Originally, I didn't set out to create a clothing label. I simply couldn't find a pair of board shorts that fit my shape. One memorable shopping trip with my Mum as a vulnerable 14-year-old resulted in many tears. Apparently, my bum and thighs were too big and waist too small. At the end of the day, my Mum announced we were going to make our own.  

Actually, we never did make those board shorts, but Mum did show me how to make my first pair of pants. That was it, I was hooked! Then followed my teens in the late 90's, with many excellent pairs of un-hemmed flares with safety pins to hold them up, patchwork skirts cut from old sheets and tops with random bits of found objects lovingly sewn onto them. 

Needless to say, as I got older my taste refined somewhat and I decided to give this sewing thing a real go. I didn't go to uni or TAFE, I learned from experimentation and books. At age 23 I started my market stall and that's where the real education began. I began to see my clothing on every shape and size under the rainbow. So after a lot of tweaking and adjusting, Gwyllem designs became known for their seriously good fit.

My innate inner drive allowed me to plod along at a pretty consistent pace from 2007-2014, going to markets every weekend and doing all the festivals I could, to earn an okay living with my clothing. The slow pace was perfect as it allowed me to really get to know my stuff and what people wanted. I went through phases of making everything myself to using local makers, learning what its means to operate in both ways.

It was when building an ecommerce store became accessible to anyone that things really changed. In 2014 I launched my website and somehow managed to grow my online presence while still doing market stalls. Facebook became an incredible tool to reach people I wasn't previously able to. I started off with made-to-order, which allowed me the slow pace of learning a whole new way of operating online.

After a year of honing my online skills I felt ready to grow. In part due to necessity, as I'd totally burnt out from doing market stalls for 10 years straight, I just couldn't go anymore. So I got some help to set up some Facebook ads and pressed go. Much to my surprise, they worked! So much so that I switched back to having my stuff produced with local makers.

Before long I was selling enough online to step back from my market stall and begin to refine my systems. This was a bit of a golden era for Facebook ads, so I feel grateful I was able to grow my brand at this particular moment in time. 2014-2020 was a massive education and I got to a level of competency which allowed me the confidence to...

I'd been going from 2007-2020 non-stop. I'd learnt so much, connected with so many people and felt so proud to have grown my business to a size that was now supporting me well and was contributing to the local economy in a very significant way. 

But... I was oddly unfulfilled. I felt that to keep up the pace I couldn't grow as a designer and artist. I was craving more. So I boldly embarked on a whole year off in which I taught myself how to design my own prints.

I wasn't prepared for perimenopause and the effects it would have on my mental health, in particular my inner confidence. I'd given myself the space to get in touch with my personal style and created lots quirky prints, but I just couldn't see how this would fit into the brand that I'd created over the past 14 years. I went around and around in circles in my mind, getting nowhere and not knowing how to move forwards.

After several years of inner turmoil, in which I relaunched Gwyllem, started collaborating with Dalee Ella prints and then decided to close Gwyllem, I discovered that my biology was the main culprit stopping me from doing my thing. Once I began to get support, things began to become simpler in my mind and I began putting together the first collection under my new brand name storyline.

Quite a journey, from 2007-2024, I have been plodding along with my clothing brand in many different forms, learning how to live in the world as an adult human. I have to say my business has been one of the biggest playgrounds for personal growth, and for that I am extremely grateful. 

I'm beyond excited to share my new work with you. Honouring the past, embracing the now and continuing the storyline...