A sure-fire way to bolster your brand DNA? Create according to intuition. “I don’t design to a brief. Neous is really an extension of myself,” says Sydney-born former fashion editor Vanissa Antonious, of her five-year-old accessories label. There’s an intrinsic organicism to her designs – pared-back, purist and sculptural, inspired by Bauhaus and Barbara Hepworth – which are beloved by a coterie of “informed but non-conformist” customers, from Singapore to Stockholm. Neous’s designs move ergonomically with the body, so it’s natural the label has expanded from shoes and handbags into jewellery. Sentimental heirlooms inspired the debut. “Separated from my family during the pandemic, the only connection I had to Australia was my mum’s jewellery, which I put on every morning.”

Richard Malone

 

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“There’s a real space for oddness, a celebration of queer joy,” says Irish designer Richard Malone, of the eclectic realm his brand embodies. Draping, ruching and twisting are signifiers of a label that shirks the commercial churn of product in favour of textural, emotive, pattern-cutting and sustainability-focused “responses to a wardrobe”. For Wexford-born Malone, success comes from fostering a diverse creative community and localised supply chains. Turning exhibition curator, he has championed contemporary Irish craft and launched a series of artists prizes aimed at supporting the next wave of his home country’s makers. “I’m part of a generation exhausted by the speed of design today.”

Tove

 

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“We’re on the same page. There’s an unspoken understanding,” say Tove co-founders Holly Wright and Camille Perry of the creative symbiosis that their 2019-founded brand is built upon. The long-term collaborators – who met when heading up the design and buying departments at Topshop – are united on creating timeless yet impactful wardrobe staples, which “offer quality at an attainable price” and have a sustainable focus. “We want you to be able to pull a Tove piece out again and again,” Wright says. The Ceres dress, crafted in organic cotton, with flowing pleats and delicate bow details, already feels like a wardrobe classic. The impact of launching a label not long before the onset of the pandemic? “It allowed us to look inward and cultivate the brand,” Perry reflects. Tove’s future is more expansive: a physical runway show is on the horizon.

Chopova Lowena

 

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From Dua Lipa to Harry Styles, fashion-forward A-listers are hooked on Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena’s punky carabiner-clipped kilts, which draw on traditional Bulgarian costume of Chopova’s home country and are crafted using repurposed fabrics. “Seeing them out in the wild is incredibly exciting,” says Chopova. The duo create eclectic, intriguingly ornamented clothing, which pays close attention to sustainable manufacturing and artisanal design. Folkloric forms are fused with sports silhouettes, referencing ice hockey, rock climbing and roller skating. Crafty flourishes include ruching, lacing and beaded crochet. “The concept of handmade is becoming much more desirable and cool,” Lowena says.

Completedworks

 

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Anna Jewsbury’s multidisciplinary brand is rooted in a fascination with materiality, encompassing jewellery, ceramics and glassware. Off-kilter creations revel in asymmetry – crumpled, coiled, scrunched and twisted, foaming with freshwater pearls and dusted with diamonds. Jewsbury incorporates sustainably minded materials into her pieces, such as recycled gold and a renewable bio-resin that sees her styles reimagined in bold colours. “The tones bring in a more hopeful mood that we all need,” she says. “Our designs are in constant dialogue with each other.”