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Unik Space is curating and creating art, apparel and accessories to treasure

WORDS BY JASMINE WALLIS

“We just want to inspire people to invest in pieces that they can live in over and over and over.”

After working in fashion retail for a decade, friends Elin Marcic, Luci Hassen and Camilla La Fleur figured the next natural step was to start their own brand. It was 2018, and even with the retail industry apparently crumbling around them, they knew they were onto something.

What began in Elin’s Manly apartment quickly transformed into a beautifully curated online store. Now, Unik Space is a destination for products that are consciously made and designed to last. It houses its own clothing brand, Unik by us, as well as local fashion, art, accessory and beauty products sourced from Australia and New Zealand. But not just any brand can knock on Unik Space’s door.

The company has a strong ethos of environmental conscientiousness and only chooses to house brands that align with its values. On its current roster are local label Skin & Threads, which has a focus on quality staples, and jewellery label Elvis et Moi, which uses recycled materials wherever possible.

Working in fashion you see how disposable it is,” says Elin over the phone. We want to be the opposite of fast fashion.”

Elin explains how a big part of limiting Unik’s impact is allowing customers to try the product, before they commit to purchase. Despite being an e-commerce retailer, Unik has a Northern Sydney showroom where clients can visit and try on pieces IRL. Even when it was run out of her apartment, Elin and the team welcomed clients to stop by. “We had a spare room where we had our collection set up, so people could come to my house and try things on,” explains Elin.

In regards to their own label, the team works exclusively with small collection runs. Textiles are made using entirely natural fibres, such as cotton, silk, linen and hemp, and all pieces are hand-crafted by makers in both Bali and Sydney with minimal waste. Plus, everything is designed with longevity in mind – UNIK is a classic, minimalist style.

 

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Winter whites ~ Sarah wears our newly launched merino wool skivvy by Skin & Threads and the UNIK by us Charles corduroy pant 〰️

A post shared by UNIK SPACE (@unikspace) on

But that’s not to say the team is flogging plain white tees and blue jeans. Whether its a maxi skirt, loungewear or a jumpsuit, Unik by us has added a romantic twist to each design. Think billowing sleeves, a sexy cut-out to show some skin and cinched jumpsuits.

Elin tells me the team believes in the importance of a capsule wardrobe. As a result, most pieces in the Unik line are customisable.

You can wear something loose and baggy one day and the next, you might want to accentuate the waist a bit more. I love that that you can choose depending on your mood and how your body changes.”

I wholeheartedly trust Elin’s statements about the line’s versatility after she tells me that when she was pregnant, she didnt buy any other maternity wear.

A lot of our pieces are floaty and I could wear them with a bump, all the way up until I had my baby. Even afterward, they were so loose and comfy. When you dont have a bump anymore you can use the belt, for example, and tie it in at the waist.”

In a way, Unik by us is creating a better standard for an industry that is currently in the spotlight for its involvement in slave labour practices, and its contribution to landfill waste and rising CO2 levels. Anything that so palpably slows our need to consume fashion is deserving of recognition.

At the same time, the team isn’t telling you to throw out your pink, sequinned party dress or never buy zebra print again. Instead, theyre creating a brand and business model that moves away from the never-ending trend cycle, putting greater value on pieces that can last the test of time.

I definitely have too big of a wardrobe myself,” laughs Elin. Im trying to scale it back, because I think most people wear quite a small portion of whats in there.”

But when you invest in something that you really love, thats good quality, thats not necessarily driven by a fast trend… it feels good to wear,” she says earnestly.

We just want to inspire people to invest in pieces that they can live in over and over again.”

unikspace.com.au

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