What inspired you to create the new Natural Fibre Collection, and how did the idea come together?
A natural fibre collection has been in the works over the last few years and we have been testing and trialling it with different bases. For this collection we wanted to move into more core colours and so finding a constant supplier of tones that work within our beautiful colour palette was the challenge. We love working with earthy natural tones so it felt like a bit of a tall order trying to find firstly a natural fibre & secondly in organic plant based and thirdly with the dreams of that production method being circular**.** The main inspiration behind our natural collection is the planet, for close to a decade now we have been making changes to become more and more sustainable and our core range was the last key piece for our brand that needed to be more earth friendly.
After working with the same velvet factory for 13 years, how did its closure influence the way you approached this new collection?
In a way it gave us a lot of freedom being able to start again from scratch after doing it for 13 years with our classic velvet fabric. It was really exciting once we found the fabric, the lead up to and the searching for it was very challenging but when it came to the final product being ready for sampling and then our photo shoot it just all flowed very naturally. We wanted to showcase it in a very casual, fun, light-hearted manner because that’s how the new Fabric feels as well and we were lucky enough to be able to do our photoshoot with some wonderful babes in Greece.
You explored fabrics and production methods across Europe before discovering Organic Bamboo. What made you decide it was the right fit for Flare Street?
We’ve been wanting to work with circular suppliers and so we have in our little black book the contacts and creators of some really amazing fabrics that are circular in Europe. Some of the production methods that are happening over there was just incredible in terms of recycling, circularity and top quality product and they’re moving millions of metres. Watching that process always leaves this feeling within me that reminds me that this could be the case in Australia and in Melbourne in terms of our rag trade, so wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be a part of sustaining our Australia textile economy… and so with that in mind, we went back to Melbourne and began to start from the ground up again – and things are really changing year after year in Australia in terms of Ethical fashion and fabric manufacturers. Our organic bamboo comes from one of our favourite suppliers in Australia that we’ve been working with for 13 years and we’re also sampling with one of our favourite mills that made our organic Australian cotton. Another amazing company we’re working with in Melbourne is Circular Sourcing, and they’re connecting deadstock fabric from mills with brands!
How does the Organic Bamboo feel and wear differently from your signature velvet pieces?
I’ve been a velvet lover personally since the 1990s so that Fabric and me go way back, but in saying that they’ll always be a place for beautiful velvets and it didn’t make sense any more to work with polyester fibres, so organic bamboo is in a class of its own, it is such a top quality Fabric that we’re working with. We know there’s other bamboos on the market and I think what makes our organic bamboo stand out is that it feels so silky, it’s so lightweight or lighter than a cotton. It’s so breathable, moisture wicking, durable. It’s great for travelling. It’s great for a night out dancing and it does everything that our velvet does in terms of how it sits on your body, how it makes you feel so we’re incredibly fortunate to have found it and we’re so excited to be working with it… and we’re really excited to see our customers grooving around in it.
Sustainability has been an important part of Flare Street from the beginning. How does this collection build on that philosophy?
This collection feels like the final piece of the puzzle. It’s been something that we have been working towards for over six years and we know that customers are changing in terms of what they want to wear on their bodies as well natural fibres. It Just feel better, they breathable, they’re better for the environment, better for your skin and so knowing now that there is zero part of production that pollutes our waterways, ends up in landfill, uses harsh chemicals really feels like something to celebrate and 13 years ago really felt like quite an impossible task. We have been slowly working towards this year after year so it’s incredible to be here now. With this gorgeous garment and still made in Melbourne!
What surprised you most while researching new fabrics and visiting factories across Europe?
What’s surprised me most was just how passionate other people were in the Fabric industry and the rag trade around circular production and sustainability. It didn’t really come up when we started 13 years ago and it has felt like a bit of a solo journey for a long time. We know it’s a lot more common now but even five years ago when we released our organic cotton collection it wasn’t as desired or seen in the market as desirable, so excitement from really big key players in the industry was something that we saw a lot in Europe. It was also being backed by some of the biggest most beautiful luxury brands in the world and these countries local governments. It brought me to tears just knowing that companies do influence the industry a lot and are also on their sustainability journey. Seeing the companies that are putting so much time and energy into creating circularity and sustainable Fabrics being backed and supported was absolutely incredible.
How important is keeping Flare Street designed and made in Melbourne to the identity of the brand?
It’s a funny thing designed in Australia because a lot of the time our designs and ideas come to me while I’m travelling, but what is part of the identity is that the brand wouldn’t really exist without our fabulous team of makers in Melbourne. I know we don’t need to be making it here during a time where most clothing is made overseas, but it’s at the core of our values and it’s what we want to do – whether or not that influences people’s decisions when they buy some of our flares, I’m not sure – but we don’t want to be a fashion brand contributing garments to the world without being able to visit our factories and suppliers or Say hello to our makers, or sample in real time and work with some of the most amazing artists and crafters that we have in Australia.
What goes into creating a pair of flares that can work just as well for everyday wear as they can for a night out?
We’ve said for a long time that a pair of our flares are great for lounging around in or on the dancefloor and it’s true. It’s like wearing some of your most favourite pieces of jewelry. You can do your grocery shopping in them or you can wear them out to dinner with your friends and that whole time you’re feeling fabulous – and that’s what our flares also do. We didn’t accidentally designed it this way. It was intended and intentional because we wanted to put something out into the world that showed the internal glamour of a person but on the outside they are constructed in a way that is for anyone, of any gender, with any kind of disability, day or night. They’re comfortable on your body, they move with your changes and they’re not restrictive – this was all intentionally created right at the beginning because these were our customers we were designing for. We made them for people in Melbourne that loved flares, everybody, anybody and they would come to our studio, tell us what they were wanting them for and it just was such an amazing privilege to get to provide such an array of flare- lovers with an item that allowed them to feel amazing. We really only have two products and that is our classic flare and our wide leg flare and we know it’s been copied by so many brands countless times and by direct connections, which has really been disheartening. We have a list of people that have bought it off of our website only to find it in their collection next season, same colour, same fabrics but mainly it’s the same cut which we edited millimetre by millimetre when we were creating it and that does break our heart because we know it’s not just a pair of flares we made, it is a piece of art for an individual to feel amazing in. It’s not just any old pair of leggings that you can walk down to the shopping by it’s so much more than that and we are so lucky that we have such an amazing loyal customer base who stuck with us over the years through all of our changes and time and time again they’ll come back or they’ll say the most beautiful things about how they walk down the street and someone’s told them how great they look that day and it meant the world to them because they weren’t feeling wonderful and at the end of the day if you can make a product or a piece of art and put it out into the world and people enjoy it what more can you ask for really?
After more than a decade of Flare Street, what continues to inspire you creatively?
Our customers inspire us greatly seeing them in our product or seeing how they style them. We design for our clients, and then outside of that I love art and galleries, impressionism, 60’s & 70’s of course, jewellery design, Antiques, history, travelling, crafts people and seeing their process or inside people Studios… that’s what inspires me. In terms of design inspiration for collections, that’s something that comes to me every day. It might just be at a cafe and there’s a gorgeous teacup, it might be seeing a picture in a history book or that one fabric from the 1700s on somebody’s curtain & it strikes a chord with me. Nature also is one of the main inspirations, the ocean, trees… mother nature always fills me with so many ideas.
What’s next for Flare Street, and can we expect to see more natural, recycled or deadstock fabrics in future collections?
I’m really excited as we’re doing a pop-up shop this weekend in Collingwood from 2-4th Oct and we’ll be showcasing our new collection of natural fibres, new flares as well as new deadstock fabric that we haven’t released yet! We’re working with some other really beautiful Melbourne based artist, jewellers and vintage collectors to curate the space. And we’ll have a beeswax candle making workshop running with beeswax from local Victorian bees!
This collection marks the change and pivot in flare Street. We started out using all recycled dead stock. Fabrics from some of the biggest design houses across the world Prada Gucci Fendi Zimmerman. We were so lucky to be able to recycle the Fabrics that they were no longer working with but as we grew it was getting harder to find the supply. Now it’s 13 years later and there are amazing companies that we can work with that also want to be working in a more recycled fashion and with natural fibres.
We’re really excited about how far that’s come and what we now have access to , we’ll also be doing a few extra little bits like new tops and dresses and bringing back some of our favourite styles from over the years because as we grow and develop we still want to be true to our 60s and 70s roots and our beautiful textile designs that we’ve created with so many wonderful worldwide artists.
Made in Melbourne
Shop: www.flarestreet.com
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