Romance Was Born
When you offload old clothes to a charity store do you ever wonder who adopts them?
There’s a chance your hand me downs could now be in the hands of Sass & Bide’s Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton or perhaps Camilla Freeman-Topper from Camilla & Marc.
This isn’t as unlikely as it seems. Though they have the world’s finest fabrics at their disposal, for a special charity auction run by marie claire magazine, six of Australia’s top designers turned to the treasure trove that is Vinnie’s for their materials.
Using everything from curtains to wetsuits the likes of Camilla & Marc, Sass & Bide, Therese Rawsthorne, Easton Pearson, Carl Kapp and Romance Was Born created one off couture pieces from materials sourced from St Vincent de Paul stores.
Camilla & Marc
The stunning garments are being auctioned through marie claire to raise money for the Australian charity. Our favourite creations are Romance Was Born’s Russion doll inspired dress made from a table runner and Sass & Bide’s dress with an embellished bodice.
Therese Rawsthorne
It’s inspiring to see the unwanted and discarded turned into something beautiful and a great testament to the designers’ creativity. For Therese Rawthorne, the process of finding the trench coat and wetsuit that would become her one-of-a-kind dress brought back “the magic that comes with design. It was a totally spontaneous exercise. There was no pattern, it was entirely free hand, but the garments seemed to want to come together naturally. It was quite freeing in that sense.”
These designers have taken op-shop items and made them opulent. To view the clothes in more detail and bid for your favourite one visit www.marieclaire.com.au.