“Indestructible delicacies”: Melbourne’s Vincent Fabrications is designing bespoke pieces made to be loved to death

“I like things that have a balance of elegance, humour and style. I hate it when fashion takes itself too seriously.”

At 20 years old, Vincent Meyrick already has a strong understanding of his identity as a designer. Growing up in theatres and costume departments, he developed a love for clothing as a form of self-expression. “I have had a visceral relationship with clothing my whole life… ideas just pour out of me like a tap,” he explains.

Training as a tailor from his teenage years, Vincent engrossed himself in the intricacies of clothing construction, devouring books on textiles and practising pattern-making in his free time. He cut his teeth in the knitwear industry in Japan, working at one of Yagamata’s largest spinning and knitting mills, Sato Seni.

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Now, Vincent crafts bespoke pieces out of his Melbourne studio. “I do not make garments that need to be ironed every wear, kept in a plastic dust cover and hung up every day because of their perceived value. I make clothing truly for one’s own heart,” he says. Below, he tells the story of Vincent Fabrications so far.

Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?

My name is Vincent Meyrick. I am 20 years old, and founder of the label Vincent Fabrications. I work as a designer, tailor, and knitwear technician in Naarm, Melbourne, Australia. I come from a diverse creative background. I grew up in theatres and costume departments, around artists and performers. My mother is a period costume designer, and my father is a theatre director. I was very lucky to grow up in such an amazing creative environment.

I have always made things… My very first presentation was staged with two other designers at a warehouse in Preston. We called it a ‘closet showing’ and had models walk onto the catwalk in their underwear, and get dressed on stage

Photography by Sean Monaghan

I have worked in Melbourne’s fashion and textiles industry since I was a teenager. I was employed at a made-to-measure tailor when I was in high school and took pattern-making lessons and voraciously read fashion and textile books… At the start of 2023, I travelled to Japan for six months, to train in the knitwear factories there, to better understand textile production.

How did your label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.

Well, it didn’t have a clear starting point. It was the slow achievement of a lot of elbow grease. I was only ever good at making things. Whilst in high school I worked at P. Johnson. I started training there on the weekends when I was seventeen. I spent all my time looking through cloth books and trying to understand how things were constructed. While I was there, I got a good understanding of fabrics and how to fit garments.

Photography by Oscar Sallas

At the same time, I was taking private pattern-making classes from a brilliant local tailor and pattern maker, Jack Handcock, who runs a workshop called The System. One day, Bella Brown from Be Right Back convinced me to be a part of a pop-up she was running at Abbotsford Convent. My first pieces were detached, starched collars. The garments kept getting bigger and stranger from there.

Around the same time, I started training at Knovus Melbourne, a knitwear studio in Carlton. I applied for a George Alexander Fellowship from the Issi and travelled to Japan to live in Yamagata and work at one of their largest spinning and knitting mills, Sato Seni… Now I continue to make things as I further my training and try to undertake larger and larger projects. When I reflect on how I got to the point I am now, I think about how lucky I am and how generous everyone has been towards me.

How has your work evolved since you started?

Photography by Michael Pham

I suppose the real change is that I have started considering what my work means. When I first started making clothes, it was out of pure necessity. I couldn’t afford the kinds of clothing I wanted, and I couldn’t get anything to fit me properly. I have had a visceral relationship with clothing my whole life and ideas just pour out of me like a tap. It’s instinctual and the clothing I first made had a symbolism supplied by my subconscious.

How would you describe your designs to someone who’s never seen them before?

I say that I “seek to explore archaic utility and dress”. I like things that have a balance of elegance, humour and style. I hate it when fashion takes itself too seriously. It will always be dress-ups to me. I love making outfits that are capable of expressing all my feminine foppishness but can still be worn day in and day out for weeks on end in all conditions. I make indestructible delicacies.

What are you most proud of in your work?

Firstly, my friends. I am truly proud of all my collaborations with the talented folk who support and work around me. The thing I am most proud of within my work is the ability to create bespoke garments for individual clients that they truly love and become a part of their everyday joy.

I think occasionally we find clothes that fit us physically or capture our personality, but it is hard to find both. When we do, these pieces become part of us and we wear them until they disintegrate or disappear… In conjunction with aiming for a good fit, I develop relationships with clients and respond to their needs.

Photography by Michael Pham

I make them garments that connect with them personally. This result is clothing that from the very start, is cherished and worn with the intention of disintegration. I do not make garments that need to be ironed every wear, kept in a plastic dust cover and hung up every day because of their perceived value. I make clothing truly for one’s own heart.

Who do you think is most exciting in Australian fashion right now?

I could give you a list from here to the floor of all the amazing young up-and-coming fashion designers. But more than any individual talent, I recognise a thirst for truth, knowledge, skills, and equal opportunity that is widespread in people of my age… These people are my friends. They are very talented, far more than most people realise yet. I think they will come to be known across the world.

What about the Australian fashion industry needs to change?

I could give an even longer list of all the things that need to change. But I am not interested in changing a broken system. With my community of new practitioners, I want to create my own. I want to revive Australia’s textile and garment manufacturing sector. When I went to Sato Seni in Japan, it was with this goal in mind. One day I will have an atelier, textile production facility and retail space within the same suburb…

How can we buy one of your pieces?

You can’t yet. You have to come to book a fitting first! I will have an online gallery and web store launching in the next few weeks and then a small collection presentation with items for sale mid-year. Stay watching to find out the location of my next event. It might be a car park, an old warehouse, on the street, or in a store.

Follow Vincent Fabrications for more here.