourself, because you couldn’t access it.”
That early interest in fashion — learning to sew on her mother’s sewing machine — propelled Therese from the small town central west of New South Wales to Sydney, where today she heads up Sass and Bide as creative director. On the phone from the Sydney-based design room of the iconic Australian brand, Therese chats freely about everything from adapting her own unique design aesthetic to such a well-known label, to the state of Australian fashion today.
Before joining the company last year, she had worked at Ksubi and was the design director at Witchery. Previously, she had had her own eponymous fashion label for seven years, a cult label that was known for creating cool cotton garments with a focus on raw edging.
Therese looks back on the creative scene of the mid-00s affectionately. It was a time when Aussie labels such as Ksubi and Sass and Bide were just beginning to thrive.
“There were a lot of young designers who were really supportive of each other and it was just about having really individual, creative brands. The design scene was strong at the time and it was a great energy — and a lot of friendships among the designers of that era were really strong.”
Australian fashion has continued to flourish internationally, from the global growth of Kym Ellery to the influence of stylist Christine Centenera. Therese credits that success to Australians’ independent spirit, “curiosity about the world and a willingness to throw yourself out there and forge your own path”.
Today, she believes it is a much tougher market to have your own brand in. “There is so much, in terms of international brands, that are now available. It is a much more competitive global landscape, but there are still lots of great Australian brands that are achieving.
“Australian designers still have a lot of strength and vibrancy. You need a strong aesthetic and point of view to succeed, and I think that is really part of the success, historically and now.”
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Advertise with NZME.Therese had always followed Sass and Bide, and remembers discovering it in the early days, at a stall selling jeans at a Sydney market, before founders Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton officially launched the brand at Australian Fashion Week in 2001.
“I watched all of that unfold, so feel like it’s a brand I’ve always had a good grounding with in a way,” says Therese.
“I’ve kind of grown up with it. I remember their hand-painted jeans — the product was really undone and really raw and cool.”
She describes Sass and Bide as an iconic and ground-breaking brand. “It was a without-precedent type of brand in Australian fashion when it launched — in the sense of its international spirit. It was such a must-have.”
In 2011, Sarah-Jane and Heidi sold 65 per cent of their company to Myer for A$42.25 million ($43.9 millon), selling the remaining share in 2013 before leaving the company entirely the following year.
Therese says the pair still remain friends of the brand.
Her debut collection for Sass and Bide recently arrived in stores, inspired by the architecture and artefacts of Morocco. The campaign was photographed in Sydney with top Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw, chosen because she embodies the free spirit of the Sass and Bide girl.
“I love that she’s got a lot going on. She always dabbled in music, she’s acting now and has just got a great, independent spirit,” says Therese.
“She is a beautiful muse for us.”
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Advertise with NZME.In October, the new resort collection will drop into stores, with Therese’s focus on creating signature Sass and Bide garments — expect fresh prints, ivories and golds, and big, beautiful silhouettes.
“We are really focusing on putting a lot of love into the things that Sass and Bide is known for. It’s about doing all the things that the brand is famous for — denim, beautiful statement accoutrement pieces, party dresses,” she says.
“It’s about getting to the essence of what the brand is all about — capturing the essence of that joyful, playful spirit.”
