Sister Buffalo is the secondhand and slow fashion store Darwin didn’t know it needed
IMAGE VIA @SISTERBUFFALO/INSTAGRAM
WORDS BY JULIA KITTELTY
“The shop radiates that infectiously close sisterhood energy.”
Sisters Gaby and Lou De Mattia are self-confessed thrifting fanatics. Frustrated by the lack of places to shop secondhand in Darwin, when they saw an empty shopfront they decided to jump on the opportunity. That space is now Sister Buffalo, a store where you can find curated pre-loved pieces, locally made slow fashion and handmade accessories.
Embracing Darwin’s humid climate, Gaby and Lou are all about finding customers clothes they can sweat comfortably in and still feel sexy while wearing. And it’s about more than just the clothes. You can get your mending done, attend events (Sex and the City trivia, anyone?), sell your wardrobe through the store’s Garment Switch Initiative and even get your nails and hair refreshed.
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The sisters see their store as a bit of a “local watering hole” where Darwin shoppers gather to bask in the “sisterhood energy”. In fact, the most popular part of the store is the “blue blob couch” where on weekends you can find conversation, snacks and a comfy place to sit while you take a break from perusing the racks. Below, Gaby and Lou talk us through how Sister Buffalo came to be.
Tell us a bit about how the vision for the store came about.
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The shop was created very much on a whim. It was a mix of frustration and desire. There was nowhere to shop secondhand, a perfectly suitable empty storefront, a growing obsession with sewing and the depressing reality of climate change and capitalism. We phoned the real estate company with a pitch, went on a five-day hike brainstorming the whole time, and came back to an email that the shop was ours. Our baby Sister Buffalo was born.
How would you describe the store’s aesthetic?
We’re called the ‘pink shop on the corner’ so we must admit the vibe is quite cute and for the girlies. Being sisters, the shop radiates that infectiously close sisterhood energy, however, we have pieces for everyone. We’d say the overall vibe is a very ‘laissez-faire’ shopping experience providing pieces you can sweat comfortably and sexily in.
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The climate has 100 per cent dictatorship over what we offer and ‘sexily sweaty’ is probs the best (and most accurate) way to describe it. IYKYK! The sewing machine workspace and our big, beautiful buffalo skull add a level of intrigue to shoppers and create a very conversational feel.
What was the process like putting the store together and were there any challenges or roadblocks along the way?
Surprisingly the shop came together quite quickly once we got the lease! Our first job was to rip up the horrid carpet, and thankfully we were very happy with the patchy green and blue painted concrete floor that lay beneath and we had help from friends who installed our shelves and racks. We were both working our other jobs part-time when we were not at the store which was completely necessary for income.
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We had everything to learn about running your own business, and it’s safe to say the whole accounting side definitely causes the most tears and confusion. Darwin is a seasonal town, so the slower wet season for half the year has been a challenge, but also an opportunity for pop-up events, collaborations and other creative outlets to encourage people to shop!
Who did you collaborate with when bringing the store to life?
Collaboration is a huge part of Sister Buffalo’s essence. When we opened we put on a big fashion show opening party and relied heavily on the local community supporting the shop, which gratefully they did. Sister Buffalo is now much more than just a curated secondhand clothing shop, you can also sell your clothes in-store through our Garment Switch Initiative.
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You can shop slow fashion from Suku Home, Aunad, Hakea Swim, Sister Studios and Karameleon, get your mending done, take a sewing class, attend an event (Sex and the City Trivia), shop handmade accessories from Pearl and Peach, Pilardorio and Baggins Bags and some weekends our dear friends hairdresser Yoke Hair or nail girlie Jas Hands are in store doing their thang!
What’s your favourite feature/area of the store?
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Probably the blue blob couch! This special space in the corner for friends and customers to come in and blob out for chats (and gossiping) really makes Sister Buffalo a local watering hole for so many. It’s very common on the weekends for people to bring their market food in and just chill and then have a little look around. It makes working weekends even more of a pleasure! The essence of Sister Buffalo is that you can always go in with the expectation that you’ll be able to blob onto the blue couch and chat endlessly with the shop girls.
What do you like about the area and its creative scene in general?
We’re both j’obsessed with Darwin, having moved here six years ago from Sydney we’ve completely fallen in love with the place. I’d say the scene is unpretentious, refreshing, extremely open to collaboration, fun and can be opportunistic.
We’re also extremely lucky in that half of our business now is delivering sewing programs in many of the remote Aboriginal communities, meaning we get to see so much Aboriginal art and fabric screen printing, which is a huge part of the Darwin art scene.
What is it that you love about secondhand clothing and the thrifting community?
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Gaby: Secondhand fashion and thrifting have defined fashion for me since I was a teenager and was old enough to go shopping with my friends. I’m a self-confessed obsessive op shopper who loves to spend my days off doing just that.
My wardrobe is basically all secondhand or reworked from thrifted pieces. Every piece feels selected and special. I have very unhealthy attachments to some gorgeous secondhand clothing Instagram accounts that are forever style inspirations to me. The secondhand clothing movement continues to grow and being a part of that through my own experience and the shop feels so significant.
Lou: My love for secondhand fashion is that it’s a self-expressive and fun way to empower ourselves to challenge the fashion mega-system. My wardrobe is now around 80 per cent secondhand and it started when I was working in sustainability community engagement and began running clothing swap events after following and being inspired by Op shop To Runway.
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From here I spent the next five years working in circular economy behaviour change programs. The more I learnt about the fashion system (thanks Clare Press), the more I felt compelled to evaluate each purchase made. What I love secondhand style-wise?? I am very guilty of just taking pieces from the shop and making them my new personality that month, before returning!
Find yourself a gem from Sister Buffalo here.
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