“Bound to no age, sex or season”: Meet the genderless Melbourne label, Monphell
IMAGE VIA MONPHELL
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“Engineered garments, locally crafted using timeless fabrics.”
Melbourne designer Toby Wright started his genderless label, Monphell, as a fashion school dropout. While working construction to pay the bills, he was making hoodies and T-shirts on the side. With a grandad tailor and dressmaker aunt, Monphell has always been somewhat of a family affair – the name itself is an acronym built from each of his family members’ names.
Now that Toby’s quit full-time construction to pursue Monphell, the Brunswick-based operation remains incredibly close-knit. “Things finally started to speed up around three years ago when my patternmakers put me in contact with Tanja, a sewer who worked with small minimum-order quantities,” he explains. “Tanja is a single mother of three who works out of her home garage in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. Tanja is one of the hardest workers I have ever met.”
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Unpretentiousness and passion are key in Monphell designs. The collection is characterised by relaxed but meticulously cut silhouettes, brought to life in soft fabrics, vibrant colours and unexpected prints. Below, Toby tells the story of the Monphell label so far.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
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My name is Toby Wright, I am 35 and live in Carlton, Melbourne. I am originally from a small seaside town in Tassie called Burnie. My grandad was a tailor, my aunt is a dressmaker and my sister was previously a stylist – so as cliche as it sounds, it is in my blood. I studied at the Melbourne School of Fashion but was too impatient and left early to start my own label, which is now Monphell.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
Man, where do I start? I started my label at 23 years old (at the time my label was called ‘Ystrdaybone’). I was a fashion school dropout, working construction full-time as a scaffolder and making hoodies and T-shirts on the side. Things finally started to speed up around three years ago when my pattern makers put me in contact with Tanja, a sewer who worked with small minimum order quantities.
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Tanja is a single mother of three who works out of her home garage in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. Tanja is one of the hardest workers I have ever met and takes my 40 phone calls a day in her stride. We hit it off and got to work and the brand developed into Monphell.
Last year I flew to Seoul, South Korea and tackled the hectic fabric markets for a week. The place was madness. I managed to find some amazing fabrics which were used for my latest collection which is currently available online.
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The best part of all is that 12 months ago I quit construction, not because I was financially able to, but because I just reached a point and said “Fuck it! It’s now or never”. Overnight success stories are one in a million and it takes a lot of trial and error and some very late nights to get to where you want.
How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
An acronymic ode to ancestry. Engineered garments, locally crafted using timeless fabrics. Limited releases bound to no age, sex or season. Explore, experiment, evolve.
Where did the name come from?
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A letter from each of my family members’ names.
What are you most proud of in your work on your label?
We set up a showroom in Paris for Men’s Fashion Week in June this year. It was a really cool experience, we met a lot of good people and also got to shoot our summer ’23 campaign there.
What do you wish you knew when you started?
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Never stop learning! Try and learn how to do a lot of the things yourself (e.g. photography and marketing) so you don’t have to rely on others.
Who do you think is most exciting in Australian fashion right now?
Song for the Mute. The fabrics that they keep producing are just amazing, I’m a big fan.
What about the Australian fashion industry needs to change?
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We need more funding to entice kids to study patternmaking and sewing and bring the manufacturing side back to Australia. It really is a dying art if something is not done.
Who is in your wardrobe right now?
It is actually all Monphell, apart from my Silverchair T-shirts and a stinky pair of Fox riding shorts which my girlfriend gave me shit for wearing in Paris, but man they are comfy.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
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We are online and you can book an appointment to visit our showroom in Brunswick East (Monphell House).
Anything else to add?
The lemon will be worth the squeeze.
Browse the Monphell collection here.
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