“I want to be a beginner again”: Why jewellery label Aletheia and Phos is closing after 13 years
words by lara daly
“My brain was starving and I hadn’t even noticed.”
This week, Australian designer and founder Lissy Millan announced she’s closing her jewellery label, Aletheia and Phos, after 13 years of building the brand from scratch.
As long-time fans of the designer, it’s sad to hear. Fashion Journal covered many of the brand’s milestones over the years, from early collections in 2018 to its first store opening. But in 2026, it’s certainly not easy to be an independent fashion business owner. Operating for over a decade is a massive feat in itself.
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The announcement follows the closure of the brand’s Fitzroy boutique in October last year. “I built that beautiful Italian modernist space on Smith Street with my beautiful dad. It gave me some of the most incredible emotional conversations and connections of my life,” Lissy says.
“And I chose to end it because I was ready for something different… That chapter was complete, it felt right. I went out with cake and a tray of cigarettes.” Customers have until May 31 to shop Aletheia and Phos online. Come June, the brand will no longer exist.
Reflecting on her journey as a founder, Lissy recalls her naive optimism and insatiable hunger to learn. “I had no plan. I had never run a business… I knocked on about 60 or 70 doors trying to convince just one silversmith to let me sit next to them everyday… I was persistent and annoying, and insane and excited. I had to be. I had to feed myself.”
Pouring herself into the brand paid off. “I created a multi-million dollar business all from this little bracelet I made at my kitchen table. I sold it as a set for $39 in 2013. It changed my life. I look at it now and cringe so hard, and I’m so grateful I shoved my fear aside and just did it.”
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That boldness got her noticed beyond Australia. In 2016 the brand really started to take off, securing big accounts like The Iconic and high-end stockists on Fifth Avenue in New York. Influencers like Aimee Song and publications like Vogue got in touch and interest snowballed; “You know, the kind of thing you’d get excited about if you’re a bébé just starting out and people are noticing. It was the height of Instagram, timing and a bit of luck, too.”
As any creative founder knows, closing the chapter on a project that’s been your ‘baby’ for so long can feel like severing your whole identity. But for Lissy, the decision has felt more like a rebirth. “My job and my brand doesn’t define me. I am very honoured that so many people have connected with my work over the years, and I’m ready for that to be another story I can look back on with a lot of gratitude.”
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Interestingly, she’s been more confronted by the response from her community at the news. “People kept sending me messages asking if I was okay, expecting me to fall apart,” she tells us. “What I’ve found more often than not, is how the default response to something ending is that it must be negative, a loss, and something to be sad about? Why are we wired to see endings as something to grieve?
“I’m not saying shit is easy, but re-routing yourself for a new, potentially challenging experience can be the best thing to ever happen to you, if you let it.”
Her positive outlook explains why she called time when she did. Ultimately, it isn’t about ‘giving up’ her dream, rather an evaluation of what’s actually important and fulfilling.
“I was on a plane from Chiang Mai to Bangkok three days ago when it hit me. I’d just listened to a voice note from a friend, got off the phone with another, and I realised I genuinely hadn’t learned anything new in my career in about a decade. I’d been running on autopilot for so many years, I could do my job with my eyes closed. My brain was starving and I hadn’t even noticed.”
She had met someone on this trip (“Silicon Valley John”) and they’d had long conversations about work, spitballing ideas. When she got home, she felt like her brain had been jump-started.
“I literally felt like I had electricity running through my head. I hadn’t felt that switched-on in years… I thought, I don’t feel like this about my own work anymore. That was the moment. 13 years is a phenomenal run, but I want to be a beginner again.”
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As for what’s next, Lissy is taking it as it comes. “I’m based in South East Asia, I’m travelling and I’m letting my brain just be for a while. Ideas are coming up and I feel insane enough (in the best way) to try and create something totally new for myself.”
Whatever she lands on, she probably won’t tell you. In fact, her advice for budding founders starting out is: “Don’t share your dreams with anyone”.
“What I’ve realised over the years is that people can only give you feedback from their own experience… [they] generally love to tell you all the things that could go wrong first. I cannot stress this enough; do not ask for opinions from anyone unless they’re people genuinely doing the thing or things you want to do.
“I also really just want women to know, that you can start again. At any age. Have as many careers as you can. We’re on a floating rock out in space, wondering if we should try that new thing. Yes, you absolutely should.”
Keep up with Lissy here.
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