The sun’s shinning outside but your teenage daughter is indoors watching old 80’s movies. Fear not she may be cementing the foundations of an amazing future. Ebony Harding started her label LittleGracie when she was just 19 … I know … at 19 the only thing I was making designs on was a vanilla slice, having once again failed in saying hello to the cute guy in the back row of the lecture theatre … but back to Ebony.
At the time Ebony thought she’d start slowly and find her way around the fashion industry, ‘suss things out a bit’. However that wasn’t to be, after six months her label was accepted in the 2009 Perth Fashion Festival.
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‘That was a big shock for me and the start of everything. I had to adjust to everything very quickly. I didn’t quite anticipate it taking off so quickly.’
‘I was thrown into the deep end, in regards to how to manage the business side of it. But I think it was a blessing in disguise, as I wouldn’t have learnt half the things I have if I had done it differently. I made mistakes being so young and fresh in the industry, but I believe so strongly, that you only learn and grow from them. And I think that shows now, nearly 4 years later with Little Gracie still going strongly.’
I asked Ebony if she would share some of those ‘mistakes’ with us, and she graciously accepted. Her comments outlined six lessons learned …
One of those ‘mistakes’ was knowing how to price garments properly.
‘This is not something that they teach you in depth while studying. So I found it difficult to price each garment accordingly – including ALL the factors that you should.’
Another was understanding the business side of things.
‘Creating garments is something that I find very easy, the business side of a label is not something I knew anything about. Usually this side is the part that actually takes up most of your time. When you have a label, what I found anyway, it’s 60% business and 40% creating. So many people think it’s all about making pretty things when it’s not., there’s a lot of paperwork, marketing, researching that is involved. I had to go back and study Business Development. Luckily I my mum runs another business so she was well aware of what I had to do and guided me as I learnt what to do, and still does.’
Touching on why she was successful so early on, Ebony humbly suggested …
‘I guess I found a gap in the market that no one had touched on yet, and why my entry into the perth fashion industry was so quick’.
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That may be true but success can be fleeting and long term success is much, much harder. I pondered why her label has continued on its successful path.
Echoing some of the comments made by other designers, Ebony talked about the need to believe in yourself and what you can do, along with keeping the passion alive.
‘There’s a lot of work and hours that go into it behind the scenes, so you have to be very passionate’
Meanwhile I pondered another reason …
Aside from an obvious mountain of hard work and passion, Ebony has taken two important lessons to heart …
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She realised her shortfalls and set about re-educating herself, learning that side of the business;
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She stayed true to the core design elements of her label, and had a clear picture of what these are. Such a clear direction helps sift the good ideas from those that could spell disaster. As an example on her website these elements are simply stated as; floaty, feminine, whimsical, girly designs, that have a little quirky edge to them.
‘Dresses that make a girls heart flutter when they lay their eyes on it … that dress you fall in love with and just have to have.’
Hearing that Little Gracies 2012 PFF entry was inspired by 1980’s movies such as Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles emphasised the point.
‘The collection will take you back to your high school prom dance. Hues of pastel blues, pastel purples and the first floral print in an LG collection. Silhouettes as the typical ‘party dress’ that LG is known for but I have included little 80’s detailing in each garment , and will be using jewellery from label ‘Delicates from Lola’.
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Ebony’s passion for design was evident when I asked how she keeps motivated and inspired …
‘I do a lot of custom made dresses on the side – bridal gowns, bridesmaids, so making something fresh and challenging that isn’t in my ready to wear collection is very refreshing. I usually get a lot of ideas for future collections when making these custom designs. I also like having my movie weekends with a bunch of old movies.’
Thanks goodness for passion, learning from your mistakes and old movies. Mind you I was left pondering one last thing … what kind of designs will we see in the 2050 PFF if the young designers of the day reference back to current day movies like Kenny or Kath and Kim. Perhaps we’ll see a range of S&M designs thanks to the success of Fifty Shades of Grey?
More information on Perth Fashion Festival go to http://www.perthfashionfestival.com.au/
For Little Gracie go to littlegraciefashion
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