The Vintage Woman Magazine International Series: Australia
At The Vintage Woman Magazine, we are a multinational team searching far and wide for brands that exemplify vintage style and aesthetics. In our new International Series, we will focus on makers who create accessible, adorable products. Our first stop is Australia, with four female-owned companies you’ll be happy not to need an airplane and a twelve-hour flight to visit!
Simple Retro’s sweet, elegant womenswear is inspired by the timelessness of vintage style and the diversity of modern living. Founded by a group of friends from different cultural backgrounds who met in New York City, these women pooled their fashion and business skills to create ethically sourced and environmentally conscious retro clothing at accessible prices. Simple Retro’s designers find muses in every decade of the twentieth century, and their SS21 collection of flowing floral gowns recall the romance of 1940s tea dresses. These rosa multiflora patterns will renew one’s wardrobe with comfort and ease, rekindling hope in the warmth of a new year.
Expertly curated by one of Australia’s premier vintage mavens, the eponymous boutique Call Me Valerie was founded to fill a gap in the country’s market. Unable to find reproduction and vintage clothing shops that represented her tastes and eschewing high shipping costs, Valerie created her own space in the Australian vintage community by representing high-quality brands such as The House of Foxy, Emmy Designs, and more. Empowered by the confidence and glamour of Hollywood starlets and femme fatales, Valerie recently collaborated with Brighton Bacall on a new line, inspired by The Age of Adeline (2015). Her favourite garment is the Sweetest Swing skirt, “We believe that a pine green wool skirt is a must-have in every vintage collection!” The Vintage Woman Magazine agrees.
Founded with love at the core of their business, Deer Arrow is owned and operated in Queensland by sisters Phoebe and Lauren, who began creating fun, quirky brooches when their mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. Made by the whole family in their home office with materials sourced from Australia, the US, and the UK, these limited-run pieces are highly coveted and sell out fast! Inspired by their own interests and those of their customers, Deer Arrow also partners with artists for collaboration collections. “We usually give them a broad
theme and they do whatever they want within [it],” says Phoebe. Their most recent Prehistoric Collection could hardly be called extinct, but it is sold out. Although they can’t reveal too much about their upcoming projects, Deer Arrow is almost as excited as we are for the next batch of darling creations.
Living up to their name in every respect, each Wicker Darling handbag is a masterfully designed and crafted artwork. The brand was borne from its owner and operator Jasmine’s love for wicker and rattan bags, and her specific desire for a wicker handbag shaped like a flamingo. “Two of my great loves in life are the colour pink and birds!” She says. After a fruitless search Jas designed her own and, luckily for us, she kept going! When designing a handbag, Jas says “it’s about 50% what would I personally like to see in my wardrobe, and the other 50% comes down to customer requests.” Working within the limitations of the materials, Wicker Darling delivers sustainably harvested rattan creations made by small, family-owned companies in the Philippines. Each design is produced over a period of several months, including Jas’s own time to ensure each shape is viable as a functional handbag. For this and other reasons, Wicker Darling operates on a pre-order basis to support slow fashion and nearly eliminate waste, promising a unique investment piece as well as a new friend in your wardrobe!