The ability to pack well for a holiday is an enviable skill that still remains frustratingly elusive to most. Fashion designer Sarah-Jane Clarke discovered this when she was globetrotting after selling her label Sass & Bide; but crucially she also realised that the right clothes to pack were just as elusive.
“I spent a lot of time exploring the world and I wanted to arrive in my destination looking stylish but it had to be comfortable and versatile and travel well,” Clarke tells WISH over a coffee at Camp Cove beach in Sydney. “I found a gap in the market for luxurious easy-to-wear pieces that were made from natural fibres. So I decided to create a collection that I would want to take on holidays with me.”
It has been four years since Clarke and her business partner and best friend Heidi Middleton sold Sass & Bide to Myer for $72.5 million. The pair, who started their business selling low-cut jeans at London’s Portobello markets in the late 1990s, sold the iconic brand in two tranches: the first for $42m in 2011 and the remaining stake in 2014 when they departed the company. It was an extraordinary 15 years for the pair, whose clothes were worn by Sarah Jessica Parker, Elle Macpherson and Kate Moss, and who showed at fashion weeks in New York, London and Sydney. Sass & Bide became a household name in Australia and had huge international appeal.
Middleton and Clarke also managed to fit in having families during that 15 years, with Clarke having three boys and Middleton two girls. What eventually drew Clarke back to the world of fashion was her experience of needing a wardrobe to travel with and a desire to return to design.
“While having my sabbatical, I really felt I wanted to reconnect with like-minded people again,” she says. “I like the idea of creating. I think once you create, it is such a magical feeling, when you are creating something beautiful, that you want to do it again and again. But I really wanted to do it differently to what we were doing at Sass & Bide. This is a much gentler approach to fashion and is tightly curated. I am not doing four seasons [like at Sass & Bide], I will do two seasons a year.”
Clarke’s first collection for her new eponymous label includes 15 pieces that feature high-quality fabrics, are crafted in Australia, and can take you from beach to dinner. “There are lots of soft, flowing dresses, which you can then wear with different belts with so you can create different looks with one dress. And all the pieces are just made to throw in the suitcase,” she tells WISH. “Linen looks beautiful crushed. They are pieces that last for a lifetime and they are not seasonal.”
Clarke sourced linen from small family-run mills in Italy and worked with Australian makers in Sydney to create her garments. She believes that women who buy her clothes will consider them investment pieces that will last a lifetime, as opposed to the current fast-fashion model where pieces are often thrown away after one season. “It also encourages thoughtful consumerism, which is really important to me,” she says. “I think we have been given too much choice and women are looking for a more curated collection.”
The 43-year-old has been “quietly” working on the label for over a year. As well as a collection of clothing, it will include vintage finds by Clarke or candles, scents and ceramics she picks up on her travels. Her aim is to be stocked at “beautiful seaside boutiques and luxury hotel stores” all over the world as well as being available online. Her first collection is inspired by a recent visit to Morocco, in particular to Marrakech, Essaouira and Berber Lodge on the way to the Atlas Mountains.
“I just fell in love with Morocco; the smells, the noises, the festivals, the sensory overload,” Clarke says. “I love places where there are artisans and people working with their hands and Morocco is full of artisans. A lot of the pieces are inspired by the trip there, especially the sun-bleached colours that I use throughout the collection.
“When I am designing I do think of places and what I want to wear in that place,” she says. “And I have noticed a big trend now that women now shop a lot more before they head off on their travels because they want to have their outfits ready when they land.”
And there is also the added attraction of having a legitimate reason to do more travel for her new foray in fashion, whether it be for research, for inspiration or even to meet with fabric makers in Italy to India.
“I really want it to work for me, this business,” Clarke says laughing. “It is just celebrating freedom, this brand, and that anything is possible. For me, freedom is travel, freedom is exploring other cultures and other places and just being inspired by what you see.”