“Refined streetwear”: Emerging Melbourne label Mutimer is already gaining a cult following
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SULLY Enayatzada
WORDS BY MAGGIE ZHOU
One to watch.
I first came about Mutimer the way you stay in the know nowadays; through TikTok. The Melbourne label has garnered over 100,000 followers and almost two million likes. It’s safe to say my interest was piqued – how did a three-ish-year-old Moorabbin-based label find such an engaged audience?
Jasper Mutimer is the Founder of Mutimer and creating his own fashion line was a way to have a creative outlet while studying at university. He describes Mutimer as “refined streetwear,” telling me items “wouldn’t look out of place at a nice restaurant [or a] down-to-earth setting.”
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With one pop-up store (and another two next year) under its belt, Mutimer is continuing to create waves with its innovative pieces. Take its puffer jacket, whose arms you can detach, or its heat-reactive knit. With every collection, Jasper is proving Australia’s sartorial talent is unmatched.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
I have no fashion background really, [I] studied finance and marketing at university but took visual communication design as a subject at school. I’ve always been interested in how things look and as a result of that, [I’m] curious about design more broadly. Only when I was about 14/15 did I take a serious interest in clothes; [it was] probably initially stemming from a teenage boy’s desire to look cool.
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How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
I started it very late 2019 [or] early 2020 purely as a passion project. Originally I wanted to study architecture at university but I got turned off the idea after reading about negative industry experiences, so as a deal with myself, the clothing brand was a way to keep doing creative pursuits whilst studying a more rigid degree.
I honestly had no idea about manufacturing, sewing, garment design or anything. I was very much just jumping into the deep end. [I did] lots of research online and [sent] (failed) cold emails to small brands asking how they started or for their manufacturers’ [contacts]. I reached out to a lot of small manufacturers and made heaps of samples and a lot of mistakes.
It was all a good learning experience as they’d come back and ask me the size of the collar drop or what type of embroidery the logo [was]. I would then have to go and research it online or buy books explaining the different names for types of pockets [and such]. I probably would have saved thousands if I knew more about it all before but that happens. I then started an Instagram page and built a website for our first release and went on from there.
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What were you trying to achieve from the project at the time?
It was purely a creative outlet for me and a nice break from studying. I used to paint but for me, I knew it was easy to put that sort of thing off. The clothing brand could not really be pushed to the side and by having it out there for the world, I knew I would feel a sense of pressure to continue on with it.
How has this evolved and what are you trying to communicate through the brand now?
The part I liked about painting was putting some meaning behind [my art] without it being a smack in the face. Now it is the same way with [my] collections. Each one is different, with a unique theme or message that is still ‘Mutimer’ in essence.
Where did the name come from?
Honestly, it is just my surname. When I was trying to come up with brand names, each one sounded cringe to me and too limiting in scope. Mutimer was easy and unique whilst being a blank canvas to build a brand [from].
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What are you most proud of in your work on your brand?
In terms of the design aspect, the cut-and-sew pieces and the lookbooks. I love a graphic T-shirt but pulling off nicely fitting pants that people love (even when they have bought them online) is really hard.
There’s nothing sweeter than pulling off a great lookbook. [They require a] lot of moving parts and creative visions that are hard to distil and get across in a few single images but our recent ones have been my favourite. Otherwise, it’s really just seeing people wearing and posting [about] the brand. We had a pop-up recently and it is very surreal to me that people would buy what I make, let alone wait in line on a weekend just to have the ability to do so.
What do you wish you had known when you started?
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Clo! It’s a virtual 3D design software but it has made my life much easier. It’s allowed me to more accurately visualise the fit of garments and remove the guesswork in changing measurements and how that affects other parts of the piece. As a result, we’ve cut down on the amount of samples we make by half.
Who is most exciting in the Australian and New Zealand fashion scene right now?
Honestly, too many to do justice. Milkbar and Pseushi make really cool all-Australian-made items whilst brands like Porter James Sports or Alfred’s Apartment are building really nice, solid brands that are going to last a long time.
In terms of more hands-on, one-of-one brands, Two Five Footwear is making these really beautiful handmade shoes, whilst Bugskin is putting together these unique bags made out of used billboards that are just super sick.
@mutimer.coSome unreleased ….♬ original sound – ❄️
What about the Australian and New Zealand fashion scene needs to change?
People’s perceptions about the Australian and New Zealand scene in general! People kind of downplay us and think that XYZ brand in Europe or America is better and more tasteful, purely because they’re overseas. There’s kind of a history of not thinking Australia (in particular) is cultured or well-versed in design.
However, there are a lot of brands doing cool things and selling well overseas, so much so that people from other countries are envious. Whether it stems from Australia’s general humility or what else, I’m not sure. I’ve fallen into this trap myself, only recently realising what’s going on here is pretty cool.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
Online! We recently had a pop-up in Melbourne but are aiming for two more next year, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.
To take a closer look at Mutimer’s collections, head here.
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