I’m a fashion designer and my arthritis means one day I won’t be able to sew

Throughout my twenties, my friends and I traded dating stories, agonised over careers and swooned over friends’ holiday plans. I’ve been there for 21st birthdays, after-work drinks and weddings (including my own). Up until this point, our life paths were on par. But now, my twenties have taken a turn.

I’m a fashion designer, and most of my closest friends were made by studying fashion at university or working in the industry. And I loved the work. I’ve worked as a visual merchandiser, design assistant, sample cutter and finally, as a production coordinator (all in the space of three years). Then I had to leave.

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Around 2019, I started experiencing chronic pain no doctor could diagnose. I was bedridden around 50 per cent of the time with no end in sight. I realised my body could not work a nine-to-five, high-stress fashion job. I called my manager from my bed and gave her the bad news, I was resigning.

But fashion was all wanted to do. I’d been sewing since I was 11 years old. I had to find a way to do what I loved while also looking after myself. I dreamed of starting a label but also agonised over how I wanted to structure it.

The world didn’t need another fashion label, but from my time in the industry, I could see how underrepresented true, sustainable brands were. Sure, there were plenty of labels using compostable mailers, but I wanted to create a brand with values of fairness attached to every stage of the supply chain, not just slapped on the packaging.

So, it’s 2019, I’ve left my nine-to-five with an inkling of what I want to do but no solid plan yet. And exactly two weeks after resigning, COVID-19 hit China. That year was a blur, I was still fighting my health battle, worrying about the thing we all worried about that year, and finding pockets of hope while I set out to build my conscious fashion label, Sanct.

I spent 12 months supplementing my industry knowledge with further research into sustainable best practice in fashion. After much sourcing, sampling and building relationships with suppliers, I launched Sanct to the world in late 2020. I was living my dream, making values-led clothing for people from my little home studio in Melbourne. I’m happy to note I’m still doing that today.

But my health battle wasn’t over. My pain progressed until I lost the function of my left arm. And so I started the frustrating (and expensive) process of doctors, specialists and tests (again). Later that year, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Being diagnosed was scary but also relieving. I was relieved to know the problem, and for my pain to be validated. Now we could make a plan. But finding a treatment is a long process (like years), medicines that don’t work for your body can make you feel worse and it can be incredibly isolating.

I took a break from Sanct for about a year. But I never ‘closed shop’ so to speak. I was on hiatus, but I knew I would be back. And it was honestly fine, I don’t think anyone really noticed. Getting back into Sanct, I knew I had to create a working environment for myself that would support me living with RA for the rest of my life. I decided to move to a made-to-order model of manufacturing.

This ended up being great for me and my customers. I could make customisations to accommodate diverse body types, and more personally, I was only putting in as much energy as I strictly needed to, instead of manufacturing a size run hoping that effort would pay off.

I won’t lie, it’s been hard. Starting a small business is incredibly difficult at the best of times, and these were not the best of times. I had to learn how to work with my body instead of struggling against it. I knew I would have flare-ups and need rest. So my work had to be structured with flexibility and time buffers to allow for this flow.

Coming to accept my body with its new limitations was critical for my mental health, and my business. I decided to be proud of my body for being resilient and to move away from comparing my ability to others or expecting my body to work the way it used to.

I definitely see myself working as a self-employed creative for the rest of my life. I love Sanct and I love how being in charge of my own day-to-day makes me feel strong and able. Much of the discomfort around having a chronic illness is the expectation that everyone must adhere to this rigid ‘nine-t0-five’ way of working.

Letting that go has made me feel more capable than I ever thought I would feel after my diagnosis. My biggest learning is that I never had to give up my dreams because of my illness. I just had to give up the belief that success is a ‘one size fits all’ box I have to squeeze into.

To follow Danielle’s journey, head here.