Meet Clingy, the emerging Sydney label handmaking bags from recycled textiles
Photography by Pariss Bostick
Words by Evie Dinkelmeyer
“You don’t have to be perfect to get started or to be taken seriously.”
While on the hunt for a new accessory, it’s surprisingly hard to find brands that are actually cool and fit the sustainability brief. But lo and behold, I have hit the jackpot with the emerging Sydney-based label, Clingy.
The brand, founded by designer Isobel Murray (Izzy), creates colourful quilted bags with customisable strap lengths. You can find one to suit just about any outfit, from tartan check to neon orange with hand-stitched threading detail.
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The bags are all made by Izzy from either recycled textiles from the op shop, Piñatex (a material made from pineapple leaf fibres) or even repurposed from her “childhood doona cover (no lie)”. Every piece puts sustainability at the forefront, even down to the zips.
The brand started back in lockdown as Izzy’s third fashion/business venture. After finishing up her degree in maths, Izzy hand-sewed each bag from her bedroom. She’s now graduated from her room to a studio space but still makes the bags herself. Below, Izzy tells us what it’s like starting a fashion brand as a beginner, and what her hopes are for the future of sustainable fashion.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
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Hey! I’m Izzy, the owner/maker/sole employee behind Clingy. I studied maths at university and worked as a Data Analyst/Scientist for the first five years once I graduated.
The whole time I was always desperate to create, and found textiles to be the medium I kept coming back to. I learnt to sew in high school on my mum’s sewing machine. She would get frustrated teaching me ’cause I wasn’t too interested in doing it the proper way and preferred to make it up as I went.
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During university, I did a couple of one-off sewing lessons and a pattern-making short course. In lockdown, I decided to do a bit more training and did the Cert III Applied Fashion and Technology Course at Ultimo Tafe… [it] was really great to learn how to use industrial sewing machines and gain a bit of industry knowledge.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
Clingy was my third attempt at starting a fashion brand. Each time previously, I got really overwhelmed by the social/environmental impacts of the fashion industry and decided the best thing was not to be a part of it. In 2020, I came across a textile called Piñatex which is made from waste leaves of the pineapple harvest.
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It got me excited and exposed me to a number of innovators in the textile industry that were doing things differently. I decided then that my role could be to raise awareness and increase accessibility to these kinds of materials, even if it was on a really small scale.
Up until the beginning of 2022, I was making bags for friends and family but then quit my job to give it a proper shot. Since then I’ve been at markets, stocked in stores and selling Clingy bags to strangers online which is super weird. I got a studio space in August 2022 and this really boosted my productivity.
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Previously I worked from my bedroom, using my bed as a cutting table and… pack[ing] everything away daily. I think the hardest and best thing with a project like this is not having someone to tell you what to do. Finding the motivation to keep going each day can be hard, but is often followed by intense periods of inspiration that remind me why I’m doing it. I think the hardest and easiest thing is to not quit.
What were you trying to achieve from the project at the time? How has this evolved and what are you trying to communicate through the brand now?
When I set out, I wanted to shift the way people consume. I kind of wanted to emotionally manipulate my customer to create an attachment to their piece so that [the bags] would be cared for and not thrown away – which isn’t how the vast majority of textiles are treated.
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Through my brand name and voice, I try to personify the bags and highlight the warped dependency they have on us. I also use this voice as a way to encourage my customers to love and express themselves freely, as their ‘Clinger’ is always there for them.
How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
Clingy is an experimental slow fashion brand tackling textile waste one ‘Clinger’ at a time. These bags are totally obsessed with you for obvious reasons and you won’t be able to help falling in love with them too. All bags are small-batch [made] or one-of-a-kind, made by me in my studio in Camperdown, Eora/Sydney.
What are you most proud of in your work on your label?
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I’m quite proud of the way I’ve settled on a design and range that allows me to experiment freely with… textiles I find while keeping [the bags] recognisable. I’ve also had a lot of fun experimenting with my branding and incorporating my illustrations. That’s definitely the perk of running your own business – that you get to pretend you’re an illustrator when no one else would hire you for that.
What do you wish you knew when you started?
I wish I knew that I didn’t have to be too legit from the get-go and it’s okay to be scrappy. I wasted a fair bit of money and time at the start paying for web builders and professional email addresses when I really didn’t need them.
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Also, investing a lot in packaging when I hadn’t given my idea enough time to evolve and inevitably change. Maybe you just have to go through this [to learn], but you don’t have to be perfect to get started or to be taken seriously.
Who do you think is most exciting in AU/NZ fashion right now?
I’m a big fan of Ramp Tramp Tramp Stamp. I just think Niamh is so talented and super clever in the way she is carving out a path for sustainable business. I’m also in awe of Bodicia B and her effortless innovation and commitment to sustainability.
What about the AU/NZ fashion industry needs to change?
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I would love to see more designers moving away from new synthetic textiles and recognise the impact fabric choice has on people and the environment. There is still a way to go in making sustainable options more accessible in general.
For example, it took me months to find a zip that met my standards. In the end, I sourced custom YKK mechanically recycled polyester and metal zips from Ingwe. I would also love to see more brands being accountable for the waste they produce and dealing with it.
Anything else to add?
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If you are interested in starting or growing a sustainable fashion brand I’d really recommend the short courses through the Wardrobe Crisis Academy. I’m also a big fan of Clare Press and the Wardrobe Crisis podcast.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
Via my online store. If you’re based in Sydney, I stock at So Familia and the Australian Design Centre. In Canberra, [Clingy is] at Blonde Concept and in Brisbane at Practice Studio.
Take a closer look at Clingy’s pieces here.
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