Inside the playful world of emerging Brisbane label Nel
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES CASWELL
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“I also want to show that practicality and comfort don’t mean sacrificing fun.”
Growing up, Elinor Hedger loved playing dress-ups. Describing it as a “fun and imaginative act”, Elinor recalls the excitement of watching her mum sew clothing for her and her sister. Eventually, Elinor’s mum gifted her a sewing machine of her own (“her old Bernina from the 1970s”) and she decided to study design.
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Elinor’s label, Nel, grew organically from her design degree, a way for her to share her playful, feminine creations. Nel pieces are characterised by an unmistakable whimsy and imagination – frothy tulle, meticulous pleating, ruffles and reversible mesh. Below, Elinor tells the story of the label so far.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
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I am definitely still trying to figure out the most sustainable way to make and sell my pieces. A lot of the pieces I have made so far have either been by Instagram commissions, sold through my stockists or at local makers’ markets. The label has been a bit quiet recently as I am currently focusing my time on developing a new collection, with a website to go alongside it. If you are currently chasing a Nel piece to keep an eye on Instagram, there are a lot of exciting things to come!
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
I have always had a deep love for clothing. My mother made most of my sister’s and my clothing when we were younger, I still remember the chaos of the dining table every weekend while she was sewing… the excitement of watching clothing being made has been cemented in my brain ever since.
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Growing up, I found dressing to be such a fun and imaginative act. My favourite activity as a child was playing dress-ups, and I still love to play and experiment with my wardrobe while getting dressed. My mum gave me my first sewing machine when I was 19, her old Bernina from the 1970s. Even before I studied design, I enjoyed making my own clothing. I find it amazing that you can dream something up and then bring it to fruition.
I always knew I wanted to study fashion when I left high school, but it took me a few years (and a few degree changes) to find the confidence to study design. Before I picked up design, I bounced around between fashion communication and fashion merchandising, both of which helped me to narrow down what it was that interested me in the fashion industry and what areas I wanted to make a change in.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
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My label started quite organically during my design degree. I have often struggled to find clothing that both fit my body and made me feel confident, so I naturally gravitated towards making and wearing my own designs. I found a lot of joy in wearing the clothes I was designing and wanted to be able to share that joy with others.
While interning with the lovely Kat Walsh at Practice Studio she commented on a dress of mine that I was wearing, we decided to make some to sell in the store and Nel became a reality. I love the fact that every style has been tried and tested to ensure it is a wardrobe staple.
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The name Nel is an abbreviation of the nickname Nellie, [which] my parents called when I was little. I wanted to be able to put my name to the brand and ‘Nel” felt like a bit of an alter ego for me, which helped me build confidence in the label and myself.
Starting the brand was a massive self-trust exercise, I think most creatives probably deal with imposter syndrome at some point and it can often be hard to justify why your product should be made, especially in an industry that is already so oversaturated with clothing.
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?
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The foundations for the label in its current iteration stem from my honours project, which I completed in 2021. The project focused on the act of play in dressing, and how we can encourage people to form long-lasting relationships with their clothing through good design.
I have always been interested in the way clothing influences the day-to-day experience of the wearer… movement and comfort are central to my design style. It is my experience that a bad day spent in any garment generally leads to it being worn much less regularly, and that is a fate I want to avoid for my pieces.
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I also want to show that practicality and comfort don’t mean sacrificing fun, playful and beautiful clothing. I love playing around with volume and contrast and I am very inspired by the layering and silhouettes of children’s clothing, which tends to be practical yet playful at the same time.
How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
Wonky, practical, colourful, sports-mesh, squishy.
What are you most proud of in your work on your label?
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The Brisbane fashion community is quite small, and throughout my design degree, I had a lot of admiration for the local designers who were killing it in the Brisbane fashion scene – namely the designers who were being stocked at the wonderful Practice Studio.
In 2022, Practice Studio was invited to have a runway show at the Brisbane Fashion Festival where I got to properly meet and work alongside the designers I had looked up to for so many years. Kat has built the most beautiful fashion community in Brisbane, and I am so proud to be a part of it!
What do you wish you knew when you started?
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How much planning and steps there are to start a small business, and how time-consuming and costly it is. I loved my design degree, but it didn’t prepare us for starting our own labels, especially the digital marketing and online presence side of things. I often feel daunted by the amount of work that goes into running and managing a label while also designing and making each piece.
Who do you think is most exciting in Australian and New Zealand fashion right now?
Australian and New Zealand fashion is really having a moment right now and it is so cool to see. I think a lot of consumers are starting to look locally when it comes to purchasing clothing which is really important, especially if we want to foster a more sustainable fashion industry.
What about the Australian and New Zealand fashion industry needs to change?
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I recently read an FJ interview with the wonderful Bulley Bulley where they discussed the need for more start-up funding for emerging designers, and I couldn’t agree more. There have been a lot of discussions recently about how fashion is an industry that survives on financial privilege, and I think that is definitely evident in Australia. It is crazy to think about how much extra time could be dedicated to creating and brand-building if day-to-day finances were less of an issue.
You can follow Nel for more here.
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