Melbourne-based label Better Pieces makes clothing that wouldn’t look out of place in the early noughties. From slinky off-shoulder silhouettes and denim boob tubes to tops made with faux suede and metallic eyelets, it’s pieces channel nostalgia while feeling equally fitting in today’s landscape.
The label started in 2021 when founder Amy Brady bought herself a sewing machine in the depths of lockdown. Despite having no sewing experience, she taught herself the basics via YouTube and six months later, started selling tops to her friends and people around Australia.
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Three years on, Better Pieces has released seasonal collections, hosted various pop-up shops and become a mainstay in many people’s wardrobes. “Every release feels more and more authentic to us as a business, particularly our most recent concept of ‘one of one’ designs,” Amy says.
“Most of the time I feel like my hands can’t keep up with the possibilities in my brain, so creating one-of-a-kind designs is a really fun way of exploring and executing all my ideas, without contributing to mass production or waste.” For Better Pieces customers, this means once the limited edition drops are released, it doesn’t take long for them to be snapped up.
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Fashion Journal: Hi Amy! Tell us about your fashion background.
Amy: Better Pieces is a Melbourne-born, handmade, women’s fashion label. It’s bedroom-born to be exact. What started as the simple desire for creative fulfilment has now become an established sell-out label.
I’ve always loved expressing myself through fashion and design from a young age, I think it’s the freedom and sense of control. With little to no sewing experience, I bought a sewing machine in the depths of lockdown and taught myself how to sew via YouTube videos and books, with the intention of recycling and reworking secondhand clothes. Before I had even really perfected the basic sewing skills, I became determined to learn pattern making and create my own designs from scratch.
This form of learning was like instant satisfaction and gratification and I became obsessed with it. Within six months I was selling little tops on Instagram to friends and customers across Australia. Looking back they definitely weren’t perfect but it was the start of something super special.
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How did Better Pieces get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
Better is just over three years old now. Across the three years, we’ve dropped a number of exclusive seasonal collections, and limited edition drops, and run pop-up stores where we worked alongside many other incredible Australian founders. I also completed a Bachelor of Business in Entrepreneurship. Whilst most of the time I wanted to drop out of university and give Better 100 per cent of my attention, juggling the two side by side is the best thing I could’ve ever done.
Having the opportunity to apply all my learnings to real-life examples of my own and gain feedback on my work across all fields of business was an incredibly valuable position. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people that you can learn from and lean on for help is so important.
Friends in the industry to lean on for advice, friends that drop everything to model for Better and help me shoot, I’ve even had friends help me with ironing endless metres of binding and cutting fabric for hours. That kind of support is so precious, especially being a one-man show.
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How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
Better Pieces is bold and identifiable, combining classic chic silhouettes with rich textures and details to create an elevated and tasteful wardrobe.
What are you most proud of in your work on your label?
Better is a slow fashion, high quality, limited stock small business. This principle is something I take a lot of pride in: not cutting corners or going against our values to keep up with others in the industry because you simply cannot compare fast fashion companies to sustainable small businesses.
I feel I have so many reasons to be proud… Whether it’s seeing girls wearing Better out in public, receiving messages from customers after they get their orders, watching other female content creators style my designs in their own unique way, or seeing my returning customers on Shopify, where some of the girls have purchased from every single drop we’ve done. These moments and feelings never get old.
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What are you trying to achieve from the project at the time?
In terms of design, it isn’t easy to put into words. Every release feels more and more authentic to us as a business, particularly our most recent concept of ‘one of one’ designs. Most of the time I feel like my hands can’t keep up with the possibilities in my brain, so creating one-of-a-kind designs is a really fun way of exploring and executing all my ideas, without contributing to mass production or waste.
It’s crazy, I will wake up in the morning from a dream and make something based on what I was dreaming about or wearing in the dream, some of my best work as well. The balance of one of one drops satisfies the desire for spice and individuality, while also creating timeless capsule collections. It’s the perfect happy medium and the direction I will continue to take for Better.
How can we buy some of your pieces?
You can find us on @betterpieces across all socials or shop via our website!
Keep up with Better Pieces here.
This article Bedroom-born: Meet Better Pieces, the Melbourne label making ‘one of one’ designs appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-02-11 04:46:00
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