From FJ Sales to Paris Fashion Week: Where are these local brands now?
image via @pave.au/INSTAGRAM
words by maryel sousa
“Two years is definitely a very long time in the fashion world.”
One of Fashion Journal’s proudest achievements is connecting blossoming local brands to the people we think’ll love them. We’ve traced the rise of Australian brands for 34 years, cheering on creatives in our community from the pages of our magazine, the front row of runways and from behind our laptops.
To discover more brands and discounts, head to our Sales section.
Given it’s been over three decades of reporting on the fashion industry, we wanted to take a moment and check back in with some of our favourite brands. Maybe you’ve seen them in our Sales vertical, maybe you’ve popped your head into their shop after reading a feature or perhaps you’ve stumbled onto their page from our Instagram. However they landed on your radar, consider this your update on where they are now and what’s coming next.
Candice
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In 2023, Fashion Journal contributor Kate Streader chatted with Nick Campbell, the founder, head of production and designer for Melbourne-based label Candice. At the time, the brand was still finding its footing, only just releasing its very first cut-and-sew pieces into the wild and forging relationships with a small number of domestic retail partners. In the years since, Candice has blossomed into an international powerhouse.
“Two years is definitely a very long time in the fashion world,” Nick tells me. “Fast forward to now, and the brand and the processes are a lot more refined. Everything is a lot more ‘serious’ for lack of a better word.” Over the past 18 months, the team at Candice has been preparing to expand into the UK and European markets.
Aligning the brand with Fashion Journal helped Candice further establish itself within the Australian and New Zealand landscape. “Having Candice featured on the Sales section of Fashion Journal helped build trust in our brand for new visitors, legitimising the brand immediately to people who aren’t very familiar with us already and growing our audience,” Nick says.
The years in between have seen the Candice team take on showrooms at Paris Fashion Week, not once, not twice but three times, with a fourth showcase in the works. The handful of domestic retail partners supporting Candice has exploded, with partners in the UK, Europe, Japan and Taiwan now stocking the brand’s distinctly playful designs. But as Candice has evolved, its collections have, too.
“At our core, we’re still a graphic-led label with a deep love for visual design and storytelling in fashion. But as the brand has evolved, we’re focusing more on cleaner, easy-wearing silhouettes,” says Nick. “Looking ahead, we also have some big collaborations in the works, which we’re super excited to release.”
So, what’s next for Candice? As the brand continues to expand, Nick says Candice will keep focusing on hosting physical sales and immersive events in Melbourne (which we will, of course, be first to report on in our Sales and Events sections, of course).
Pave
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It’s been over three years since we first road-tested three pieces from Pave, the Australian brand for modern working women. At the time, the brand’s Woolmark-certified Total Easy Care Merino garments earned writer and corporate girlie Liv Chan’s stamp of approval. Since then, we’ve pointed thousands of Fashion Journal readers in Pave’s direction for stylist-approved work uniforms, Mother’s Day gifts, capsule wardrobe musts and sitewide sales.
Our hype has clearly been resonating. Alison Wong, Pave’s founder, shares that she’s seen a significant upturn in web traffic every time the brand has been featured in an article or in the Sales vertical.
While we’ve been singing Pave’s praises in the domestic market, the brand has managed to build a global reputation on just six pieces. True to its ethos of conscious consumption, Pave has thoughtfully added just two new products to its collection since our road test: a pencil skirt and a cotton cashmere sweater.
Beyond the clothes, the team has put energy into building Pave’s visual identity through collaborations with different female artists. “Most recently, we worked with artist Wei Yi Juan to create an artwork that was inspired by both the brand journey and the changing seasons of our twenties,” Alison says. “I started Pave in my early twenties, and the identity of the brand has evolved with me as I’ve experienced the metaphorical winters and eventual springs of this journey.”
Moving forward, Alison shares that operating solely as an online brand has reinforced the value of physical, experiential retail, so the team will be exploring different forms of pop-ups in the future. In the meantime, Pave will keep taking product development slow and steady. “The strategy we’ll continue to follow is one of slow, meaningful growth because I know that no part of this process can be rushed.”
Kuwaii
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Kuwaii is one of the earliest brand profiles you’ll find on our site. In 2014, we caught up with the brand’s director and designer, Kristy Barber, to learn about the process of growing Kuwaii into one of Melbourne’s most beloved labels. Today, Kuwaii has remained one of Australia’s favourite independent brands. And while the journey has been exciting, it hasn’t always been linear.
Looking back on our first interview, Kristy tells me she was hit by a wave of nostalgia. At the time, she was one of a team of three working behind their brick-and-mortar shop. In the decade since, Kuwaii expanded to a 17-person team, then pared back to a team of 14. The brand moved its studio and workspace three times before eventually finding its permanent home in Brunswick in 2019.
The team opened and then closed a third store, relaunched the brand’s eCommerce and visual identity twice, did mini renovations on the CBD and Brunswick shop locations, and completed major renovations on the Kuwaii head office. As with so many brands, the pandemic and its aftermath had major effects on both Kuwaii and the people behind it. Overall, the last eleven years have been a whirlwind.
“We’ve seen so many beautiful brands and stores come and go in that time,” Kristy tells me. “Reflecting on ten years ago feels a bit utopian. It was such a prosperous time and everything felt a bit easier than it does now.”
Although Kuwaii has encountered unexpected twists and turns during its evolution, some things have stayed the same. “In the las t ten years, I’ve seen fast fashion take hold in a more dramatic way,” says Kristy. “I’ve seen the rise of super-fast fashion, which didn’t even exist ten years ago. However, our stance against [it] remains as strong now as it was then.”
As one of Melbourne’s original slow fashion brands, Kuwaii continues to provide a beautiful alternative to fleeting trends and mass-produced fashion. Kristy and the team will continue practising gratitude for a thriving brand that allows them to do what they love. And we at Fashion Journal will continue keeping you in the loop about Kuwaii for another ten wonderful years and beyond.
To have your brand featured in Fashion Journal’s Sales vertical, head here.
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