THE INNER SEAM
STORIES STITCHED THROUGH THE GENERATIONS
On creating with purpose and the ancestral spirit of Australian made fashion.
Welcome to The Inner Seam—a column that explores sustainability principles and highlights those that care not just about the seams you can see on the surface, but also about the conscious craftsmanship that lies beneath.
My great-grandmother was an incredible seamstress. She handcrafted sweet dresses for her granddaughters to wear on special occasions, stitched together fun outfits for their dolls to play dress ups with, and knitted jumpers that have since been passed down through the generations. Jumpers that now live on in my very own wardrobe. Back in my great-grandmother’s day, if your clothes were torn or worn-through, you simply mended them. Once a garment was truly at the end of its lifecycle, though, you would make something new to replace it, or have a tailor make something especially for you.
Today, we seem to just add newness on top of newness, building upon our ever-expanding wardrobes until they seem ready to burst at the seams. A lot of the time, those clothes are not made by our own hands, or even those of someone we know. Which is why Australian Made Fashion now represents a somewhat radical proposition.
In this space, brands like Hyde & Stone are quietly helping to keep the onshore fashion industry alive and are making a case for quality over quantity in the process. Hailing from a long lineage of tailors, Hyde & Stone designer Jemyma Kavanagh was originally inspired by her grandmother’s skilled artisanship when she chose to pursue a career in fashion design.
‘I’ve always had a love for designing and drawing, [ever] since I was a little girl. My earliest memories are of my grandmother’s art box, filled with watercolour pencils and fine art liners,’ Kavanagh explains. ‘Most of our garments were tailor-made growing up. I remember watching both my mother and grandmother sewing—we would design with them and then go to the local fabric store to purchase the materials to make our new outfit for the occasion.’
It was these formative years, the designer says, that imparted a longstanding passion for well-made garments and ultimately led her to pursue a career in fashion. ‘For as long as I can remember, the importance of quality and a true appreciation for craftsmanship was instilled in me,’ she shares. ‘My mother and grandmother both taught me how to construct and create clothing with premium natural textiles and how these pieces will last, how they’ll wear, and how they’ll fall. They taught me not to consume so much, and not to be wasteful.’
So when it came to launching a made-to-order fashion business in her Byron Bay garage, it made sense for Kavanagh to turn to her grandmother for support. ‘In those early stages, I worked closely with my grandmother to tailor each and every garment to bring my vision to life. I spent hours designing, hand patternmaking, cutting and sewing garments, tailoring to each customer’s unique measurements with my grandmother.’
The evolution of Hyde & Stone has been a natural progression ever since then. While a lot of the pieces are now produced by a small team of skilled artisans in Sydney, Kavanagh still works very closely throughout the production process with all members of her team. Who work in limited production runs in order to realise Kavanagh’s ongoing vision of sustainability, quality fabrication, and timeless design. To ‘create pieces that women will love in their wardrobes for years and pass down through the family generations.’
The designer is passionate about keeping her garments locally made because there tends to be lower minimum quantities, which encourages less consumption and reduces the brand’s environmental footprint overall. ‘By supporting Australian-made fashion, we are allowing brands to show transparency throughout their supply chains and supporting the Australian economy to keep a predominantly female-based industry of skilled craftspeople in jobs,’ Kavanagh explains. ‘Australian-made clothing allows brands to maintain integrity and achieve higher levels of control over the quality of their manufacturing processes and sustainability.’
Creating from this place of integrity, Hyde & Stone is ultimately a collaborative initiative. It is through conversation and education that the designer feels inspired to learn more about the craftsmanship of clothing and all of the processes involved in tailoring a singular garment.
In particular, this dialogue is always ongoing between Kavanagh and her grandmother. ‘It is so important to learn and be inspired by real stories from the elderly, transporting back to the generations that lived simply and slowly and consumed less,’ the designer says.
‘[These are] the generations that truly appreciated quality made items, crafted by highly skilled tailors and craftspeople. Generations that know how to care for garments, how to wash and extend the lifecycle of each piece by mending [them] when torn.’
I think of the pink knitted jumper that my great-grandmother made by hand, which my mother packed in her suitcase when she moved to London, and which I am this week packing to take with me to the countryside—well-made, timeless, and built to last. Just as clothing should be. And just as clothing still can be, especially when we support Australian made.
fin.
Images by Claudia Smith
